# Alex Zülle

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.

## 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 the Netherlands 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-times Tour de France winner. Zülle was second in the Tour in 1999. He also won the Vuelta a España and Tour de Suisse, and stages in the Giro d'Italia. Following financial problems for his employer, Team Coast, Zülle transferred to Phonak on 27 March 2003 in a rare mid-season switch.
Zülle retired in 2004, and held a party for his fans in Wil in October that year.

## Career achievements
### Major results
#### 1990

    1st Flèche du Sud

#### 1991

    1st Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell
       1st Prologue, Stage 2 & 4
    3rd Overall Volta a Catalunya
    4th Trofeo Masferrer

#### 1992

    1st Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
    1st Overall Vuelta a Asturias
       1st Stage 1b (ITT)
    1st Overall Vuelta a Burgos
       1st Stage 5 (ITT)
    1st Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
       1st Stage 1a
    1st Stage 4 (ITT) Volta a Catalunya
    1st Stage 2 Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
    3rd Gran Piemonte
    4th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
    4th Grand Prix des Nations
    5th Milano–Torino
    9th Wincanton Classic

#### 1993

    1st Overall Paris–Nice
       1st Prologue & Stage 7b (ITT)
    1st Chur-Arosa
    1st Josef Voegeli Memorial
    2nd Overall Vuelta a España
       1st Stages 1 (ITT), 6 (ITT) & 21 (ITT)
    3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
    3rd Overall Critérium International
    5th Overall Euskal Bizikleta
    6th Overall Volta a Catalunya

#### 1994

    1st Stage 1 (ITT) Volta a Catalunya
    1st Stage 6 (ITT) Vuelta a Aragón
    2nd Overall Vuelta a La Rioja
    4th Overall Vuelta a España
    8th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

#### 1995

    1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country
       1st Stages 3 & 5b (ITT)
    1st Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
       1st Stage 2b
    1st Challenge Mallorca
    1st Stage 16 Vuelta a España
    2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
       1st Points classification
       1st Prologue & Stage 5 (ITT)
    2nd Overall Tour de France
       1st Stage 9
    2nd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
       1st Stage 5b (ITT)
    2nd Overall Euskal Bizikleta
       1st Stage 4b (ITT)
    3rd Overall Paris–Nice

#### 1996

    1st Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
    1st Overall Vuelta a España
       1st Stage 15
    1st Overall Volta a Catalunya
       1st Prologue, Stages 3 (ITT) & 6 (ITT)
    1st Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
       1st Stage 3 & 5b (ITT)
    1st GP Miguel Indurain
    1st Prologue Tour de France
    2nd Overall Euskal Bizikleta
       1st Stage 4b (ITT)
    7th Time trial, Olympic Games
    8th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc

#### 1997

    1st Overall Vuelta a España
       1st Stage 21 (ITT)
    1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country
       1st Stage 5b (ITT)
    2nd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
    2nd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
    2nd Milano–Torino
    3rd La Flèche Wallonne
    5th Overall Vuelta a Murcia

#### 1998

    Giro d'Italia
       1st Prologue, Stages 6 & 15 (ITT)
    2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
       1st Stage 4b (ITT)
    3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
    3rd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
       1st Stage 5b (ITT)
    4th Overall Paris–Nice
    5th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Christophe Bassons)
    8th Overall Vuelta a España
       1st Stage 21 (ITT)

#### 1999

    1st À travers Lausanne
    1st Stage 13 Vuelta a España
    2nd Overall Tour de France
    6th Breitling Grand Prix (with José Vicente García
    10th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships

#### 2000

    1st Overall Volta ao Algarve
       1st Stage 4 (ITT)
    1st Stage 1 (ITT) Vuelta a España
    4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
    7th Overall Euskal Bizikleta

#### 2001

    1st Stage 4 Paris–Nice
    3rd Overall Vuelta a Asturias
    9th Overall Tour of the Basque Country

#### 2002

    1st Overall Tour de Suisse
       1st Prologue
    1st Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
       1st Stage 5 (ITT)
    2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 4 & 5 (ITT)
    2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve
       1st Stage 2
    4th GP Triberg-Schwarzwald
    5th Deutschland Tour

#### 2003

    3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
    7th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

#### 2004

    5th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

#### General classification results timeline

Grand Tour general classification results :
| Grand Tour | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | DNF | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour de France | — | DNF | 41 | 8 | 2 | 26 | DNF | DNF | 2 | DNF | — | — | — | — |
| / Vuelta a España | — | DNF | 2 | 4 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 37 | 49 | 109 | — | DNF | — |
| Major stage race general classification results |||||||||||||||
| Race | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| / Paris–Nice | — | — | 1 | 53 | 3 | — | — | 4 | — | — | 17 | 17 | — | 25 |
| Tirreno–Adriatico | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career | did not contest during his career |
| Tour of the Basque Country | — | 4 | 3 | — | 1 | DNF | 1 | 3 | — | — | 9 | DNF | 58 | DNF |
| / Tour de Romandie | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 33 | — | — | 2 | 17 | DNF |
| Critérium du Dauphiné | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Volta a Catalunya | 3 | 14 | 6 | 21 | — | 1 | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour de Suisse | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | DNF | — | — | — | 22 | 1 | 22 | 54 |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |