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| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | Early October |
| Region | Zürich, Switzerland |
| English name | Championship of Zürich |
| Local name(s) | Züri-Metzgete(Zürich German) Meisterschaft von Zürich(in German) |
| Discipline | Road race |
| Competition |
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| Type | One-day |
| Web site | www |
| History | |
| First edition | 1914 (1914) |
| Editions | 91 |
| Final edition | 2006 |
| First winner |  Henri Rheinwald (SUI) |
| Most wins | Heiri Suter (SUI) (6 wins) |
| Final winner |  Samuel Sánchez (ESP) |
Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; English:Championship of Zürich;German:Meisterschaft von Zürich) was a EuropeanClassic cycle race held annually inZürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 until 2014.[1] It was a race with a long history dating back to 1914, on a demanding course in the hilly region around Zürich. In its heyday the race was considered thesixth monument of cycling, alongside the five most prestigious one-day races on the calendar (Milan–San Remo,Tour of Flanders,Paris–Roubaix,Liège–Bastogne–Liège and theTour of Lombardy). It was the most prominent of the summer classics.[2]
The Züri-Metzgete was included in every edition of the formerUCI Road World Cup which ran from 1989 to 2004, and a leg of the inauguralUCI ProTour in 2005. In 2005 the race was moved to the end of the season for the first time in its history. The 2007 edition of the race was canceled after organizers failed to attract enough sponsors in the wake of several doping scandals in international cycling.[3] In 2008, the race was held on September 7, but the format has been changed to an amateur competition.
The Züri-Metzgete was first held in 1914 and has been held annually since 1917, including the second World War years, giving it the longest continued existence of any of cycling's major races. Originally, the race was billed as "Meisterschaft von Zürich" (Championship of Zurich), and this designation is still being used in some places. However, the colloquial expression "Züri Metzgete" soon became popular and has long been adapted by the organisers themselves and also by theUCI. "Züri" is Swiss dialect for Zurich. "Metzgete" (from "metzgern",to butcher) is a dialect word as well and a tongue-in-cheek reference to the supposedly ruthless character of the race. (Originally, a "Metzgete" is a special form of agricultural festivity usually held in autumn when farmers had to reduce their livestock to get through the winter. The fresh meat was then sold and distributed in barbecue-like village festivals.)
For many years the event was held in early May, not an ideal date as the majority of the top classic riders were jaded after contesting the "Monuments" in March and April. Also during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s the race was often held the day after theRund um den Henninger Turm in Frankfurt and this affected the quality of the field and the racing. In 1988 the race was switched to a date in mid August which attracted many of theTour de France stars and gave the race a new lease of life. The 2005 edition of the race has been switched to yet another new date in early October, as theUCI rearranged the cycling calendar to bring theWorld Championships a few weeks earlier in the season.
In the early days, the Züri-Metzgete was dominated by home riders with the race being won on 34 occasions by the Swiss in the first 41 editions of the race between 1914 and 1956. The most notable foreign winner in this period wasGino Bartali. In 1946, the Italian beat arch rivalFausto Coppi in a contentious race, the two Italians rode together at a breakneck pace shaking off all their rivals with Bartali winning in controversial circumstances, sprinting away while Coppi was tightening his toe straps. Many people say this incident was the start of the "war" between Bartali and Coppi. That 1946 race was won at an average speed of 42.228 km/h (26.239 mph), a record speed which stood for over 50 years. SpaniardJuan Antonio Flecha won the 2004 edition of the race in a record average speed of 42.707 km/h (26.537 mph).[4]
Many of the Swiss winners at this time never went on to win another major race but two of Switzerland's greatest ridersFerdinand Kübler (1943) andHugo Koblet (1952 and 1954) were triumphant at Zürich in this era, another Swiss Henri Suter set the record for the most victories at six between 1919 and 1929. After 1956 the race winners have become more international with only five Swiss winners in this period compared to 15 victories for Italy and 13 for Belgium. The quality of the race winners has been very high with classic specialists such asPaolo Bettini,Francesco Moser,Roger De Vlaeminck,Freddy Maertens,Giuseppe Saronni andJohan Museeuw all winning while the switch to an August date in 1988 allowed Tour de France riders such asLance Armstrong,Jan Ullrich andLaurent Dufaux to do well in the race.[5]
The present day race starts and finishes in Zürich, in previous years the finish was on the Oerlikon velodrome in Zürich but that was abandoned a number of years ago. The race is held over a distance of 241 km with over 3000 metres of climbing, consisting of one 72.5 km lap and four 42.1 km circuits, this shorter lap includes four ascents of both thePfannenstiel andForch climbs, the final climb of the Pfannenstiel is just 15 km from the finish in Zürich and is often the launching point for the winning move in the race. Between 1993 and 1999 the race started in Basel and finished in Zürich and was known as the Grand Prix Suisse.
| Wins | Rider | Nationality | Editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Heiri Suter | Switzerland | 1919, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1928, 1929 |
| 3 | Paul Egli | Switzerland | 1934, 1935, 1942 |
| 2 | Gino Bartali |  Italy | 1946, 1948 |
| Fritz Schär | Switzerland | 1949, 1950 | |
| Hugo Koblet | Switzerland | 1952, 1954 | |
| Franco Bitossi | Italy | 1965, 1968 | |
| Walter Godefroot |  Belgium | 1970, 1974 | |
| Johan Museeuw | Belgium | 1991, 1995 | |
| Paolo Bettini | Italy | 2001, 2005 |
| Wins | Country |
|---|---|
| 40 | Switzerland |
| 20 | Italy |
| 14 | Belgium |
| 4 |  Germany/ West Germany Netherlands |
| 2 | Spain |
| 1 |  Australia Austria Canada France Poland Portugal Russia |
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