Züri-Metzgete

Züri-Metzgete
Race details
Date	Early October
Region	Zürich, Switzerland
English name	Championship of Zürich
Local name(s)	Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German) Meisterschaft von Zürich (German)
Discipline	Road race
Competition	UCI Road World Cup (1984-2004) UCI ProTour (2005-2006)
Type	One-day
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 European Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, 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 the sixth 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 the Tour of Lombardy). It was the most prominent of the summer classics.

The Züri-Metzgete was included in every edition of the former UCI Road World Cup which ran from 1989–2004, and a leg of the inaugural UCI 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.^[2] In 2008, the race was held on September 7, but the format has been changed to an amateur competition.

History and background

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 the UCI. "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 the Rund 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 the Tour 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 the UCI rearranged the cycling calendar to bring the World 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 was Gino Bartali. In 1946, the Italian beat arch rival Fausto 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, a record speed which stood for over 50 years. Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha won the 2004 edition of the race in a record average speed of 42.707 km/h.

Many of the Swiss winners at this time never went on to win another major race but two of Switzerland’s greatest riders Ferdi Kübler (1943) and Hugo 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 as Paolo Bettini, Francesco Moser, Roger De Vlaeminck, Freddy Maertens, Giuseppe Saronni and Johan Museeuw all winning while the switch to an August date in 1988 allowed Tour de France riders such as Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich and Laurent Dufaux to do well in the race.

The route

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 the Pfannenstiel and Forch 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.

Winners

List of winners

		Rider
1914	SUI !	Rheinwald, HenriHenri Rheinwald (SUI)
1917	SUI !	Martinet, CharlesCharles Martinet (SUI)
1918	SUI !	Sieger, AntonAnton Sieger (SUI)
1919	SUI !	Suter, HeiriHeiri Suter (SUI)
1920	SUI !	Suter, HeiriHeiri Suter (SUI)
1921	ITA !	Maffeo, RicardoRicardo Maffeo (ITA)
1922	SUI !	Suter, HeiriHeiri Suter (SUI)
1923	GER !	Huschke, AdolfAdolf Huschke (GER)
1924	SUI !	Suter, HeiriHeiri Suter (SUI)
1925	SUI !	Kaspar, HansHans Kaspar (SUI)
1926	SUI !	Blattmann, AlbertAlbert Blattmann (SUI)
1927	SUI !	Notter, KastorKastor Notter (SUI)
1928	SUI !	Suter, HeiriHeiri Suter (SUI)
1929	SUI !	Suter, HeiriHeiri Suter (SUI)
1930	BEL !	Taverne, OmerOmer Taverne (BEL)
1931	AUT !	Bulla, MaxMax Bulla (AUT)
1932	SUI !	Erne, AugusteAuguste Erne (SUI)
1933	SUI !	Blattmann, WalterWalter Blattmann (SUI)
1934	SUI !	Egli, PaulPaul Egli (SUI)
1935	SUI !	Egli, PaulPaul Egli (SUI)
1936	SUI !	Buchwalder, WernerWerner Buchwalder (SUI)
1937	SUI !	Amberg, LeoLeo Amberg (SUI)
1938	SUI !	Martin, HansHans Martin (SUI)
1939	SUI !	Litschi, KarlKarl Litschi (SUI)
1940	SUI !	Zimmermann, RobertRobert Zimmermann (SUI)
1941	SUI !	Diggelmann, WalterWalter Diggelmann (SUI)
1942	SUI !	Egli, PaulPaul Egli (SUI)
1943	SUI !	Kübler, FerdiFerdi Kübler (SUI)
1944	SUI !	Naef, ErnstErnst Naef (SUI)
1945	SUI !	Weilenmann, LeoLéo Weilenmann (SUI)
1946	ITA !	Bartali, GinoGino Bartali (ITA)
1947	SUI !	Guyot, CharlesCharles Guyot (SUI)
1948	ITA !	Bartali, GinoGino Bartali (ITA)
1949	SUI !	Schaer, FritzFritz Schaer (SUI)
1950	SUI !	Schaer, FritzFritz Schaer (SUI)
1951	SUI !	Brun, JeanJean Brun (SUI)
1952	SUI !	Koblet, HugoHugo Koblet (SUI)
1953	SUI !	Kamber, EugeneEugène Kamber (SUI)
1954	SUI !	Koblet, HugoHugo Koblet (SUI)
1955	SUI !	Schellenberg, MaxMax Schellenberg (SUI)
1956	SUI !	Clerici, CarloCarlo Clerici (SUI)
1957	GER !	Junkermann, HansHans Junkermann (GER)
1958	ITA !	Cainero, GiuseppeGiuseppe Cainero (ITA)
1959	ITA !	Conterno, AngeloAngelo Conterno (ITA)
1960	SUI !	Ruegg, AlfredAlfred Ruegg (SUI)
1961	SUI !	Maurer, RolfRolf Maurer (SUI)
1962	NED !	Janssen, JanJan Janssen (NED)
1963	ITA !	Balmamion, FrancoFranco Balmamion (ITA)
1964	BEL !	Reybrouck, GuidoGuido Reybrouck (BEL)
1965	ITA !	Bitossi, FrancoFranco Bitossi (ITA)
1966	ITA !	Zilioli, ItaloItalo Zilioli (ITA)
1967	SUI !	Hagmann, RobertRobert Hagmann (SUI)
1968	ITA !	Bitossi, FrancoFranco Bitossi (ITA)
1969	BEL !	Swerts, RogerRoger Swerts (BEL)
1970	BEL !	Godefroot, WalterWalter Godefroot (BEL)
1971	BEL !	Van Springel, HermanHerman Van Springel (BEL)
1972	BEL !	Van Neste, WillyWilly Van Neste (BEL)
1973	BEL !	Dierickx, AndreAndré Dierickx (BEL)
1974	BEL !	Godefroot, WalterWalter Godefroot (BEL)
1975	BEL !	De Vlaeminck, RogerRoger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
1976	BEL !	Maertens, FreddyFreddy Maertens (BEL)
1977	ITA !	Moser, FrancescoFrancesco Moser (ITA)
1978	GER !	Thurau, DietrichDietrich Thurau (GER)
1979	ITA !	Saronni, GiuseppeGiuseppe Saronni (ITA)
1980	BEL !	Verlinden, GerryGerry Verlinden (BEL)
1981	SUI !	Breu, BeatBeat Breu (SUI)
1982	NED !	Poel, Adri van derAdri van der Poel (NED)
1983	NED !	Velde, Johan van derJohan van der Velde (NED)
1984	AUS !	Anderson, PhilPhil Anderson (AUS)
1985	BEL !	Peeters, LudoLudo Peeters (BEL)
1986	POR !	Da Silva Mura, AcacioAcacio Da Silva Mura (POR)
1987	GER !	Goz, RolfRolf Gölz (GER)
1988	NED !	Rooks, StevenSteven Rooks (NED)
1989	CAN !	Bauer, SteveSteve Bauer (CAN)
1990	FRA !	Mottet, CharlyCharly Mottet (FRA)
1991	BEL !	Museeuw, JohanJohan Museeuw (BEL)
1992	RUS !	Ekimov, ViatcheslavViatcheslav Ekimov (RUS)
1993	ITA !	Fondriest, MaurizioMaurizio Fondriest (ITA)
1994	ITA !	Bortolami, GianlucaGianluca Bortolami (ITA)
1995	BEL !	Museeuw, JohanJohan Museeuw (BEL)
1996	ITA !	Ferrigato, AndreaAndrea Ferrigato (ITA)
1997	ITA !	Rebellin, DavideDavide Rebellin (ITA)
1998	ITA !	Bartoli, MicheleMichele Bartoli (ITA)
1999	POL !	Gwiazdowski, GrzegorzGrzegorz Gwiazdowski (POL)
2000	SUI !	Dufaux, LaurentLaurent Dufaux (SUI)
2001	ITA !	Bettini, PaoloPaolo Bettini (ITA)
2002	ITA !	Frigo, DarioDario Frigo (ITA)
2003	ITA !	Nardello, DanieleDaniele Nardello (ITA)
2004	ESP !	Flecha, Juan AntonioJuan Antonio Flecha (ESP)
2005	ITA !	Bettini, PaoloPaolo Bettini (ITA)
2006	ESP !	Sanchez, SamuelSamuel Sánchez (ESP)

Multiple winners

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 per country

Wins	Country
40	Switzerland
20	Italy
13	Belgium
4	Germany, Netherlands
2	Spain
1	Austria, Australia, Canada, France, Poland, Portugal, Russia

External links

Official website

References

Züri-Metzgete

... 2004 2005 2006

Classic cycle races

The 'Monuments'	Milan–San Remo Tour of Flanders Paris–Roubaix Liège–Bastogne–Liège Giro di Lombardia

Spring classics	Milan–San Remo Cobbled classics E3 Harelbeke Gent–Wevelgem Tour of Flanders Paris–Roubaix Ardennes classics Amstel Gold Race La Flèche Wallonne Liège–Bastogne–Liège

Summer classics	Clásica de San Sebastián Vattenfall Cyclassics Trittico Lombardo Coppa Ugo Agostoni Coppa Bernocchi Tre Valli Varesine Laurentian classics Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal

Autumn classics	Brussels Cycling Classic Grand Prix de Fourmies Paris–Tours Trittico di Autunno Milano–Torino Giro del Piemonte Giro di Lombardia Giro dell'Emilia Japan Cup

Past classics	Paris–Brest–Paris Bordeaux–Paris Wincanton Classic Porto–Lisboa Züri-Metzgete Giro del Lazio Giro della Romagna

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