Swiss beverage manufacturer Rivella is joining the growing peloton of Official Suppliers of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships in Zurich. The company, which provides refreshing moments and the unmistakable attitude to life of active Switzerland like no other, will be present at the global cycling festival next September with its Focuswater brand.

In everyday life and especially during sport, adequate hydration is crucial for physical performance and general well-being. The choice of the right drink depends on the type and intensity of the activity. With Focuswater, the Swiss vitamin water, fans and visitors to the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will be able to enjoy a contemporary thirst quencher in the fan zones and other official areas.

 

Focuswater: Find Your Flow!

“Find your flow, the slogan of our newest member of the Zurich 2024 family, also applied to all discussions with Rivella,” said Daniel Rupf, managing director of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) Zurich 2024. “We found our common flow straight away and set up a great partnership within just a few weeks. We are proud to welcome Rivella as one of our supplier brands and look forward to providing visitors in the fan zones with Focuswater in what we hope will be sunny late summer weather.”

Bruno Kühne, Rivella Sales Manager Gastronomy, is looking forward to being present at the major cycling world event in his own country: “We at Rivella are enthusiastic about the concept of this year’s UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships in Zurich. Our involvement with Focuswater at this unique event completes our activities in sports experiences this year.”

 

Rivella: part of Switzerland – and the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships

Rivella has been part of Switzerland since 1952, both as a drink and as a company. Fun fact: The company was founded in Uster, one of the four starting locations for the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships alongside Zurich, Winterthur and Gossau. It was in the Zurich Oberland, where the company laid the foundations for its continued success in the first two years of its existence.

Focuswater has been part of the Rivella Group since 2019. The perfectly balanced blend of vitamins, minerals and only a very small amount of natural sugar provides the body with important elements for its daily needs. The Swiss quality product is free from artificial colours, flavours and sweeteners and contains no preservatives. Five decilitres cover 75-100% of the recommended daily intake of vitamins for adults.

As part of the agreement between LOC Zurich 2024 and Rivella, Focuswater Active, Focuswater Care, Michel Apfelschorle, Rivella Red and Blue as well as the new Rivella “Innovation”, which will be launched this spring, will be served at all of the organiser’s official beverage outlets. The offer ideally complements the partnership that the Zurich 2024 Local Organising Committee concluded with Feldschlösschen beverages last November.

 

 

About Rivella (www.rivella-group.com)

Rivella AG, based in Rothrist (Aargau), is the largest group of companies for branded soft drinks of Swiss origin and has established itself as a permanent fixture in the country’s society and culture. With a brand awareness level of 93%, Rivella is one of the strongest brands in Switzerland and is the number 2 in the domestic soft drinks market. The company was founded in 1952 by pioneer and Rivella inventor Robert Barth. Today, the company owns Rivella as well as the Michel brand of fruit juice products and Focuswater, the leading Swiss brand in the vitamin water segment.

The clock is ticking down to the start of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships in Zurich – now also on the official Tissot Countdown Clock. Flurina Rigling, multiple UCI World Champion in para-cycling and one of the ambassadors for next year’s UCI World Championships, unveiled the special time display at Zurich Airport on Thursday, 21 December 2023, exactly nine months before the start of the global cycling event.

Tissot has already started to provide its expert timekeeping, as it will for all the races, with a 3.5 metres high and 2 x 2 metres long and wide Tissot Totem counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds to the thrilling event. The special graphic design for the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships Zurich is now the eye-catcher par excellence at Zurich Airport. It not only features the Official Timekeeper’s iconic T-Touch Connect Sport watch, but also Flurina Rigling and individual time trial European Champion Marlen Reusser, another one of the UCI World Championships’ ambassadors. The two exceptional riders are representative of the 1,300 athletes who will be taking part in next year’s event.

On another side of the Tissot Totem, viewers arriving, departing or shopping at Zurich Airport will see the finish area at Sechseläutenplatz. There, for the first time in the history of cycling, participants in the cycling and para-cycling events will cross the same finish line.

In addition to Flurina Rigling, various other personalities took part in the ceremony. Switzer-land’s Rocco Cattaneo, member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Management Committee and Chairman of the UCI Road Commission, represented the UCI. Cattaneo can look back on a long career as a cyclist. He rode twice in the Giro d’Italia, took part in two editions of the Tour de Suisse and competed four times in the UCI Road World Championships. Also present were Stefan Schötzau, President of the Zurich 2024 Organising Association, Romualdo Cerioni, Brand Manager Tissot, Stefan Gross, Chief Commercial Officer of Zurich Airport and Daniel Rupf, Managing Director of the Zurich 2024 Local Organising Committee.

A symbol rich in tradition and an attractive competition prize

The Tissot Countdown Clock is an integral part of many major sporting events. Weighing just over 1,500 kilograms, the structure will display the time remaining until the opening of the groundbreaking global cycling event on Saturday, 21 September 2024. It will be the first time that para-cycling is integrated into the UCI Road World Championships, which will kick off with the Mixed Handbike Team Relay race.

People who photograph themselves in front of the Tissot Countdown Clock and send in their pictures will be entered into a competition to win a Tissot T-Race Cycling UCI edition watch.

Further information and contest regulations: Facebook – zurich2024 and Instagram – zurich_2024

 

About the UCI

Founded on April 14, 1900, in Paris, France, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the worldwide governing body for cycling. It develops and oversees cycling in all its forms and for all people: as a competitive sport, a healthy recreational activity, a means of transport, and also just for fun. The UCI manages and promotes the ten cycling disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, BMX Racing, BMX Freestyle, cyclo-cross, trials, indoor cycling, cycling esports and gravel. Five of these are featured on the Olympic Games programme (road, track, mountain bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle), two in the Paralympic Games (road and track), and four in the Youth Olympic Games (road, mountain bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle). For more information: www.uci.org

 

About Tissot

Since 1853, Tissot has been at the heart of Swiss watchmaking. Our dedication to craftsmanship and quality is matched only by our passion for performance and precision. Over the years, our pioneering products such as the legendary Tissot T-Touch have made headlines as well as history. The ground-breaking Tissot T-Touch Connect Solar uses sustainable solar energy and connected technology that guarantees privacy. It confirms our long-held reputation as innovators by tradition.
Our passion for sport is unrivalled and our timing systems are tried, tested and trusted by a range of professional sports and athletes. In basketball the NBA and FIBA, in cycling the Tour de France and La Vuelta a España and in motorsports MotoGPTM are just some of the names that rely on Tissot as their Official Timekeeper. We provide innovative and traditional watches for our customers who appreciate our commitment to quality, authenticity and excellence.

Increased reach for the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships in Zurich: Radio Zürisee, a regional radio station in Switzerland’s greater Zurich/Lake Zurich area, will be another official media partner of the global cycling event next September.

 

The number of organisations and companies supporting the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships is growing by the week. Radio Zürisee will keep the population in and around Zurich informed about the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships with regular updates from the event, including half-hourly traffic reports. With its reach in the greater Zurich region, the station perfectly covers the area of the event, with the starting locations of Winterthur, Gossau, Uster and the whole of Lake Zurich.

“The media partnership with Radio Zürisee ideally complements our first media partnership with the TX Group,” says Daniel Rupf, Managing Director for the Local Organising Committee of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships. “Radio listeners in the event’s region will be able to experience our global cycling festival first-hand.”

Numerous attractions for the public on the radio and on site

Radio Zürisee will also be physically present at the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships with activations in the fan zones along the route in Zurich’s Niederdorf district. In the daily programme, Radio Zürisee will also organise ticket raffles for listeners.

“The host region of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships is in the heart of our broadcasting area – there’s no question that we wanted to be part of this major event as a regional radio partner. We look forward to riding together and contributing to the smoothest possible running of the UCI Worlds with our traffic information service,” says Matthias Kost, Managing Director of Radio Zürisee.

 

About Radio Zürisee (www.radiozuerisee.ch)

Radio Zürisee is a private Swiss radio station that went on air for the first time on 1 November 1983. This makes it one of the first private radio stations in Switzerland. The presentation format is entertaining and service orientated. The station, which is based in Rapperswil in the Canton of St. Gallen, has been owned by Fabian Villiger Management GmbH since 1 January 2023. Radio Zürisee has a reach of 165,910 listeners and employs 37 people.

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships can count on two new strong partners: Ticketmaster, the world’s leading provider of ticketing solutions for events of all kinds, and the full-service law firm Bratschi AG, that will support the preparations for the event as Official Suppliers with immediate effect.

With the two new Official Suppliers, Ticketmaster for ticketing and Bratschi AG for legal matters, the LOC Zurich 2024 is confident that it will receive expert ticket sales and legal support for the organisation of the global cycling event in just under a year’s time.

“Ticketmaster is the undisputed global benchmark for ticketing and associated communication solutions, and Bratschi AG brings a wealth of legal expertise thanks to the collaboration of its sports team with domestic and foreign sports federations and clubs, athletes, sports organisers, sports marketers, equipment suppliers and sponsors,” emphasises LOC Managing Director Daniel Rupf. “Above all, both companies share our values, our enthusiasm and our goal of making the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships an outstanding, inclusive event and an unforgettable sporting happening in every respect.”

Ticketing and access solutions

While cycling fans will be able to follow all of the races along the routes free of charge, there will be hospitality offers ranging from VIP to basic as well as special offers for which tickets will be sold, particularly in the finish area at Sechseläutenplatz and in the fan zones. Highlights will also include two public races and a charity ride, for which cycling enthusiasts can purchase their tickets. Pre-sales on Ticketmaster.ch will begin in spring 2024 in time for the start of the cycling season.

George Egloff, Managing Director of Ticketmaster Switzerland, emphasises the added value that the partnership will bring to cycling fans: “Ticketmaster will offer fans a convenient and secure way to experience the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships close to the action and enjoy the great atmosphere – with exactly the tickets that suit them.”

Assistance with legal matters

Global sporting events are based on far-reaching agreements that sometimes involve complex legal issues in various areas. The partnership with Bratschi AG ensures that the necessary legal expertise is provided to handle any potential legal matters at an early stage.

For Sandra De Vito, Managing Partner and Delegate of the Board of Directors of Bratschi, the shared values are also at the centre of the cooperation. “Our partnership with the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships is a special opportunity for us as a law firm to make our expertise available to the community and contribute to the success of this event. Cycling inspires and unites. It requires commitment, integrity, perseverance and passion – indispensable qualities that we also emphasise in our work.”

About Ticketmaster Schweiz AG (www.ticketmaster.ch)

Ticketmaster is the world’s leading provider of 360° ticketing solutions and uses its expertise to ensure that events are a success – for fans and artists, event organisers, associations and clubs. Ticketmaster is part of Live Nation Entertainment, the world’s largest live entertainment and e-commerce company. Ticketmaster Switzerland is based in Dübendorf and currently employs 17 people.

 

About Bratschi AG (www.bratschi.ch)

Bratschi Ltd is one of the leading law firms in Switzerland. The full-service law firm with offices in Basel, Berne, Geneva, Lausanne, St. Gallen, Zug and Zurich offers clients a wide range of legal, notarial and consulting services. The focus is on business and tax law and on advising medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs. Approximately 115 experienced specialists advise and represent national and international companies as well as private individuals and the public sector.

The world’s best cyclists will take part in the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships in Zurich. To ensure that next year’s global cycling event can also count on the best hosts, the Zurich 2024 Local Organising Committee has launched the official volunteering campaign with the support of Swiss Volunteers.

Every year, around a fifth of the adult population in Switzerland gets involved in voluntary work in clubs and organisations of all kinds, often in sport. The Local Organising Committee (LOC) Zurich 2024 is hoping for this kind of support for next year’s UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships.

Right at the centre, inclusive and with diverse tasks

Volunteers will be needed for a wide variety of areas, such as infrastructure, services, sport/racing, communication, supporting events, guest support and sustainability. As for the first time in sporting history the Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will be fully organised as a single event, it is particularly important to LOC Zurich 2024 that people with disabilities can also register as volunteers on the recruitment platform.

Daniel Rupf, General Manager of the LOC Zurich 2024, promises that volunteering at the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will provide unique experiences. “Anyone who is part of our #Zurich2024 volunteer team will be in the thick of it instead of just being there. We would like to thank all volunteers already today for their invaluable commitment. Together We Ride – Together We Make It Happen!”

Registration via Swissvolunteers.ch

Interested people can register on the Swiss Volunteers management platform and select their four favourite missions. Volunteers will be required in Zurich, Winterthur, Uster, Gossau ZH or at the race tracks. Catering will be provided throughout the volunteer assignments. Volunteers are also provided with an appropriate uniform.

Applications can be registered under the following link:
https://go.swissvolunteers.ch/discover-events/link/b04a5c3be8ff0004001b62dc71e098d3a7eb4c95

For questions and further information, please contact the Volunteer Management: volunteering@zurich2024.com.

 

About Swiss Volunteers (www.swissvolunteers.ch)

The national non-profit organisation Swiss Volunteers and its volunteer management platform are aimed at people who want to volunteer and event organisers who want to better plan and value the commitment of their volunteers. Swiss Volunteers promotes social exchange and connects people in a meaningful activity for society.

The politically and denominationally neutral organisation does not pursue any commercial purposes and does not seek to make a profit. Swiss Volunteers is guided by the Swiss Olympic Ethics Charter and is committed to joint and respectful involvement at and around events.

International stars Marlen Reusser, Stefan Küng, Flurina Rigling and Fabian Recher as well as former UCI World Champion and Olympic Champion Fabian Cancellara are the first five high-profile ambassadors of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships taking place in Zurich next September. At a media conference to mark the kick-off to the global cycling event, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) Zurich 2024, together with the cantonal and municipal ministers of sports, Cantonal President Mario Fehr and Municipal Councillor Filippo Leutenegger, were able to announce further good news: The UCI has approved the race courses and the race programme for the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships.

 

Buoyed by the traffic solutions that have been agreed with the Children’s Hospital and other opponents and the recent conclusion of another official partnership with Feldschlösschen Getränke AG, the LOC Zurich 2024 is well underway with the preparations for next year’s UCI  World Championships. “In the past few months we have pushed ahead intensively with all our plans and, with the support of the canton and city of Zurich as well as Swiss Cycling, we have reached important milestones,” said Daniel Rupf, Managing Director of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road Championships. “We are delighted that from now on the riders and the sport of cycling will take centre stage.”

“For the first time, athletes in para-cycling and road cycling will be competing on the same routes and crossing the same finish line as part of the same UCI World Championships,” said President Mario Fehr. “These UCI World Championships will play a pioneering role in the inclusion and integration of para-cyclists.”

“With the Sechseläutenplatz, the finish area is right in the heart of the city of Zurich,” emphasised Zurich’s Minister of Sport Filippo Leutenegger. “The UCI World Championships attract worldwide attention and feature cycling at the highest level. The perfect opportunity for the city on the Limmat to showcase its most beautiful side.”

In addition to contributing to the organisation of the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships, the city and canton are supporting various accompanying measures in the areas of cycling promotion and location promotion.

Proud ambassadors on bikes and handbikes

During the joint media conference with Swiss Cycling, the LOC Zurich 2024 presented the first five ambassadors. With UCI World Champions (team time trial – mixed relay) and Olympians Marlen Reusser and Stefan Küng as well as multiple UCI Para-cycling World Champion Flurina Rigling and paralympian Fabian Recher, the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will gain additional charisma. The current quintet of ambassadors is completed by cycling legend Fabian Cancellara. All five are proud to be the first sporting faces of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships.

UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships race courses and race programme approved by the UCI

In close coordination with the LOC Zurich 2024, cycling’s world governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has approved the courses for the various races. The routes correspond to the traffic ordinances of the canton and city of Zurich published at the beginning of 2023. First impressions of what the riders can expect are given in the 3D animations of the routes of the Men Elite Road Race as well as the Women Elite Individual Time Trial. The latter route will also be ridden by Women Under 23 and Men Under 23 as well as by para-cyclists in the B (blind-tandem) and C (cycle) sports classes in the individual races against the clock.

• Women Elite Individual Time Trial
• Men Elite Road Race
• Para-Cycling: Women C4-5 Road Race

The nine-day race programme, which combines para-cycling road and road cycling competitions for the first time, has also been officialised. The 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will open with the Mixed Handbike Team Relay. The individual time trials are scheduled from Sunday, 22 September to Tuesday, 24 September. The road races will take place from Wednesday, 25 September to Sunday, 29 September, with the Men Elite road race concluding the UCI World Championships on Sunday. All information is available at www.zurich2024.com.

Feldschlösschen Getränke AG will be an Official Partner of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland. Feldschlösschen will be visible as a sponsor with its non-alcoholic beer “Feldschlösschen Alkoholfrei” and will also be the exclusive beverage supplier for the various fan zones.

 

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) Zurich 2024 expects around 850,000 spectators for the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships next year in Zurich, Winterthur, Uster and Gossau as well as along the routes – hopefully in beautiful late summer weather. But no one will have to suffer from thirst. As Official Partner, Feldschlösschen Getränke AG will ensure that there will always be sufficient liquid supply in the official UCI World Championships areas.

Strong relationship with major sporting events

The tradition-rich Swiss beverage group and the LOC Zurich 2024 concluded an agreement to this effect at the beginning of November 2023. Feldschlösschen CEO Thomas Amstutz sees next year’s international cycling event as an ideal platform to play to his company’s strengths in supporting major sporting events. “We are very pleased to be a partner of the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships. Non-alcoholic beer in particular goes perfectly with sporting activities and with our wide range of beverages we will provide the right refreshment for every visitor,” Thomas Amstutz said.

Daniel Rupf, Managing Director of LOC Zurich 2024, stated: “The LOC Zurich 2024 is very proud to have found another important official partner in Feldschlösschen Getränke AG. We are delighted to be able to count on this traditional company with strong roots in sport to cater for the numerous fans from home and abroad.”

Wide range of drinks for every taste

The wide range of Feldschlösschen beverages with and without alcohol will be available on tap at the beverage stations in all fan zones as well as at other beverage stands, such as the iconic Open Racecourse in Oerlikon. As part of the agreement, Feldschlösschen will serve Pepsi, mineral water and other drinks in addition to beer with and without alcohol. A special attraction will be the attractive Feldschlösschen Lodge, with which Feldschlösschen will be present in one of the fan zones.

 

About Feldschlösschen Getränke AG (www.feldschloesschen.swiss)

Feldschlösschen, headquartered in Rheinfelden in the canton of Aargau, is the leading brewery and largest beverage distributor in Switzerland. The company has been in existence since 1876 and employs 1200 people at 22 locations throughout Switzerland. With a range of over 40 own-brand Swiss beers and a comprehensive beverage portfolio from mineral water to soft drinks and wine, Feldschlösschen supplies 25,000 customers from the catering, retail and beverage trade sectors.

The Züri Velo Cup, one of the accompanying measures initiated by the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships Zurich, is proving to be a real hit with the public. Reason enough to extend this event until 26 November 2023.

 

The numbers speak for themselves: over 1,600 registrations, more than 1,000 participants who have collected a total of 7500 segments so far, plus 1100 members in the Strava Club. The iconic segments in memory of the legendary Züri Metzgete have got cyclists fully into gear since May 2023. So far, 483 participants have completed all the segments. And those who are only now getting into the mood for a ride haven’t missed out yet. The Züri Velo Cup will be extended until 26 November.

The beautiful and warm summer, which is now turning into an equally sunny late autumn, has contributed to the success. More than 400 bike fans took part in the Open Ride on 7 October – the Züri Metzgete was revived. The community was unanimous in its praise for the organisation of the event. Refreshment stations offering delicious food and drinks made the exertions on the saddle a little more bearable. Sustainability was at the forefront: no long journeys to a defined starting point, reusable or compostable cups for coffee or normal plates for the welcome pasta.

The best proof of how hard the cyclists pedalled are the goodies for the finishers. More than 150 pairs of the exclusive World Championships socks have been sent to the most eager pedalers since the Open Ride weekend.

The idea factory for 2024 is already in full swing. For example, next year’s Züri Velo Cup is to include segments of the official world championships routes. Together we ride!

The 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships put cycling at the centre of attention. With the “lighthouse”, the world championships, and above all through the various accompanying measures, the three hosting entities, the City and Canton of Zurich and Swiss Cycling, are specifically promoting cycling, sports and tourism/location, thus leaving a special legacy.

 

The Zurich 2024 Local Organising Committee has developed a wide range of accompanying measures. Starting with the Züri Velo Cup, which was launched as the first initiative in 2023, they range from the organisation of the first national cycling forum (planned for May 2024) to helping to define a new standard for the construction of a compact bike infrastructure that can be implemented throughout Switzerland. In addition, as of September 2023, Swiss Cycling has created a new position with the aim of promoting young cyclists in the Zurich region – a project with pilot character for other regions as well.

The accompanying measures are already showing the first signs of success. Since its launch in May 2023, the Züri Velo Cup has attracted over 1,000 cyclists to sections of the legendary one-day classic Züri Metzgete. In September, 41,000 cyclists benefited from the extension of the SlowUp route from Zurich to Meilen.

Starting locations are also active. For example in Uster, where top athletes lead a lesson under the label “Stars in the School”, with for example, Swiss ex-cyclist Franco Marvulli who practised with various school classes on the pump track.

Further projects will be launched in 2024. Among other things, curated routes will connect the greater Zurich region and invite visitors to one-day or multi-day experiences – all year round. The routes are presented with GPX data, descriptions, photos and videos and are suitable for a wide range of users. Families or city bikers will get their money’s worth as well as gravel fans and para-cyclists. A dedicated website will facilitate the planning of bike rides and simplify activities for organisers, tour operators and bike clubs.