Sporting successes, scandals, health setbacks: Jan Ullrich has experienced a lot. He was born on 2 December 1973 in Rostock, where he also came into contact with cycling. Ullrich went through the sports promotion system of the GDR. At the age of 13, he attended the children's and youth sports school of SC Dynamo Berlin. Ullrich first came to the attention of the international public at the age of 19 in 1993, when he became the amateur road world champion in Oslo. The professional road race was won by Lance Armstrong at the age of 21. The two would later become great rivals.
Facts about Jan Ullrich
- Date of birth: 2 December 1973
- Place of birth: Rostock
- Height: 1.83 metres
Jan Ullrich second in the Tour de France at his first attempt
A year later, Ullrich took third place in the first time trial world championships. Ullrich finally received his first professional contract with Team Telekom. In 1996, the German rider took part in the Tour de France for the first time and immediately finished second behind his team-mate Bjarne Riis from Denmark. On the 20th stage, Ullrich celebrated his first stage win in the Tour of France in the individual time trial between Bordeaux and Saint-Emilion. In the final standings of the 1996 Tour de France, Ullrich was separated from Riis by 1:41 minutes. Ullrich's second place triggered a cycling hype in Germany. What was not yet known at the time was that Team Telekom was working with unfair means.
Riis confessed to doping eleven years after his Tour victory in 2007. Ullrich was also accused of this, which the German denied. During his confession, Riis incurred the displeasure of the Tour de France organisation A.S.O. by saying that his yellow jersey was lying in a cardboard box in his garage at home. The organisers could pick it up there. According to the TV channel TV2 2020, the Dane is said to have apologised to Tour director Christian Prudhomme via text message for this comment.
Tour de France victory in 1997: Jan Ullrich triggers cycling boom
Ullrich hit the big time in 1997: winning the Tour de France. To this day, he is the only German to have won the most important cycling race in the world. Ullrich initially started as a noble helper for defending champion Riis. However, it soon became clear that the then 23-year-old German was stronger than his boss. On the 10th stage to Andorra Arcalis, Ullrich rode into the yellow jersey and did not relinquish the maillot jaune until Paris. He followed this up with another stage win in the individual time trial around Saint-Etienne. At the end of the three-week tour, his lead over the runner-up, Frenchman Richard Virenque, was more than nine minutes.
After Ullrich's Tour victory, there was huge cycling euphoria in Germany. As we know today, it was a triumph with a dark side. In 1998, one year after Ullrich's victorious ride on the Champs-Elysees, the Tour de France experienced one of its darkest chapters: the Festina scandal. The Tour was about to be cancelled. Doping was the dominant theme. Ullrich and Team Telekom remained unaffected. The previous year's winner had struggled with obesity and injuries in preparation for the 1998 Tour of France, but still rode six days in the yellow jersey at the Tour. On the 15th stage to Les Deux Alpes, Ullrich suffered a collapse and lost almost nine minutes to Marco Pantani. The Tour was no longer his to win. In 2013, the French Senate revealed that the doping agent erythropoietin (EPO) had been detected in samples taken after the 1998 Tour from Ullrich, winner Pantani and other stars.
Vuelta victory & time trial world champion
1999 was a year of light and shade for Ullrich: After a crash at the Tour of Germany, he missed the Tour de France, but won the Vuelta a Espana in the autumn and became world champion in the individual time trial. In 2000, he had his first duel with Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France, in which the German lost out and again finished second. The joy of his victories was not to last forever for Armstrong either. As it turned out years later, the US American had used doping substances to help him achieve his seven Tour de France victories between 1999 and 2005. He was banned for life in 2012 and his successes in the Tour of France were revoked.
In 2000, there was a rematch between Ullrich and Armstrong at the Olympic Games in Sydney. The German won the gold medal in the road race and silver in the individual time trial ahead of Armstrong.
Armstrong's bluff in Alpe d'Huez
In 2001, the picture was repeated at the Tour de France: Ullrich once again lost out to Armstrong. Particularly memorable: on the 10th stage, Team Telekom sensed a weakness in the US American on the way to Alpe d'Huez, which turned out to be a huge bluff at the foot of the final climb.
Armstrong, who was still grimacing at the back of the peloton a few kilometres earlier, suddenly took the lead at the foot of Alpe d'Huez, turned round and pulled away. By the finish he was almost two minutes ahead of Ullrich. The German and Team Telekom had been taken in by the Texan. At the end of the 2001 Tour de France, Ullrich once again finished in 2nd place.
Jan Ullrich's teams
- 1995 Team Deutsche Telekom
- 1996 Team Telekom
- 1997 Team Telekom
- 1998 Team Telekom
- 1999 Team Telekom
- 2000 Team Telekom
- 2001 Team Telekom
- 2002 Team Telekom
- 2003 Team Coast/Bianchi
- 2004 T-Mobile Team
- 2005 T-Mobile Team
- 2006 T-Mobile Team
Ullrich was banned for doping for the first time in 2002. Amphetamines were detected in his rehab programme due to knee problems. This was followed by a six-month ban. In 2003, Ullrich ventured a new start. He left Team Telekom and switched to Coast. The project faltered in spring 2003 as the team got into financial difficulties. A solution was found to start at the Tour de France after all: the bike manufacturer Bianchi stepped in.
Comeback at the Tour de France 2003
In the 2003 Tour de France, Ullrich lost almost a minute and a half to Armstrong on stage 8 to Alpe d'Huez and seemed unable to challenge the American. However, Ullrich struck back on stage 12 and took 1:36 minutes off Armstrong in the individual time trial between Gaillac and Cap Decouverte. A duel developed between the two in the days that followed.
Ullrich made up some time on the uphill finish in Ax-3 Domaines. The German only had 15 seconds to make up, but the tide turned again. After a crash on the way to the mountain finish in Luz Ardiden, Armstrong took 40 seconds off Ullrich. The decision was made in the individual time trial on the penultimate day. After Ullrich crashed at a roundabout in the pouring rain, it was clear that he would once again only finish second.
Jan Ullrich's successes
- 1x 1st place overall in the Tour de France (1997)
- 1x 1st place overall in the Vuelta a Espana (1999)
- 7 stage wins at the Tour de France (2003, 1998, 1997 & 1996)
- 1x Olympic road race champion (2000)
- 2x world champion in the individual time trial (2001 & 1999)
- 5x 2nd place overall in the Tour de France (2003, 2001, 2000, 1998 & 1996)
- 1x 1st place overall Tour de Suisse (2004)
Ullrich returned to Telekom in 2004. The team was now called T-Mobile. The Tour de France was chosen as the big goal. However, the star of the team fell short of his potential and finished in fourth place. In 2005, there was a final clash with Armstrong at the Tour de France, which Ullrich again lost by a clear margin. He finished the 2005 Tour of France in third place. However, he was stripped of this podium finish in 2012 due to his involvement in the Fuentes scandal.
Involvement in the Fuentes scandal
In 2006, in the absence of the retired Lance Armstrong, Ullrich was considered the top favourite to win the Tour de France together with the Italian Ivan Basso. In preparation, the German won the Tour de Suisse. On 30 June 2006, shortly before the start of the Tour de France, Ullrich and Basso were excluded from the race due to their involvement in the Operacion Puerto, the doping scandal surrounding the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
In February 2007, Ullrich announced the end of his career as a professional cyclist. In 2012, the German was found guilty by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for his involvement in the Fuentes scandal. As a result, he was stripped of all the successes he had achieved since 1 May 2005. These included his victory in the 2006 Tour de Suisse and 3rd place in the 2005 Tour de France.
Jan Ullrich often on the wrong track
Ullrich was also often in the spotlight outside of his sporting career. In 2014, he caused an accident in Switzerland under the influence of alcohol in which two people were injured. As a result, he was sentenced to 21 months' probation and a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs in 2017.
In 2019, the Frankfurt district court issued a penalty order against Ullrich totalling 7,200 euros. This related to an incident in 2018 when Ullrich allegedly assaulted an escort lady in a luxury hotel in Frankfurt.
After many years in Switzerland and Mallorca, where Ullrich was briefly arrested in 2018 after an incident on his neighbour Till Schweiger's property, the former professional cyclist now lives in Merdingen again, as he did during his active time until 2002.
"Jan Ullrich Re:Tour22" & ride with Armstrong
The German can often be seen on his social media channels on his bike again recently. In 2022, he cycled through Provence with fans, although they had to dig deep into their pockets to do so. It cost 25,000 euros to take part in the "Jan Ullrich Re:Tour22". The event took place again in July 2023.
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Ullrich also rode together with Lance Armstrong in September 2022. The former rivals appeared together on their racing bikes as part of a training camp organised by the US American.
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Are Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong friends?
The German and the American are now good friends. Armstrong helped Ullrich in 2018, for example, when he was in a rehab centre in Bad Brückenau. He was also on hand in 2021 when Ullrich had to make an involuntary stopover in Mexico on a flight from Cuba and ended up in a clinic there. In a Double interview with Armstrong in Zeit magazine in November 2023, Ullrich expressed his gratitude for Armstrong's help in 2018: "He actually managed to motivate me to go into rehab. There were tears," reported the 1997 Tour de France winner.
Books & documentaries about Jan Ullrich
Numerous books have been written about Ullrich's career and life, such as "Ulle" - Jan Ullrich. The story of a tragic hero. The work of Sebastian Moll is published by Delius Klasing Verlag and available here.
Amazon documentary about Jan Ullrich
In addition, the only German Tour de France winner is to be featured on Amazon Prime Video in a four-part documentary entitled "Jan Ullrich - The hunted" The career, successes and also the downfalls of Jan Ullrich will be looked back on in the following programme.
A trailer for the Amazon documentary about Jan Ullrich was released in July 2023. The series is scheduled to be released on 28 November 2023. Ullrich spoke again on 7 September at a public appearance in Munich On the documentary: "I feel much better, much lighter, after watching the documentary and coming to terms with my life and my past. I've been able to throw off my rucksack and have made peace with my past," said Ullrich.
Doping confession by Jan Ullrich
A few days before the release of the Amazon documentary Jan Ullrich interviewed by Sternin which he talks about doping in detail for the first time, but does not make a clear confession. This took place a short time later. At the Presentation of the Amazon documentary On 22 November 2023 in Munich, Ullrich confessed: "I doped."
ARD documentary Being Jan Ullrich
Before the Tour de France 2022, an ARD documentary had already generated a great deal of interest. However, Ullrich himself did not appear in the documentary, but he had spoken on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his Tour triumph. spoke out in an open letter in the Bild newspaper. The documentary Being Jan Ullrich is available in the ARD Mediathek.
