How to Wear a Cycling Cap: Alex Zulle

Even at a young age Zulle, who "found" cycling following a skiing injury, knew to position his cap at the familiar top-of-head perch. 

Zulle raced as a professional between 1991 and 2004, first with ONCE (91-97), then with Festina (1998), Bannesto (1999-2000), Coast (2001-2002), and finished up with Phonak (2003-2004). Those first few years would have placed him in direct competition with the Miguel Indurain and his Bannesto machine; ONCE and Bannesto were the two biggest Spanish teams in those years.

Statistically, Zulle is one of the most successful of Swiss riders with two overall victories at the Vuelta a Espana, and stage wins at both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia. Additional important victories were claimed by him at the Tour de Suisse, Tour of the Basque Country, Paris-Nice, World Time Trial Championships, Vuelta a Asturias, Vuelta a Burgos, Vuelta a Valencia, the Montjuic Hillclimb, and many others. How the critical eye of history judges these wins in light of the Festina Affair (following which Zulle admitted to the use of performance enhancing drugs), and what he might have accomplished by racing clean, will forever be the question.