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The Most Famous

CYCLISTS from Switzerland

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This page contains a list of the greatest Swiss Cyclists. The pantheon dataset contains 1,214 Cyclists, 43 of which were born in Switzerland. This makes Switzerland the birth place of the 11th most number of Cyclists behind Denmark and United States.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Swiss Cyclists of all time. This list of famous Swiss Cyclists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Swiss Cyclists.

Photo of Hugo Koblet

1. Hugo Koblet (1925 - 1964)

With an HPI of 55.60, Hugo Koblet is the most famous Swiss Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Hugo Koblet (pronounced [ˈhuːɡo ˈkoːblɛt]; 21 March 1925 – 6 November 1964) was a Swiss champion cyclist. He won the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia as well as competing in six-day and pursuit races on the track. He won 70 races as a professional. He died in a car accident amid speculation that he had committed suicide.

Photo of Ferdinand Kübler

2. Ferdinand Kübler (1919 - 2016)

With an HPI of 54.82, Ferdinand Kübler is the 2nd most famous Swiss Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Ferdinand Kübler (pronounced [ˈfɛrdinand ˈkyːblər]; 24 July 1919 – 29 December 2016) was a Swiss cyclist with 71 professional victories, including the 1950 Tour de France and the 1951 World Road Race Championship.

Photo of Fabian Cancellara

3. Fabian Cancellara (1981 - )

With an HPI of 48.32, Fabian Cancellara is the 3rd most famous Swiss Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 47 different languages.

Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam Lidl–Trek. He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began road cycling after falling in love with an old bike at the age of thirteen. After that, he began to take the sport more seriously and won two consecutive World Junior Time Trial Championships in 1998 and 1999. At age nineteen he turned professional and signed with the Mapei–Quick-Step team, where he rode as a stagiaire. He is known for being a quality time trialist, a one-day classics specialist, and a workhorse for his teammates who have general classification aspirations. After winning a few stages and small races in his starting years, Cancellara earned his first major victory at the 2004 Tour de France where he won the opening prologue time trial and wore the race leader yellow jersey for one day. The following season saw fewer victories, but his 2006 season saw a victory in the men's time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, along with victory at the Paris–Roubaix. Cancellara repeated as world champion in the time trial the next year, along with winning two stages at the Tour de France. During the 2008 calendar he won gold at the Summer Olympics in the individual time trial event and the Milan–San Remo. The next season saw Cancellara again become world time trial champion and lead both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. In 2010, he won the Paris–Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. Cancellara's 2011 and 2012 campaigns were both short in number of victories, while the latter was hampered by injuries throughout. After a lackluster two-year period, Cancellara again won the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix double in 2013. In 2014, Cancellara repeated as winner of the Tour of Flanders. Since turning professional in 2000, Cancellara has ridden for four professional teams. He has achieved great success in the classic monuments; he has won Paris–Roubaix three times, the Milan–San Remo once, and the Tour of Flanders three times. Cancellara has won the opening stage of the Tour de France five times and has led the race for 29 days total, which is the most of any rider who has not won the Tour. His success has not been limited to just time trials and classics, as he has won general classification of the Tirreno–Adriatico, Tour de Suisse, and the Tour of Oman. In 2008, he won gold in the individual time trial and silver in the men's road race at the Summer Olympics. In 2016, he won Olympic gold in the individual time trial for the second time in his career. In addition, Cancellara has been the time trial world champion four times in his career.

Photo of Carlo Clerici

4. Carlo Clerici (1929 - 2007)

With an HPI of 48.24, Carlo Clerici is the 4th most famous Swiss Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Carlo Clerici (3 September 1929 – 28 January 2007) was a Swiss professional road bicycle racer. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1954 Giro d'Italia.

Photo of Fritz Schär

5. Fritz Schär (1926 - 1997)

With an HPI of 47.81, Fritz Schär is the 5th most famous Swiss Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Fritz Schär (13 March 1926 in Kaltenbach – 29 September 1997 in Frauenfeld) was a Swiss cyclist who in 1953 won the first points classification ever in the Tour de France. He also finished third in the general classification in the 1954 Tour de France. He was the Swiss National Road Race champion in 1953.

Photo of Alex Zülle

6. Alex Zülle (1968 - )

With an HPI of 46.04, Alex Zülle is the 6th most famous Swiss Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Alex Zülle (born 5 July 1968) is a Swiss former professional road bicycle racer. During the 1990s he was one of the most successful cyclists in the world, winning the 1996 and 1997 Vuelta a España, taking second place in the 1995 and the 1999 Tour de France. He was world time-trial champion in Lugano in 1996.

Photo of Gianni Bugno

7. Gianni Bugno (1964 - )

With an HPI of 45.72, Gianni Bugno is the 7th most famous Swiss Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Gianni Bugno (Italian: [ˈdʒanni ˈbuɲɲo]; born 14 February 1964) is a retired Italian professional road racing cyclist.

Photo of Pascal Richard

8. Pascal Richard (1964 - )

With an HPI of 42.17, Pascal Richard is the 8th most famous Swiss Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Pascal Richard (born 16 March 1964) is a French-speaking Swiss former racing cyclist. He is most notable as a former King of the Mountains winner at the Giro d'Italia and Olympic Games gold medalist. He won the Swiss National Road Race championship in 1989 and 1993.

Photo of Mauro Gianetti

9. Mauro Gianetti (1964 - )

With an HPI of 41.24, Mauro Gianetti is the 9th most famous Swiss Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Mauro Gianetti (born 16 March 1964 in Lugano) is a Swiss former professional road cyclist and later directeur sportif. Gianetti was employed as team manager for the Saunier Duval–Prodir cycling team throughout its existence between 2004 and 2011. Several riders have been sanctioned for doping violations that occurred during his tenure as directeur sportif, including Riccardo Riccò and Juan José Cobo. Gianetti currently sits on the Board of Directors of UAE Team Emirates.With over 30 professional victories, Gianetti's biggest career accomplishments as a rider include winning the 1995 Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Amstel Gold Race and representing Switzerland at the 2000 Summer Olympics. His son Noé Gianetti was also a professional cyclist.

Photo of Urs Zimmermann

10. Urs Zimmermann (1959 - )

With an HPI of 40.11, Urs Zimmermann is the 10th most famous Swiss Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Urs Zimmermann (born 29 November 1959 in Mühledorf) is a Swiss former professional road racing cyclist. He stood on the podium in two of the three Grand Tour events after finishing third in 1986 Tour de France and 1988 Giro d'Italia. He also won several stage races such as the Tour de Suisse, Dauphiné Libéré and Critérium International. After the eleventh stage of the 1991 Tour de France, there was a rest day, on which the cyclists were transferred from Nantes to Pau, by airplane. Zimmermann had a fear of flying, so he refused to use the airplane. The jury then disqualified him, but after the other cyclists protested, he was allowed to use other means of transportation.He was the Swiss National Road Race champion in 1986.

Pantheon has 43 people classified as cyclists born between 1919 and 1998. Of these 43, 38 (88.37%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living cyclists include Fabian Cancellara, Alex Zülle, and Gianni Bugno. The most famous deceased cyclists include Hugo Koblet, Ferdinand Kübler, and Carlo Clerici. As of April 2022, 7 new cyclists have been added to Pantheon including Urs Zimmermann, Beat Breu, and Marc Hirschi.

Living Cyclists

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Deceased Cyclists

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Newly Added Cyclists (2022)

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Which Cyclists were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 5 most globally memorable Cyclists since 1700.