Cycling: Zulle basks in the limelight decks

ALEX ZULLE won the fourth stage time trial of the Tour of Romandie at Romanel, Switzerland, yesterday ahead of his team-mate and the overall leader, Laurent Dufaux.

The Swiss, who has helped Dufaux to two stage victories during the tour rewarded himself with a win, his second of the season. It confirmed his form ahead of the Giro d'Italia later this month.

Zulle, 1996 world champion, roared around the demanding 18km circuit on the shores of Lake Geneva in 23min 34sec, finishing 11sec clear of Dufaux and 15 in front of Roland Meier, as Swiss riders swept the top four places.

Dufaux will carry a comfortable 1:17 margin over his team-mate in the overall standings into Sunday's final stage, a 168km run from Lausanne into Geneva.