Zülle pulls out of Tour
The Swiss cyclist, Alex Zülle, has withdrawn from the Tour de France during the 17th stage of the race, which is rolling through Switzerland.
Last year's runner-up fell behind the main pack during the last climb of this year's race, the Col de Mosses, and withdrew with over 100 kilometres to go before Wednesday's finish line in Lausanne.
The Banesto team leader has had a disappointing Tour. He was lying in 47th place in the overall standings, one hour and 26 minutes behind the leader, Lance Armstrong, of the United States.
Zülle has twice finished second in the Tour, in 1995 and 1999. His withdrawal leaves just two Swiss riders in the field: Markus Zberg and Roland Meier.
The 32-year-old was the second top rider on Wednesday to pull out of the race. Earlier, the 1998 winner, Marco Pantani of Italy, hung up his saddle.
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