- Züri-Metzgete
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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 race History First edition 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 continues as a mass participation event. Although perhaps not as prestigious as the five one-day cycling “Monuments” (Milan – San Remo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Giro di Lombardia) it is a race with a long history and a tough parcours. The Züri-Metzgete was a round of the former UCI Road World Cup (which ran from 1989–2004) and a round of the UCI ProTour, the World Cup's successor, for two further years. The 2007 edition of the race was canceled after organizers failed to attract enough sponsors.[1] 2008 the race was held on September 7, but the format has been changed to an amateur competition.
Contents
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 rearranges 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 Kubler (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
Rider Team 1914 Henri Rheinwald (SUI) 1917 Charles Martinet (SUI) 1918 Anton Sieger (SUI) 1919 Heiri Suter (SUI) 1920 Heiri Suter (SUI) 1921 
Ricardo Maffeo (ITA) 1922 Heiri Suter (SUI) 1923 
Adolf Huschke (GER) 1924 Heiri Suter (SUI) 1925 Hans Kaspar (SUI) 1926 Albert Blattmann (SUI) 1927 Kastor Notter (SUI) 1928 Heiri Suter (SUI) 1929 Heiri Suter (SUI) 1930 
Omer Taverne (BEL) 1931 
Max Bulla (AUT) 1932 Auguste Erne (SUI) 1933 Walter Blattmann (SUI) 1934 Paul Egli (SUI) 1935 Paul Egli (SUI) 1936 Werner Buchwalder (SUI) 1937 Leo Amberg (SUI) 1938 Hans Martin (SUI) 1939 Karl Litschi (SUI) 1940 Robert Zimmermann (SUI) 1941 Walter Diggelmann (SUI) 1942 Paul Egli (SUI) 1943 Ferdi Kubler (SUI) 1944 Ernst Naef (SUI) 1945 Léo Weilenmann (SUI) 1946 Gino Bartali (ITA) 1947 Charles Guyot (SUI) 1948 Gino Bartali (ITA) 1949 Fritz Schaer (SUI) 1950 Fritz Schaer (SUI) 1951 Jean Brun (SUI) 1952 Hugo Koblet (SUI) 1953 Eugène Kamber (SUI) 1954 Hugo Koblet (SUI) 1955 Max Schellenberg (SUI) 1956 Carlo Clerici (SUI) 1957 Hans Junkermann (GER) 1958 Giuseppe Cainero (ITA) 1959 Angelo Conterno (ITA) 1960 Alfred Ruegg (SUI) 1961 Rolf Maurer (SUI) 1962 
Jan Janssen (NED) 1963 Franco Balmamion (ITA) 1964 Guido Reybrouck (BEL) 1965 Franco Bitossi (ITA) 1966 Italo Zilioli (ITA) 1967 Robert Hagmann (SUI) 1968 Franco Bitossi (ITA) 1969 Roger Swerts (BEL) 1970 Walter Godefroot (BEL) 1971 Herman Van Springel (BEL) 1972 Willy Van Neste (BEL) 1973 André Dierickx (BEL) 1974 Walter Godefroot (BEL) 1975 Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL) 1976 Freddy Maertens (BEL) 1977 Francesco Moser (ITA) 1978 Dietrich Thurau (GER) 1979 Giuseppe Saronni (ITA) 1980 Gerry Verlinden (BEL) 1981 Beat Breu (SUI) 1982 Adri van der Poel (NED) 1983 Johan van der Velde (NED) 1984 
Phil Anderson (AUS) 1985 Ludo Peeters (BEL) 1986 
Acacio Da Silva Mura (POR) 1987 Rolf Gölz (GER) 1988 Steven Rooks (NED) 1989 
Steve Bauer (CAN) 1990 
Charly Mottet (FRA) 1991 Johan Museeuw (BEL) 1992 
Viatcheslav Ekimov (RUS) 1993 Maurizio Fondriest (ITA) 1994 Gianluca Bortolami (ITA) 1995 Johan Museeuw (BEL) 1996 Andrea Ferrigato (ITA) 1997 Davide Rebellin (ITA) 1998 Michele Bartoli (ITA) 1999 
Grzegorz Gwiazdowski (POL) 2000 Laurent Dufaux (SUI) 2001 Paolo Bettini (ITA) 2002 Dario Frigo (ITA) 2003 Daniele Nardello (ITA) 2004 Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP) 2005 Paolo Bettini (ITA) 2006 Samuel Sánchez (ESP) External links
References
Züri-Metzgete Categories:- Classic cycle races
- Cycle races in Switzerland
- UCI ProTour races
- UCI Road World Cup races
- Recurring sporting events established in 1914
- Züri-Metzgete
- Recurring events disestablished in 2006
- Defunct cycling races
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