Alex Zülle

"Zulle" redirects here. The Zulle is a tributary of the Dender, a river in Belgium.

Alex Zülle

Personal information
Full name	Alex Zülle
Nickname	Perro Loco "Rompetechos"
Born	(1968-07-05) 5 July 1968 Wil, Switzerland
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 2 Stages Giro d'Italia 3 Stages Vuelta a España General Classification (1996, 1997) 9 Stages Stage Races Tour de Suisse General classification (2002) Vuelta al País Vasco General classification (1995, 1997) Paris-Nice General classification (1993) Volta a Catalunya (1996) Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme (1992, 1996) Single-Day Races and Classics World Time-Trial Champion (1996)
Medal record Representing Switzerland Road bicycle racing World Championships 1996 Lugano élite time-trial

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

Biography

Early career

Zülle was born and brought up in Wil in the canton of St. Gallen, son of a Swiss father, Walter Zülle and Wilhelmine, from Brabant, Netherlands. As a child he wanted to be a skier but at 18 he was injured in an accident. He began cycling in Holland for rehabilitation before giving up because it was too windy.

His father, having bought cycling equipment, persuaded him to give cycling another go when they returned to Switzerland. After several years as a successful amateur, Zülle turned professional in 1991. He approached the former sporting director of the Swiss team, Helvetia, Paul Köchli, but Köchli signed Laurent Dufaux instead.

Zülle then approached Manolo Saiz, but was rebuffed because, among reasons, he did not contract riders who wore earrings. Eventually, Saiz softened and Zülle rode for ONCE as a stagaire or apprentice in the Volta a Catalunya. He attacked frequently and finished third. Saiz relented and Zülle signed his first professional contract in September 1991. He remained with ONCE until 1997. Most of its riders were Spanish. Zülle spoke only Swiss-German when he joined but at the end of the Vuelta a España he answered journalists in Spanish.

Festina affair

In 1998, Zülle joined Festina. The team was banned from the 1998 Tour de France amid doping allegations which later became known as the Festina affair. Five Festina riders including Zülle admitted taking EPO. Zülle said he took it to satisfy his sponsors. He also said he was deprived of his spectacles during the police interview. On 28 November 1998, Zülle's haematocrit was found to be 52.3%, 2.3% over the limit.

1999–2004

His career coincided with that of Miguel Indurain, five-time Tour de France winner, and of Lance Armstrong, who won seven times. Zülle never won the Tour but twice finished second. He did win the Vuelta and Tour de Suisse, and stages in the Giro d'Italia.

Zülle retired in 2004, and held a party for his fans in Wil in October that year.

Palmarès

1992

1st Overall, Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme

1st Overall, Vuelta a Asturias

1st Overall, Vuelta a Burgos

1st, Escalada a Montjuïc

1993

Paris–Nice

1st Stage 1 and 8

Vuelta a España

1st Stage 1, 6 and 21

2nd Overall

Chur-Arosa

Josef Voegeli Memorial

3rd Overall Vuelta al País Vasco

1994

4th Overall, Vuelta a España

1995

Tour de France

1st Stage 9

2nd Overall

Vuelta al País Vasco

1st Overall, Stage 3 and Stage 5(b)

Vuelta a Valencia

1st Overall, Stage 2(b)

Challenge Mallorca

Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme

1st Stage 5(b)

2nd Overall

Euskal Bizikleta

1st Stage 4(b)

2nd Overall

Tour de Suisse

1st Stage 1, 6 and Points Classification

2nd Overall

3rd Overall, Paris–Nice

1st Stage 16, Vuelta a España

1996

Template:FlagiconUCI World Time-Trial Championship (1996)

Vuelta a España

1st Overall and Stage 15

Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme

1st Overall, Stage 3 and 5(b)

Volta a Catalunya

1st Overall, Prologue, Stage 3 and 6

GP Miguel Indurain

Euskal Bizikleta

1st Stage 4(b)

2nd Overall

1st Prologue, Tour de France

1997

Vuelta a España

1st Overall and Stage 21

Vuelta al País Vasco

1st Overall and Stage 5(b)

2nd Overall, Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme

2nd Milano–Torino

3rd La Flèche Wallonne

1998

Tour de Romandie

1st Stage 4(b)

2nd Overall

Giro d'Italia

1st Prologue, Stage 6 and 15

3rd Overall, Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme

3rd Overall, Vuelta al País Vasco

1st Stage 21, Vuelta a España

1999

À travers Lausanne

2nd Overall, Tour de France

1st Stage 13, Vuelta a España

2000

Volta ao Algarve

1st Stage 1, Vuelta a España

2001

1st Stage a, Paris–Nice

2002

Tour de Suisse

1st Overall and Stage 1

Tour de Romandie

1st Stage 4, 5 and Points Classification

2nd Overall

Grand Tour Results (2 victories)

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Tour de France
General classification	DNF	41st	8th	2nd	26th	DNF	DNF	2nd	DNF	-	-	-
Mountains classification	-	-	-	3rd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Points classification	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Youth classification	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Stages won	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Giro d'Italia
General classification	-	-	-	-	-		14th	DNF	-	-	-	-
Mountains classification	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Points classification	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Youth classification	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Stages won	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-
Vuelta a España
General classification	DNF	2nd	4th	20th	1st	1st	8th	37th	49th	109th	-	DNF
Mountains classification	-	2nd	-	3rd	-	2nd	-	-	-	-	-	-
Points classification	-	2nd	3rd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Combination classification	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Stages won	-	3	-	1	1	1	1	1	1	-	-	-

See also

• Doping at the Tour de France
• List of doping cases in cycling
• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

External links

• Official website Template:De icon, some content available in English
• Alex Zülle collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Template:Worldcat id