Alex Zülle

Alex Zülle
	Alex Zülle 1993
To person
Date of birth	5th July 1968
nation	Switzerland
discipline	Street
doping
1998	Festina affair
Team (s)
1991–1997 ; 1998 ; 1999–2000 ; 2001–2003 ; 2003–2004	ONCE ; Festina ; Banesto ; Coast ; Phonak
Most important successes
	Overall ranking Vuelta a España 1996 and 1997 Time trial world champion 1996

Alex Zülle (born July 5, 1968 in Wil SG , residing in Zuckenriet SG ) is a former Swiss cyclist . His greatest successes include two overall victories in the Vuelta a España and a world title in the individual time trial . He also finished second in the Tour de France twice .

Career

Zülle won the Tour of Eastern Switzerland as an amateur (he was a member of the VC Fischingen association ) . He began his professional career in 1991 with the ONCE cycling team , where he developed into a specialist in stage races and time trials . He finished second in the 1995 Tour de France and won the Vuelta a España in 1996 and 1997 . In 1996 he also became world champion in the time trial. Zülle also briefly took the lead in the UCI world rankings twice in 1996 and 1997 .

For the 1998 season, Zülle moved to the French Festina team, led by Richardirusenque , second in the 1997 Tour de France, and Laurent Dufaux , second in the Vuelta a España in 1996.

The following year, Zülle competed for Festina in the 1998 Giro d'Italia for the first time . The Swiss won three stages and wore the pink jersey for twelve stages with short breaks. On the last mountain arrival of the tour, however, he collapsed completely and lost over half an hour, so that he ended up in 14th place in the final classification. These extreme fluctuations in performance were attributed to the abuse of cortisone by the nurse, who later became key witness Willy Voet .

At the 1998 Tour de France he was one of the co-favorites with Virenque, but after a few days he found himself in the center of the Festina affair , in which a systematic doping practice in his Festina team was uncovered. After initial denial, Zülle, like almost all teammates, tearfully admitted the use of prohibited substances. On October 1, 1998, the doping commission of the Swiss Cycling Federation imposed an eight-month ban on Zülle.

After his suspension had expired, Zülle finished second behind Lance Armstrong in the 1999 Tour de France . He was involved in a mass fall in the early stages of the tour, where he lost over six minutes in the overall standings. The stage led over a dam, the Passage du Gois , which was only passable at low tide and which had become slippery from sea water. In 2012 Armstrong was stripped of the tour victory for doping; the first place remains vacant, so that Zülle continues to run as second in the 1999 Tour de France.

However, he was unable to build on his previous achievements. His last big success was the victory at the Tour de Suisse 2002 with a lead of 1:27 minutes on the Poland Piotr Wadecki . After the 2004 season, Zülle resigned.