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. He admitted doping with EPO and raced for the three most notorious doping teams in 1997–9.

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. 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 Induráin, 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 Prologue, Stage 2 & 4 3rd Overall Volta a Catalunya 4th Trofeo Masferrer 1992

1st Stage 1b (ITT)

1st Stage 5 (ITT)

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 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 Stages 3 & 5b (ITT)

1st Stage 2b 1st Challenge Mallorca 1st Stage 16 Vuelta a España 2nd Overall Tour de Suisse

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 Stage 15

1st Prologue, Stages 3 (ITT) & 6 (ITT)

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 Stage 21 (ITT)

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 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 Prologue

1st Stage 5 (ITT) 2nd Overall Tour de Romandie

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

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish