::: I want to prove it to myself again

Alex Zülle had a pretty disastrous season in 2001. He started with an outstanding win in the Queen stage of Paris-Nice, but after that came: nothing. The Swiss press went to town criticising the two-time Vuelta winner and the Tour de France runner-up of 1999. But Team Coast is holding onto the 33-year-old Swiss rider with the millionaire's salary and hopes that he can recreate his glories of the past. Radsport-News.com spoke with Zülle about the last and the upcoming season.

RADSPORT-NEWS.COM: Alex Zülle, your last season wasn't so great. What went wrong?

Well, I trained well before the season started. I had good form coming into the training camp in Mexico. And I got a good start with the stage win in Paris-Nice. But then, somehow, I couldn't keep it up. I just didn't get into the swing of it. Nothing worked. And then you start to have doubts, and I just never got out of that hole. But I've dealt with all that. I'm starting over. I'm sure that in 2002 I will do better again.

RADSPORT-NEWS.COM: What are your goals for the coming season?

First, Paris-Nice and also the Criterium International are important, for me and for the team because of the Tour de France - we have to do well in order to get invited. But all the other teams who are also hoping for a wildcard think that way, too, so that makes it more difficult. The spanish tours are important for me personally, first Valencia and then the Baskenland tour. I have set up my program so that I will be in top form for the Tour of the Basque Country.

RADSPORT-NEWS.COM: And how about the Grand Tours?

Well, we'll ride the Giro and the Vuelta for sure. I don't know yet whether I will ride the Giro. I'll wait on that decision a while. I have only ridden it one time in my career. It's a great tour, but I would rather wait. If we should be invited to the Tour de France, then I would ride the Tour instead of the Giro. So I don't want to announce my start in the Giro, when maybe I won't ride it. There are enough people already who will definitely be there and say, we will ride the Giro. But when they suddenly get into the Tour, then they let the Giro fall...

RADSPORT-NEWS.COM: Tour de France -- do you think you will realize that dream this year?

It would be incredibly important for the sponsor. A dream? Well, you can't just up and go to the Tour. You have to be in shape, you have to be accepted by the organizers. I've been in the Tour many times already. Every Tour start is very, very important, also for me personally. I won't be riding that many more years, I would really like to be able to show something at the Tour again.

RADSPORT-NEWS.COM: It didn't work out last year with a Tour invitation. Why are you more optimistic this year?

Last year we weren't really disappointed at not getting an invitation. Although we had more than 20 riders on the team, many of them were very young. We almost always appeared with the same eight or nine riders. We accepted the Tour's decision and hadn't really counted on an invitation. Later we were in the Vuelta and didn't do too badly there, with Fernando (Escartin) as Captain. But the press expected a lot more, as did we. But that doesn't matter any more. This is another year and we'll see what happens.

RADSPORT-NEWS.COM: Coast has strengthened itself. How do you see that?

On paper we are very strong. But we can't prove anything with a theoretically strong team. We now have more leaders, more riders who can win a race. It's up to us riders to put the theory into practice. The team management has to look carefully, who they use where. The individual race planning is very important. I'm glad that in addition to team boss Wolfram Lindner we now have Juan Fernandez as a sports director. I know Fernandez from 1998, when I worked with him for a month before the Vuelta, when he came to Festina that fall. Juan brings a lot to the team.

RADSPORT-NEWS.COM: What is your role in the team? One could assume, that with the signing of such new stars as Casero or Beltran, an Alex Zülle won't be playing a starring role any more, especially after his bad season last year.

When someone else rides better than me, then I don't have any problem working for him. But that works both ways, I think. When Alex Zülle is in shape, then they will work for me. The team is the most important thing. You have to be flexible. For example, if one of the "smaller" riders suddenly does well, and has a chance to win, then we will all have to work for him. Big star or not, that's not the point.

RADSPORT-NEWS.COM: But you don't really want to be just a watercarrier for the others this season.

No, of course I want to get back to the top. I really want to do that. And when I do, then I'll get all the attention I need. That's almost automatic.

RADSPORT-NEWS.COM: Were you disappointed by the negative media reports about you last year?

Disappointed? Well, if I were a journalist, I would probably have done the same thing.... The criticism, the negative reports, that's all a part of it. When you sign a contract, you are signing up not just for positive things. You have to be able to deal with the other side of things, that's how you prove whether you're a real sportsman or not. Of course that sounds a lot easier than it is. I've had the bad times. I've been really down, and when you read the negative reports, that doesn't necessarily motivate you to do better. And I'm surely not the only one in sports to react that way.

RADSPORT-NEWS.COM: But you've had some low blows, too?

I've had times in the past where I wasn't satisfied with myself, and then the public criticism comes, too. It is simply so. You have to just live with it and overcome it. And in the end, that is what makes the difference between a rider and a great rider. I think I have proved a lot in my career. What I do now, I do for the team and for myself. I want to show character. I want to to prove it again. That is my motivation, that's why I am still here.