Jan Ullrich still unwanted 25 years after Tour de France coup
DPA
· 28.06.2022
By Stefan Tabeling and Tom Bachmann, dpa
Jan Ullrich will not play a role in the supporting programme of the 109th Tour de France. "Nothing is planned," the Tour organisation announced on dpa enquiry close with.
Where the 21 stages of the Tour of France are used every year to honour, celebrate and pay tribute to the former greats and lesser greats of cycling, there is still no place for the former German cycling star 25 years after his triumph. As if the period that went down in Tour history as a dark chapter in the wake of the doping scandals had never existed.
"Voilà le Patron"
Ullrich has captivated cycling fans for a decade in his duels with Lance Armstrong, and not just in Germany. "Voilà le Patron" was the headline in the Tour organisation "L'Équipe" after the likeable boy from Rostock with the red-blonde hair and freckles on his face irresistibly stormed up the steep ramps in Andorra-Arcalis on a summer's day in 1997 and snatched the yellow jersey.
Although he is actually only the crown prince of title defender Bjarne Riis in the Telekom team. But Ullrich is stronger, and when the Dane gives him the go-ahead, there is no stopping him. "Those were the best moments of my life as sporting director", says his former mentor Rudy Pevenage of the German Press Agency looking back. "You come back to another life. He was in demand everywhere. That changed Jan's life. The calm was gone. It was unbelievable."
Suddenly Germany is in cycling fever. Every year in July, millions of people gather in front of the television and suffer for hours with Ullrich as he climbs the mountain giants in the Alps and the Pyrenees. Ullrich is everybody's darling, the pop star on two wheels. The mate who likes to go over the top in winter and carry a few extra pounds around with him.
Unique talent
His talent on the bike is almost unrivalled. Ullrich becomes Olympic champion, world champion, German champion. But he doesn't win the Tour again, even though experts like Eddy Merckx predict five or more victories for him. A certain Lance Armstrong stands in his way. "I think Jan was stronger than Armstrong in terms of his sporting ability," says Pevenage. "Well, Armstrong also had a different character. He concentrated on cycling for the whole twelve months."
And it is Ullrich who drives Armstrong to peak performance. "He had so much talent. He scared me. This man made me get up early, he made me go to bed early," Armstrong said in the ARD-documentary "Being Jan Ullrich". The Texan, obsessed and cured of cancer, wins the Tour of France seven times - by unauthorised means, as it later turns out. Ullrich often only managed second place. This does nothing to diminish his popularity.
Tragic turning point in 2006
When Armstrong retires, Ullrich wants to take the Tour throne again in 2006. One last attack for the big goal. It remains an unfulfilled wish. In Spain, the cycling star is exposed as a client of doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes in the large-scale Operacion Puerto. Ullrich is withdrawn from the starting field before the Tour, and his T-Mobile team quickly draws a line under him. The tragic turning point in Ullrich's life.
This is followed by an extensive investigation by the public prosecutor's office in Bonn. In one fell swoop, his career was over and Ullrich would never get back on his bike as a professional athlete. However, it was not until 2012 that he was banned by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport Cas.
Ullrich also makes negative headlines in his private life. Like in 2014, when he crashed into two cars in Switzerland with a blood alcohol level of 1.8 at a significantly higher speed. Ullrich gets off with a suspended sentence.
Ullrich moves to Mallorca with his wife and children, but after 13 years the marriage breaks up. The cycling star is left alone on Mallorca. A shocking video makes the rounds. In the course of an argument on the neighbouring property of TV star Til Schweiger, he is temporarily taken into police custody. Ullrich returns to Germany, where the next scandal breaks. There is a violent altercation with an escort lady in a luxury hotel in Frankfurt.
Admission to psychiatric ward
Ullrich is under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He is eventually admitted to a psychiatric ward. Ullrich is at rock bottom until his old rival Armstrong suddenly turns up. "That was scary for me. I saw a man in a place like no human being had ever been before. (...) I had never seen anyone in such a state," said Armstrong. Ullrich recovers and later reports in Armstrong's podcast: "I was on the road of Marco Pantani. Almost dead."
The now 48-year-old Ullrich now lives in the seclusion of Merdingen again, close to his four children. There are plans for a bike centre, including with his friend and business partner Mike Baldinger. Possibly a new mainstay for Ullrich, who avoids public appearances.
Pevenage believes this is a mistake. "I just hope that Jan shows himself much more in public in the coming months. In the end, he did nothing. Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain - all these people want to see Jan Ullrich." And preferably like he did on that summer day in Andorra-Arcalis.
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