The End of Jan Ullrich

Jan Ullrich, my favorite cyclist of all time, announced his retirement on February 26th, 2007 at the age of 33. He has been an important figure in the world of cycling since he rode his first Tour de France in 1996. I have always regarded him as a man among boys, and a rider who could be closely related to.

Jan’s potential as a cyclist was recognized early in his childhood as he trained and was educated at German sports school starting in 1986. He won the amateurs road world championship in 1993, and entered the world of professional cycling in 1994 when he joined the former Team Telekom. He forfeited his spot in the 1996 Summer Olypmics to ride his first Tour in 1996, in which he won the last individual time trial and secured a second place overall finish.

Ullrich came back to win the Tour de France in 1997, beating the elusive Marco Pantini after launching several daring attacks. He was 24 at the time, one of the youngest Tour winners of all time, and the first German ever to claim the title.

The period from 1998-2005 made Jan famous for being the “eternal second” behind Lance Armstrong. He claimed second in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003; third in 2005, and fourth in 2004. At the 2003 Tour, he rode along side when Lance Armstrong caught his handlebars on a womans handbag and fell on the climb of Luz-Ardiden. Jan, following tour etiquitte, waited for his opponent to remount his bike and continue the race. With the extra adrenaline rush, Armstrong gained 40 seconds on Ullrich. At the end of the tour, out of 83 hr 41 min of racing, Ullirch finished only 61 seconds behind Armstrong.

There were high expectations for Jan coming in the 2006 Tour. Armstrong had retired, and the biking world was looking forward to an exciting dual between Ullrich and the Italian star Ivan Basso. Ullrich managed to keep off his infamous winter weight and entered the event in better shape than previous years.

Ullrichs name appeared in the doping scandal Operación Puerto in Spain. The day before the tour started, officials dismissed him, along with Ivan Basso, and 10 other riders from the tour. “It was one of the darkest days of my career,” he said. “When the news broke, I thought it was a nightmare. I was in my room on my exercise bike when I heard I was suspended. At that moment my sporting world collapsed. It was a massive shock that I still haven’t quite come to terms with yet.”

Although never officially charged with doping, German authorities have recently announced, “Some of the bags of plasma and blood confiscated during police raids on the officies of Spanish doctor Eufamiano Fuentes belong to the 1997 Tour de France champian Jan Ullrich”. A month later, Ullrich announced his retirement.

Although his career has been far from perfect, I trully admire Jan Ullrich and all his imperfections. In my opinion, he is more human and relatable than other tour riders. He gains weight in the winter, and rides himself into shape. In response to criticism, he explains, “I have seen many lean riders in the peloton, but very few Tour winners”.

He’s an honest rider. Critics have called Ullrich “lazy” when he comes out of the winter season with an extra 7-8 kilos, and he even admits to not always wanting to get on the bike. Many riders can relate to that, burnout is a normal part of any sport. Compared to Armstrong, Ullrich as a more advantageous physiology. He is often sited as the most talented cyclist of all time.

Although he speaks a fair amount of English, Ullrich opted to conduct almost all his interviews in German. After his individual time trial victory in the 2003 Tour, when asked by an interviewer how he felt, he replied “Totally fucked up”.

Like Ullrich, I can relate to gaining weight, sometimes not wanting to get on the bike, battle being lazy, show pain on my face when I’m tired, spin large gears, swear after hard rides, but still get on the bike and race 100%.

Besides choosing to take part in the growing use of doping in the sport, Ullrich’s greatest fault of all is having his career during the reign of Lance Armstrong. For that he will be remembered as a cheater instead of a champion.

Please feel free to comment with any thoughts and/or your favorite memories of Jan Ullrich.