Züri Velo Cup – Winter Quest

From 21 December to 21 March, the mission is to collect 9 municipalities around Zurich. Three new ones unlock every month – visit them, collect points and stay active through the winter!

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The Winter Velo Cup is the wintry continuation of the Züri Velo Cup – effectively the format's third edition, just in a thick jacket instead of a short-sleeve jersey. From December to March, nine municipalities around Zurich become a personal winter quest: whoever collects them all stays active outdoors through the entire cold season instead of sweating on the indoor trainer in the "pain cave".

Who is it for?

• Hobby cyclists who want to keep riding outdoors in winter – with a clear but relaxed goal.
• Everyday and leisure riders who need an extra push of motivation not to be glued to the sofa in December, January and February.
• Communities and groups of friends who want to pull each other outside – no race stress, but a shared winter challenge.

How does it work?

• Checkpoints instead of segments: nine selected municipalities around Zurich act as checkpoints. A municipality counts as "collected" when your GPS recording passes through it, starts there or ends there.
• Staggered across the winter:
  • Period: 21 December to 21 March
  • Every month, 3 new municipalities unlock – 9 in total.
  • Expired municipalities cannot be made up later – which keeps the incentive to genuinely stay on it.
• Digital participation:
  • Register once online and connect your Strava or Garmin account to the Winter Quest.
  • Your rides are imported automatically, matched against the reference zones and scored as checkpoints – thanks to LaceUp's GPS matching.
• Finishers instead of race stress:
  • Whoever collects all nine municipalities between 21 December and 21 March counts as a Winter Quest finisher.

What distinguishes the Winter Velo Cup from the summer Züri Velo Cup?

1. Focus: checkpoints instead of a race course

• Summer: collecting road-bike segments of the "Züri Metzgete" and the world-championship courses – more performance-oriented.
• Winter: collecting municipalities as checkpoints – free choice of route, no race character, more discovering and keeping at it through the winter routine.

2. Mechanics: trophy/geocaching instead of a segment cup

• Summer cup: segments closely tied to the pro courses – the "I rode the world-championship course" feeling.
• Winter cup: works like a trophy / geocaching for sports events – municipalities are digital goals you earn.

3. Structure: a season challenge with rhythm

• Summer: collect segments over several weeks, often spontaneously.
• Winter: a clear monthly structure – three new municipalities each month, available only for a limited time. That builds a light, playful "pressure" to actually get out.

4. Scoring: experience & consistency instead of speed

• Both formats do without classic race timing – but the Winter Velo Cup centres even more on:
  • Keeping at it instead of best times
  • Finisher status, points & badges instead of a speed ranking.

The benefit: motivation to get on the bike in winter

The Winter Velo Cup addresses exactly the problem everyone knows: short days, cold fingers, fading motivation. The format creates concrete value here:

• A low entry barrier:
  • No start time, no mass start, no race stress.
  • Three rides are already enough to collect all municipalities of a month – everything else is a bonus.
• A steady motivational rhythm:
  • The monthly unlock of new municipalities creates a recurring reason to get on the bike.
  • Whoever misses a municipality feels it directly – which motivates you to beat your weaker self in time.
• Gamification instead of obligation:
  • Points, badges and finisher status turn winter training into a game – "Which municipality am I still missing?" instead of "I really should ride again".
• Outdoors instead of the trainer:
  • An explicit counter-proposal to the indoor trainer: fresh air, quiet roads, new perspectives on familiar places.
  • The connection to the region remains, and participants experience Zurich and its surroundings in a completely different season.

In short: the Winter Velo Cup turns the dark months into a playful, structured winter challenge – and keeps the community moving outdoors until the summer Züri Velo Cup calls again.

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