Cycle Week puts the Swiss cycling community in a festive mood

Cycle Week, the major event of Cycling Switzerland, came to a successful end this evening. From May 23 to 26, 85,000 visitors came to the country's largest hands-on cycling festival and experienced the whole world of bikes at the Europaallee and Brunau locations. Admission to the entire event was free for the first time, including the large test center in Brunau and the dirt jump contest. The organizers and exhibitors drew a positive balance.

The fourth edition of the national cycling festival Cycle Week also attracted thousands of visitors. In the year of the 2024 UCI Cycling and Para-Cycling Road World Championships in Zurich, cycling in all its facets is experiencing a new boom. OC President Erwin Flury says: "During these four days, we have felt how the topic of cycling is on everyone's mind. Whether in politics, administration, industry or tourism - everyone wants to give bicycles greater importance. I am delighted that we were able to make a contribution with our Cycle Week."

Good response from exhibitors

In Europaallee near Zurich's main railway station, exhibitors showcased every type of bike, for every terrain, every requirement and every speed. The new Expo concept on Lagerstrasse with a colorful variety of stands was very well received by the public. Innovations such as lightweight e-bikes, reversing cameras and newly designed cargo bikes were the main attractions. 100 exhibitors from the bike industry showed what they can do at the main station and in Brunau.

Favorites prevailed

The audience experienced shows with bike artists and YouTube stars Tom Oehler and Gabriel Wibmer and the cool Breaking vs BMX Flatland Battle at the main station. Kio Hayakawa from Japan was crowned the best BMX Flatlander at the final of the world elite on Saturday evening on Gustav-Gull-Platz. Co-favorite Matthias Dandois from France came in second, ahead of Sietse van Berkel from Holland.

Campus Brunau, new with free admission

The bike test center at the Saalsporthalle in Brunau offered mountain bikes, gravel bikes and racing bikes for test rides. Workshops, riding technique courses and social rides were extremely popular: the organizers counted 1250 participants in over 150 workshops. They were almost fully booked. The new "Bikefitting" offer was a hit with the public.
A premiere was celebrated by Züri Escape, an unassisted bikepacking event covering 400 kilometers and a whopping 10,000 meters in altitude, with start and finish on campus. The fastest man was Axel Brenner, who mastered the challenge in 25 hours and 46 minutes. The fastest woman was Emma Pooley with 29 hours and 28 minutes. In summer, all bike packers and gravel adventurers can compete in the Züri Escape Challenge on the exact same route.
The international ZÜRIDIRT CONTEST was held at Jumppark Sihlcity. The big names of the MTB dirt jump scene were at the start and showed off their spectacular stunts. The best in the contest was Natalia Niedzwiedz from Poland and the best was Jeremias Luder from Bern.

100,000 trees

The Cycle Week is supported by the main sponsors Mastercard and the City of Zurich as well as the sponsors Focus Water, Ochsner Sport and Graubünden Ferien. Together with Mastercard, Cycle Week has succeeded in planting 100,000 trees with the "Climb for Trees" challenge. The Mastercard Climb for Trees Pro Challenge on Friday evening was won by women's e-MTB world champion Nathalie Schneitter and men's para-cyclist Timothy Zemp.

Parallel to Cycle Week: Veloforum Schweiz Suisse Svizzera

With the aim of doubling bike kilometers in the next few years, 22 experts presented their ideas and discussed new solutions at the Veloforum Schweiz Suisse Svizzera. For example, Fabian Cancellara and Astra Director Jürg Röthlisberger. The Mayor of Zurich, Corine Mauch, delivered a welcome address, as did Federal Councillor Albert Rösti with his video message. The first Veloforum took place parallel to Cycle Week with 300 participants on May 23 in the Kongresshaus. The UCI Cycling and Para-Cycling Road World Championships Zurich 2024 initiated the Veloforum in Zurich and was supported by the Federal Roads Office FEDRO.

No serious incidents

The organizers are very happy that there were no serious accidents during the entire four days. There was no incident for which the police or paramedics would have had to be called out. The weather played along very well, especially at the weekend. Only on Friday did gusts of wind sweep through the festival site, but the rain in the late afternoon only slowed visitors down for a short time.

The next Cycle Week will take place from 22 to 25 May 2025.

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