Alex Zülle

Personal information
Full name	Alex Zülle
Nickname	Perro Loco "Rompetechos"
Date of birth	July 5, 1968 (1968-07-05) (age 41)
Country	Switzerland
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Professional team(s)1
1991–1997 1998 1999–2000 2001–2002 2003–2004	ONCE Festina Banesto Team Coast Phonak
Major wins
Vuelta a España (1996, 1997), 9 stages World Time-Trial Champion (1996) Giro d'Italia, 3 stages Tour de France, 2 stages Tour de Suisse (2002) Vuelta al País Vasco (1995, 1997)
Medal record Competitor for  Switzerland Road bicycle racing World Championships Gold 1996 Lugano élite time-trial
Infobox last updated on:
August 14, 2007 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

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

[edit] Biography

[edit] 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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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.^[2] He remained with ONCE until 1997. ^[3]. 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.^[4]

[edit] 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.^[5] Zülle said he took it to satisfy his sponsors. He also said he was deprived of his spectacles during the police interview.^[6] On 28 November 1998, Zülle's haematocrit was found to be 52.3%, 2.3% over the limit.

[edit] 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 a España|Vuelta, Giro d'Italia, Tour de Suisse and the Tour de Romandie.

Zülle retired in 2004, and held a party for his fans in Wil in October that year.^[7]

[edit] Palmarès

[edit] Grand Tour Results (2 victories)

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2001	2002
Tour de France
General classification	DNF	41st	8th	2nd	26th	DNF	DNF	2nd	-	-
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	-	49th	109th	-
Mountains classification	-	2nd	-	3rd	-	2nd	-	-	-	-
Points classification	-	2nd	3rd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Combination classification	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Stages won	-	3	-	1	1	1	-	1	-	-

[edit] See also

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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website (German), some content available in English