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 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
See also
Doping at the Tour de France
List of doping cases in cycling
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
Swiss male cyclists
1968 births
Living people
Vuelta a España winners
Olympic cyclists for Switzerland
Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Tour de France prologue winners
Swiss Giro d'Italia stage winners
Doping cases in cycling
Swiss Vuelta a España stage winners
Swiss sportspeople in doping cases
People from Wil
Tour de Suisse stage winners
Sportspeople from the canton of St. Gallen
Vuelta a Asturias winners