The 1st episode of the Amazon Prime documentary "Jan Ullrich - The hunted" with the title "Unwanted" looks at important moments in the life of Jan UllrichThe story of his growth into a professional cyclist, his greatest triumph with the Tour de France victory in 1997, the doping scandal in 2006 and his subsequent fall from grace.
"Jan Ullrich - The Hunted": Episode 1 - "Unwanted": The plot
Tour de France victory in 1997 triggers euphoria in Germany
The series begins with a look at the history, but also the hardship and drama of the Tour de France. Several former cyclists confirm that fear has no place in cycling. However, the team of the interviewed Lance Armstrong had a lot of respect for one person in particular: Jan Ullrich. The 1997 Tour de France victory, the former German cycling star's greatest triumph, is then described. He himself comments on the pictures shown. The film then goes on to describe the great euphoria that Ullrich triggered in Germany with his victory in the Tour de France.
"Jan Ullrich has really kissed a sport awake in this country." - Claudia Neumann, ZDF sports reporter
Doping scandal surrounding Eufemiano Fuentes in 2006 and subsequent crash
The German's doping past is then discussed. Today, "Ullrich is an uninvited guest" at the Tour de France because he was involved in the scandal surrounding the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and was later banned as a result. The Amazon documentary then follows the downfall of the once celebrated athlete - numerous scandals involving Ullrich are touched on. "The origin (of the crash; editor's note) was this incredible frustration and the fact that I hadn't come to terms with what had happened. [...] The starting point was 2006," says Ullrich in the documentary. The narrator then describes the events of that fateful year: in 2006, shortly before the start of the Tour de France, the first indications emerged that the German had allegedly doped. Together with Eufemiano Fuentes, who helped Ullrich and other cyclists to dope, the documentary not only looks at the German's doping offence, but also at the history of doping in cycling.
The events leading up to the start of the 2006 Tour de France in detail
After Jan Ullrich's time trial victory at the 2006 Giro d'Italia, the phone of Team T-Mobile sports director Rudy Pevenage is tapped, as the Belgian himself describes. His phone call with the doping doctor Fuentes is revealed and the evidence of Jan Ullrich's doping becomes more and more solid. The events that took place shortly before the start of the 2006 Tour de France are described in detail. Ullrich is excluded before this - it is his last appearance on the cycling stage.
The "ReTour" for peace of mind
Together with his close friend Mike Baldinger, Ullrich decides to cycle along his former Tour de France stops as a "Way of St James" in order to make peace with the tour. The "ReTour" is a journey into the past, taking him to Strasbourg, the starting point of the 2006 Tour de France. He also heads for Alpe d'Huez, one of the most legendary Tour de France climbs, where he talks about his motivation for cycling and his childhood.
Ullrich's childhood and surrogate fathers
Together with his brothers, Ullrich then talks about his beginnings near Rostock. His youth coach Peter Sager introduced the young Ullrich to cycling and quickly developed into a kind of father figure for him. Because his father left the family at an early age, he always had a surrogate father figure to guide Ullrich along the way, explains sports journalist Stephan Klemm. After youth coach Peter Sager, his sports school coach Peter Becker and later Rudy Pevenage, among others, had a lot of influence on Ullrich. Ullrich never really got to know his father; at the beginning of his career, he received the news that he had passed away.
Conclusion on the 1st episode of "Jan Ullrich - The Hunted"
The first episode of "Jan Ullrich - The Hunted" already looks at the key points in Ullrich's life. This allows the viewer to form an initial overall impression after this episode. Numerous different interviewees provide a coherent overall picture. Key figures such as Jan Ullrich himself, but also Rudy Pevenage and Eufemiano Fuentes, have their say and explain the events from their point of view. Journalists such as Bild sports editor Matthias Müller-Bothmann and sports journalist Stephan Klemm also give their perspectives.
No clear confession of doping
A clear confession of doping, as Ullrich has already stated in the run-up to the documentaryThere is no evidence in episode 1. However, the former Tour de France winner does confirm that he had contact with Fuentes and received blood transfusions. "I still had a bag in the Giro," says Ullrich, for example, and also provides information about what the supply of blood did to him.
"When you get the blood back, you notice a boost." - Jan Ullrich
Hardly any categorisation of Operacion Puerto
The documentary logically focusses heavily on Jan Ullrich in the Fuentes case in episode one. However, it fails to categorise the dimensions of Operacion Puerto - that it was one of the biggest doping scandals in the history of sport. And there is also little mention of Eufemiano Fuentes himself. In the 4th episode, this topic will be explored in more detail.
Cycling connoisseurs will also notice a small blunder in the content. It says that the Giro d'Italia is "the last race" before the Tour de France. This is not true in a general sense - after all, there are many more races before the Tour de France - and also with regard to Ullrich's 2006 season, it was not his last race before the Tour of France. This is because the German tour specialist still contested the Tour de Suisse in June.
Coherent overall picture - comparison with other cycling documentaries
Because large parts of Ullrich's life have already been addressed, the first episode may seem very erratic, but it still manages to create a coherent overall picture through smooth transitions. There are always hooks to lead from one topic to the next.
Tension, as seen in the Netflix series "Tour de France - In the peloton" or the ARD documentary "Being Jan Ullrich", is less evident in "Jan Ullrich - The Hunted". Instead, the first episode is a narrative documentary with a common thread, which also manages to shed light on the history of cycling. It begins with the fascination and origins of the Tour de France, while another part deals with the history of doping in cycling. For cycling fans, the first six minutes or so, in which the fascination of the Tour de France is explained, may seem boring. For the general public, who otherwise have less to do with cycling, this explanatory sequence is a must-have to introduce everything else. This should appeal to the target audience of Amazon Prime Video.
Book tip on the subject of Jan Ullrich
To go with the Amazon documentary, we have another book tip: "Ulle" - Jan Ullrich. The story of a tragic hero. Author Sebastian Moll sheds light on the rise and fall of the Tour de France winner. The book is published by Delius Klasing Verlag and available here.
