The 2nd episode of the Amazon Prime documentary "Jan Ullrich - The hunted" entitled "Triumph" focuses on Ullrich's career from his beginnings in Rostock to his Tour de France victory in 1997 and the accompanying topic of doping.
"Jan Ullrich - The Hunted": 2nd episode - "Triumph": The plot
Youth in the GDR
The 2nd episode of "Jan Ullrich - The Hunted" begins with Ullrich's Way of St James, the "ReTour". This takes the former Tour de France winner back to his hometown of Rostock to youth coach Peter Sager. It was also thanks to him that Jan Ullrich made the leap to the children's and youth sports school in Berlin. "Anyone who didn't take this step more or less got stuck," explains Ullrich. As a teenager, Jan Ullrich was significantly smaller than many of his peers and a late developer. "He was [nevertheless; editor's note] always able to keep up," says childhood friend and former professional cyclist Andre Korff. At the sports school in Berlin, he was trained by Peter Becker, who was a key supporter of Ullrich.
Doping in the GDR and FRG
The GDR established a sports medicine network back in the 1950s. Performance-enhancing substances were administered to athletes back then, sometimes without them even realising it. The standard drug for athletes at the time was the anabolic agent Oral-Turinabol, which promoted muscle growth. But doping was also practised in Germany. "And it was no different in Germany," says cycling commentator Karsten Migels. Sports doctors developed into the "demigod of athletes" during this time, says doping expert Fritz Sörgel.
Ullrich's time in Hamburg & move to Merdingen
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, a Bundesliga team from Hamburg approached Peter Becker, so Jan Ullrich and his team-mates around Andre Korff moved to the north. The team celebrated numerous successes before Ullrich even became world champion in the amateur race at the 1993 World Championships in Oslo. Thanks to his national team colleague Dirk Baldinger, his path led him to Merdingen in Breisgau a short time later. "In Hamburg [the training facilities; editor's note] were not nearly as good as in South Baden," explains Ullrich.
"Jan was what you call a child prodigy." - Stefan Ullrich, brother of Jan Ullrich
Promotion to professional
At the 1994 World Championships, Ullrich finished third in the time trial, so that Team Telekom became aware of him and signed him up. "Telekom was on the brink of collapse in 1995. [...] And then Bjarne Riis came along [...] and things started to look up," recalls Stefan Ullrich. The German team also improved thanks to the Freiburg sports medicine team: Jan Ullrich explains that he was part of an already "existing system". "And my career would have been over if I hadn't done it," says Ullrich.
Doping in cycling in the 1990s
Erythropoietin, or EPO for short, was widely used at the time. It was not until the early 2000s that a detection method was developed, meaning that in the 1990s it could only be detected indirectly via the haematocrit value. The drug can increase the number of red blood cells, which also increases oxygen uptake and therefore endurance performance. However, if an athlete takes too much of it, the blood becomes too viscous. To keep it moving and prevent the athlete from paying with death, cyclists have been known to get up at night and run up and down the hotel corridor during races to keep the blood circulating.
"I joined an existing system. It was made so palatable and indispensable to me that I opted for it. And my career would have been over if I hadn't done it." - Jan Ullrich
Ullrich's rise to the cycling Olympics
The Amazon documentary continues in 1996: the Dane Bjarne Riis wins the Tour de France. He is helped to victory by Jan Ullrich, who finishes second overall. Team Telekom thus celebrates a double victory. A year later, Ullrich's greatest triumph follows: on the climb to Andorra Arcalis, Ullrich pulls away from his rivals and takes the yellow jersey. On the next mountain stage to Alpe d'Huez, one of the most legendary climbs of the Tour de France, "there was a worst case scenario. I couldn't go to the toilet and the stage started. [...] If I can't take care of myself now, I won't get up Alpe d'Huez," Ullrich recalls in the documentary. After his team-mates provided him with racing caps during the stage, Ullrich was able to resolve the situation. He defended his lead and was crowned the first German Tour de France winner.
"Jan came as the golden child, as the anointed one" - Lance Armstrong
Conclusion on the 2nd episode of "Jan Ullrich - The Hunted"
In the 2nd episode of "Jan Ullrich - The Hunted", Jan Ullrich almost becomes the narrator of his own story with a high proportion of interviews. He goes into details about his youth, but also about his time as a professional cyclist. Companions such as his brother Stefan tell his story. Compared to the first episode, the narrator takes more of a back seat.
The episode manages to shed light on two major topics at the same time: The focus is on Ullrich's career from his beginnings at SG Dynamo Rostock to his Tour de France victory in 1997, while the subject of doping comes up again and again. Not only are the procedures of sports physicians reported on, but Ullrich himself also comments on the subject. There is no direct and clear admission of doping, as he had already stated in the run-up to the Amazon documentarybut it is unmistakable that he also took EPO in the mid-1990s.
After the somewhat erratic 1st episode, the 2nd episode proceeds chronologically and is coherent in itself. Ullrich's life is portrayed in detail and meaningfully supplemented by two further levels: on the one hand, the documentary also explains the doping issue in cycling, and on the other, it takes a brief look at the present day, in which Ullrich is completing his Way of St James.
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.
