Alex Zülle facts for kids
Zülle at the 1993 Tour de France
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alex Zülle | ||
| Nickname | Perro Loco "Rompetechos" | ||
| Born | 5 July 1968 Wil, Switzerland |
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| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Weight | 72 kg (159 lb; 11 st 5 lb) | ||
| Team information | |||
| Discipline | Road | ||
| Role | Rider | ||
| Rider type | All-rounder | ||
| Major wins | |||
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Alex Zülle (born 5 July 1968) is a Swiss former professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the best cyclists in the world during the 1990s. He won the Vuelta a España race twice, in 1996 and 1997. He also finished second in the Tour de France in 1995 and 1999. In 1996, he became the world champion in the time-trial race in Lugano.
Contents
Alex Zülle's Cycling Journey
Starting Out in Cycling
Alex Zülle was born and grew up in Wil, Switzerland. When he was younger, he dreamed of becoming a skier. However, at 18, he had an accident that caused an injury. To help with his recovery, he started cycling in the Netherlands. He stopped for a while because it was too windy there.
His father bought him cycling gear and convinced him to try cycling again when they returned to Switzerland. After several successful years as an amateur rider, Zülle became a professional cyclist in 1991. He joined the ONCE team in September 1991 and stayed with them until 1997. When he first joined, he only spoke Swiss-German. But by the end of the 1993 Vuelta a España, he was able to answer reporters in Spanish.
A Challenging Year in 1998
In 1998, Alex Zülle joined the Festina cycling team. That year, the team faced some difficulties and was not allowed to compete in the 1998 Tour de France. This event became widely known as the Festina affair.
Later Career and Retirement
Alex Zülle's career happened at the same time as Miguel Induráin, who won the Tour de France five times. Zülle himself finished second in the Tour de France in 1999. He also won the Vuelta a España and the Tour de Suisse. He won individual stages in the Giro d'Italia as well.
Due to money problems with his team, Team Coast, Zülle moved to Phonak in March 2003. Alex Zülle retired from professional cycling in 2004. He held a special party for his fans in Wil that October.
Alex Zülle's Main Achievements
Top Race 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 (Time Trial)
- 1st Overall Vuelta a Burgos
- 1st Stage 5 (Time Trial)
- 1st Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
- 1st Stage 1a
- 1st Stage 4 (Time Trial) 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 (Time Trial)
- 1st Chur-Arosa
- 1st Josef Voegeli Memorial
- 2nd Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Stages 1 (Time Trial), 6 (Time Trial) & 21 (Time Trial)
- 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 3rd Overall Critérium International
- 5th Overall Euskal Bizikleta
- 6th Overall Volta a Catalunya
- 1994
- 1st Stage 1 (Time Trial) Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Stage 6 (Time Trial) 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 (Time Trial)
- 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 (Time Trial)
- 2nd Overall Tour de France
- 1st Stage 9
- 2nd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
- 1st Stage 5b (Time Trial)
- 2nd Overall Euskal Bizikleta
- 1st Stage 4b (Time Trial)
- 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 (Time Trial) & 6 (Time Trial)
- 1st Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
- 1st Stage 3 & 5b (Time Trial)
- 1st GP Miguel Indurain
- 1st Prologue Tour de France
- 2nd Overall Euskal Bizikleta
- 1st Stage 4b (Time Trial)
- 7th Time trial, Olympic Games
- 8th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
- 1997
- 1st Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 21 (Time Trial)
- 1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stage 5b (Time Trial)
- 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 (Time Trial)
- 2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
- 1st Stage 4b (Time Trial)
- 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 3rd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
- 1st Stage 5b (Time Trial)
- 4th Overall Paris–Nice
- 5th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Christophe Bassons)
- 8th Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 21 (Time Trial)
- 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 (Time Trial)
- 1st Stage 1 (Time Trial) 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 (Time Trial)
- 2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 4 & 5 (Time Trial)
- 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
Grand Tour Race Results
| 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 compete 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 |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
See also
In Spanish: Alex Zülle para niños
