The bicycle moves people. It brings them together, keeps them fit and increases their quality of life. For decades, the bicycle design was considered to be fully developed and final. Then the bicycle industry experienced a revolution. New fascinating technology, e-mobility and digital services present many people with a completely new way of looking at bicycles. The potential for its use in cities, in commuter traffic, tourism, sport and leisure is far from exhausted. Between 2005 and 2021, bicycle sales in Switzerland almost doubled from 277,000 to 494,000. The sale of e-bikes has increased more than a hundredfold, jumping from 1,700 to 187,000. The bicycle is becoming a political factor in cities, a symbol for change in urban mobility and for reclaiming quality of life. In the last century, the city centres of Europe were designed for cars, but now they are evolving into cycling cities. In the future, the modern, environmentally friendly and efficient bicycle will have an impact on mobility in urban areas and leisure activities in nature. Cycling is healthy and makes you happy. Bicycles are no longer just a means of transport for people who cannot afford a car. They represent so much more: fun and leisure, health, athleticism; but they are also a status symbol and lifestyle statement and can be used to transport goods.

From 12 to 15 May, the national bicycle festival CYCLE WEEK will showcase the bike’s versatility in all its facets. Thousands of cycling enthusiasts will meet at Zurich’s main railway station, Switzerland’s most central transport hub, to kick off the cycling season. They will discover the latest products and offers from the bike world, test drive the bike of their dreams, expand their knowledge of design and technology, and draw inspiration from the expo and workshops. They will also have an opportunity to get actively involved and exchange ideas with people who share the same passion – with live music and street food. At a public viewing event on Zurich’s Europaplatz, the organisers will broadcast the Mountain Bike Cross Country World Cup with world champion Nino Schurter and Olympic champion Jolanda Neff to the festival audience live on a big screen. CYCLE WEEK is deliberately aiming to reach a large audience to celebrate the bicycle lifestyle. OK President Erwin Flury says: ‘The national bicycle festival is pure diversity. We’re very proud to be able to offer the whole range of bicycle-related attractions with our partners.’

The city of Zurich is making the Europaallee/Lagerstrasse/Kasernenstrasse triangle and the Brunau railway station available to the organisers for the large, public spectacle. The founders of the CYCLE WEEK were also the inventors of the Bike Days in Solothurn and the Urban Bike Festival in Zurich. They merged the two events into one big event, CYCLE WEEK, which promises revenue income for Zurich’s trade, retail, hotel and gastronomy sectors during these four days. The national bicycle festival will take place for the second time on Europaallee grounds after the trial run in summer 2021. The event is supported by presenting sponsor Zurich Versicherung as well as the city of Zurich and Mastercard as the main sponsors. Additional sponsors include Focus Water, Ochsner Sport, Publibike, Graubünden and Bike Kingdom Lenzerheide as well as media partners BLICK, TeleZüri and Radio 24.

CYCLE WEEK – the national bicycle festival offers everything you need

National bicycle festival and expo: More than 100 exhibitors with 250 brands will present their products at the largest national bicycle show at the Europaallee quarter. Nowhere in Switzerland can you find more news about muscle-powered or electronic bicycles for sport, leisure and everyday use, or about accessories and bicycle destinations.

• Nobody provides more opportunities to ride a bike in a variety of ways:
• For example, the heroine and hero of the cycling world will be crowned in the triple-discipline ‘Cycle Hero’ competition.
• Visitors will compete on the pump track.
• Ambitious cyclists will ride along celebrities, like last year’s fourteen-time Tour de France stage winner Marcel Kittel or slalom star Ramon Zenhäusern.
• Children between the ages of two and eight will get their own parade and course.
• At Zurich Versicherung’s free spring bike check, mechanics get every bike ready for the season.
• On the safety course of the city of Zurich, cyclists learn how to face the dangers of road traffic.
• People who want to do something for the environment will pedal for priceless rewards in events like the ‘tree sprint’: For every metre driven on a bike, Mastercard will plant a tree. The goal is 30,000

And of course, entertainment and good food will also be provided: The Europaallee Experience Mile will serve as a large restaurant with a huge food assortment as well as a meeting place for all at the CYCLE WEEK Bar, Bike Kingdom Bar, Gull Bar and the Stadt Café. People who want to watch the world’s greatest mountain bikers can do so at the public viewing event on Europaplatz, where the MTB Cross Country World Cup race from Nove Mesto will be broadcast. People who prefer live events can watch the BMX shows to the soundtrack of street artists.

Test campus: For a fee, fans and freaks can test the latest mountain bikes, gravel bikes and racing bikes – with or without electronic drive – from the strongest bike brands on tracks and trails at the test campus in Brunau. In 100 workshops, offered by Swiss Cycling Guides and others, festival visitors can put bikes and accessories to the test and learn from the best in the business.

Freestyle: Multiple world champions Matthias Dandois from France and Viki Gomez from Spain will compete in the International BMX Flatland Contest on the show stage at Gustav-Gull-Platz. The BMX Flatland Team will show off their insane skills at the Jam.

Lucas Huppert, local hero and world number 12, will compete in the spectacular Züri Dirt Contest. For the first time in Zurich, women like the 15-year-old up-and-coming talent Patricia Druwen from Germany will be showing off their breath-taking tricks and jumps in their own category.

CYCLE WEEK Channel: People who cannot attend the event in person can follow news and talks and all other highlights of the festival live or on demand on their laptop or smartphone.

Info box
CYCLE WEEK
Zurich | 12–15 May 2022
Cycleweek.ch 
info@cycleweek.ch
Admission to Europaallee is free of charge. Admission to the test campus and to the ZüriDirt Contest finals on Sunday is CHF 10 respectively.

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