Jan Ullrich
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 Jan Ullrich at Giro d'Italia in 2006 |
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jan Ullrich |
| Nickname | Ulle |
| Date of birth | December 2, 1973 (age 33) |
| Country |  Germany |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | All-rounder |
| Amateur team(s) | |
| 1987 1987-1989 1991 1992-1994 |
SG Dynamo Rostock SC Dynamo Berlin SC Berlin RG Hamburg |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1995-2002 2003 2003 2004-2006 |
Team Telekom Team Coast Team Bianchi T-Mobile Team |
| Major wins | |
| Tour de France (1997), 7 stages Vuelta a España (1999), 2 stages Giro d'Italia, 1 stage World Time Trial Champion (1999, 2001) Olympic Road Race (2000) Tour de Suisse (2004, 2006) |
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| Infobox last updated on: | |
| February 27, 2007 | |
Jan Ullrich (born December 2, 1973 in Rostock, East Germany, now Germany) is a retired German professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to achieve five second place finishes, along with a fourth place (2004) and a third place finish (2005). In late February, 2007, he announced his retirement at a press conference. Critics consider Ullrich as one of the most talented riders of all time: he can combine great power with a soft, athletic style, with his time trials as perfect examples. Despite, or perhaps because of this talent, critics consider Ullrich to be "lazy" as he was notorious for becoming out of shape during the off season.
Ullrich won a gold and a silver medal in the Olympics 2000 in Sydney, as well as the 1999 Vuelta a España. Although not known as a one-day race specialist, he won the HEW Cyclassics in front of an adoring home crowd in Hamburg in 1997, and has made podium finishes in other editions of the HEW Cyclassics, and the hilly classic Clásica de San Sebastián. His victorious ride in the 1997 Tour de France led to a bicycle sports boom in Germany.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early training
Ullrich won his first bicycle race at school at the age of nine. He was educated in the sports training system of the German Democratic Republic, and attended the SC Dynamo sports school in Berlin in 1986. In 1988, he was champion of the German Democratic Republic. After the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification of Germany, Ullrich and his trainer, Peter Sager, moved to Hamburg. In 1991, he was 5th in the amateur cycle cross world championships.
In 1993, Ullrich surprisingly won the amateurs road world championship in Oslo. At the same time, Lance Armstrong won the professional world championship.
After this and other successes, Ullrich became a professional member of Team Telekom. From 1994 to 2002, he lived in Merdingen, Germany, with his long-term partner Gaby Weiss, with whom he had a baby, Sarah. They moved to Scherzingen, Switzerland in 2002. Since separating in 2005, allegedly due to Weiss's reluctance to be in the limelight which conflicted with Ullrich's enjoyment of celebrity life, Ullrich has continued to live in Scherzingen whilst Gaby returned with Sarah to Merdingen. In September 2006 he married Sara Steinhauser, sister of his former teammate and training partner, Tobias Steinhauser.
[edit] Early Professional Career
1994 with Peter Becker acting as his agent, Ullrich signed for the Telekom team under Belgian manager Walter Godefroot. He then finished third behind winner Chris Boardman of Britain in the world time trial championship in Sicily.[1]
In Ullrich's first one and a half years as a professional, he was inconspicuous. In 1995 he won the German national time trial champion. He also achieved some top ten placings on stages of the 1995 Tour de Suisse. He had wanted to start the 1995 Tour de France but Telekom team director Walter Godefroot thought it was too early. Instead he went to the small german stage race, the Hofbrau Cup, where he ended 3rd overall. Ullrich also started the Vuelta later that year only to abandon the race on stage 12.
[edit] 1996 Tour de France
Jan gave up a place in the 1996 German Olympic team in order to ride his first Tour. Starting his first day at the 1996 Tour de France, he finished the prologue 33 seconds down. He stayed within the top twenty until the first day in the mountains on stage 7 when Miguel Indurain famously cracked. Jan finished 30 seconds back, 22 behind his teammate Bjarne Riis while Indurain finished over 4 minutes down. On the following stage, he finished in the same group as Indurain 40 seconds behind Riis. On stage 9, Riis rode into the yellow jersey while Jan finished 44 seconds back and also into 5th place overall 1 minute 38 seconds down from Riis. Over the course of the final mountain stages, Jan rode into a sensational second place behind his Danish teammate, Bjarne Riis, but he conceded time on each mountain stage eventually being nearly 4 minutes behind Riis. However, he won the final individual time trial and secured himself his first Tour stage win. Not only did he win the time trial ahead of Miguel Indurain and Abraham Olano, he cut 2 minutes 18 seconds into Riis'es lead in the general classification. This lead to the comment by Indurain that Jan would win the Tour some day adding "it's quite remarkable when you think that he has been helping Riis all the time." Jan dismissed suggestions he would have done better if he had not had to help Riis saying that Riis had inspired the whole team. Jan finished his first tour in second place at 1 minute 41 seconds from his teammate Bjarne Riis.
[edit] 1997 Tour de France
Before the 1997 Tour, Ullrich had two wins in 1997. They were a stage in the Tour de Suisse and the German national Road Race championship a week before the tour started. Despite being a teammate of the previous year's winner Bjarne Riis, Ullrich quickly became the favorite in the 1997 Tour de France. He started strongly, finishing second in the prologue behind Chris Boardman. On stage 9 which was the first mountain stage which was won by Frenchman Laurent Brochard, Ullrich showed loyalty as he worked for Riis throughout the stage. Only on the last ascent of the day when Richard Virenque attacked did Ullrich react. Riis struggled to keep up and finished 30 seconds back behind the trio of Virenque, Marco Pantani and Ullrich. On the following stage 10 when Riis again was falling back as the pace was hotting up, Ullrich was seen riding back to the Telekom teamcar to ask permission to attack. He returned to the lead group and pushed ahead up the climb leaving the great climbers Pantani and Virenque in his wake. Afterwards Ullrich said "Today I believed I could. I made the break, then looked back and saw no-one coming with me so I thought this is it and pressed on." It was a dominant win where he finished over a minute ahead of Pantani and Virenque which earned him his first yellow jersey, at which the German press started following the Tour more closely. For this performance and ability to keep his nerves, the French sports newspaper L'Équipe, considered him to be one of the top bicycle racers with the words Voilà le Patron ("Here is the boss"). Several days later, Ullrich won the Stage 12 Individual time trial. It was another dominant win whereby he became the only person in Tour history to win a time trial with a three minute gap between him and the number two. Ullrich overtook Virenque, who had started out three minutes in front of him and would finish second to Ullrich in the time trial, near the end of the time trial.
On the stage to the Alpe d'Huez, Marco Pantani launched a devastating attack. Ullrich who was 9 minutes ahead of Pantani in the general classification produced a great ride to limit his losses to only 47 seconds. Again on the Morzine stage, Pantani attacked and won the stage while Ullrich once again was able to limit his time losses. In the final time trial which was won by Abraham Olano, Ullrich further extended his lead over Richard Virenque and on the following day became the first German to be the overall winner. At the age of 23, Ullrich was the fourth youngest winner of the Tour since 1947. Two weeks later, he won the German semi-classic the Hews Cycling Classic in Hamburg. He was chosen "sports person of the year" in Germany in 1997.
[edit] The eternal second
Ullrich was the defending champion of the 1998 Tour de France. On the stage 7 individual time trial, he took the yellow jersey after a very powerful display over 58 kms of undulating roads.At the time he said "I was not expecting to take the jersey so early in the Tour. I'm glad. It shows the work paid off." on Stage 15, Marco Pantani blew the Tour apart with a storming victory which began on the ascent of Galibier. Ullrich was without Telekom support when Pantani attacked, he attacked so quickly that no-one could go with him. He stormed past the leaders and went over the top of Galibier with over two minutes on Ullrich. The weather was very dull and misty and the roads wet. The descent was treacherous and Pantani increased the lead. By the bottom of the final climb, Les Deux Alpes, the lead had increased to over four minutes. Telekom tried to limit the losses by bringing Udo Bolts and then Bjarne Riis to pace Ullrich up the final climb. As Pantani crossed the finishing line he was over 6 minutes in front of Ullrich - and in yellow. Ullrich would finish almost nine minutes back dropping to fourth place overall at almost six minutes behind Pantani.
On the following stage 16 on the Col de la Madeleine, Ullrich showed his mettle when he attacked from the peloton. Only Pantani could match his strength. Ullrich did all the work up the Col. Once they got over the top that the pair started to work together. Ullrich who won a photo-finish sprint or what was called "sprint by the non-sprinters". Ullrich moved into third overall and in the final stage 20 time trial, Ullrich won the stage and moved himself into second overall. The Tour of 1998 was haunted by doping affairs, giving it the nickname "Tour de Dopage".
The following year, he missed the 1999 Tour de France — which was won for the first time by American Lance Armstrong — due to a knee injury. However, he returned in time to win the 1999 Vuelta a España, defeating the Spanish favourite Abraham Olano of Team ONCE. He also became the world time trial champion, which made up for his somewhat lost season.
The 2000 Tour de France saw former champions Ullrich and Marco Pantani and defending champion Armstrong line up against each other for the first time. However, Armstrong proved too strong to upstage, as he did again in the 2001 Tour de France despite Ullrich wearing the jersey of the German National Champion, and the fact that he arrived at the Tour obviously in form, finishing in fourth place just three seconds behind third place Armstrong in the opening prologue. His ride in the 2001 Tour was memorable for his crash during which Armstrong waited for him to return to his bike. In interviews, Ullrich cited his failures to defeat Armstrong despite his preparations as his reasons for falling into depression in the next year.
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Cycling | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | Road Race | |
| Silver | 2000 Sydney | Time Trial | |
Despite his failure to ascend the top of the podium in the Tour de France, Ullrich delivered an outstanding performance in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. After establishing a 3-man breakaway with Telekom teammates Andreas Klöden and Alexandre Vinokourov, Ullrich won the gold medal with Kloden and Vinokourov rounding out the all-Telekom podium. He established himself as a world-class time trialist by winning the Silver medal in the individual time-trial event, losing by a small margin to Viatcheslav Ekimov and beating rival Armstrong to third place.
In May of 2002, Ullrich temporarily had his driver's license revoked after a drunk driving incident.[2] After a positive blood sample for amphetamine in June of 2002,[3] Ullrich's contract with Team Telekom was ended, and he was banned for 6 months. He explained that the positive result was from ingesting the recreational drug ecstasy, which had been cut with amphetamine.[4] He had not been racing since January due to a recurring knee injury[5], and the German Cycling Federation's disciplinary committee agreed that he was not attempting to use the drug for performance enhancement, so he was only given a minimum suspension.[6]
In January of 2003, Ullrich and his longtime advisor Rudy Pevenage joined the Team Coast outfit,[7] but after severe financial problems, Coast pulled its sponsorship, and Team Bianchi was formed. He finally returned to racing in March of 2003, preparing for the Tour de France.
The Tour de France of 2003 would become a memorable one. Nobody, including Ullrich himself, knew what to expect from him after such hectic years. For the first time in years he was not considered one of the top favorites; however, Armstrong still considered him very dangerous. In the first week, Ullrich got sick and almost retired from the race. In the Alps stages Ullrich lost one and a half minutes on Armstrong and his Tour seemed lost. In the 12th stage, Ullrich fought back hard in the time trial, as he became the only one to finish within an hour. Armstrong was overpowered and had trouble with the heat, and lost one and a half minutes to Ullrich. Ullrich now found himself within a minute of Armstrong in the classification. The next day, he closed the gap in the first mountain stage by another 19 seconds and the clash would become epic: Ullrich seemed stronger than ever as he was able to stay with Armstrong in the mountains. Two days later Ullrich was able to ride away from Armstrong on the Tourmalet, but he could not sustain his pace and Armstrong caught up. In the final climb of that stage Ullrich dictated the pace, and it seemed that Armstrong was not in the condition to attack. More than half way into the climb, Armstrong's handlebar got caught in a spectator's bag and he fell. Ullrich decided not to take advantage of the situation and waited. For some time, whether Jan Ullrich waited for Armstrong to remount was subject of intense debate, although Ullrich himself asserted that he did indeed wait and did not attack. In a recent interview Armstrong admitted that Ullrich did wait for him, and that Armstrong himself had been misled at the time by Tyler Hamilton's gesture and assertion that Ullrich had not waited.
According to Armstrong, his fall gave him such an adrenaline boost that he could attack. Ullrich lost 40 seconds in the final kilometers, but all was not over: the 2nd, and final, time trial would be decisive. In that time trial, Ullrich suffered a dramatic crash and saw a potential stage and tour victory disappear. In the general classification, Ullrich ended 2nd with a gap of just 61 seconds in one of the greatest Tours de France in history.
Ullrich's remarkable comeback was acknowledged by the Germans as they gave him the sportsman of the year award later that year.
In terms of finishes, Jan Ullrich could be compared with Raymond Poulidor, who was called the "eternal second" (with the difference that Poulidor never won the Tour de France). Also like Poulidor, Ullrich has not donned the Maillot jaune since 1998. A better comparison would probably be to Joop Zoetemelk, who won the Tour once as well and finished in second place six times, only once more than Ullrich.
For the 2004 season, Ullrich returned to Team Telekom (now named T-Mobile, after a popular division of Deutsche Telekom). Ullrich won the Tour de Suisse during his preparation for the Tour de France. In the 2004 Tour de France, he finished in fourth place, 8:50 behind Armstrong. It was Ullrich's first finish lower than second. T-Mobile teammate Andreas Klöden finished second, and Ivan Basso third. Ullrich said that he had been infected by a cold from his newborn baby, and was not able to ride to his full capacity.
For 2005, Ullrich again captained the talented T-Mobile squad. As was his normal routine to prepare for the Tour de France, Ullrich maintained a low profile for much of the 2005 early season campaign, surfacing to test his preparedness in the 2005 Tour de Suisse, in which he finished third after Aitor González (Team Euskaltel) and Michael Rogers (Team Quick Step-Innergetic).
Ullrich is constantly criticized, and sometimes parodied, for his weight, especially for large gains in the winter, but he maintains that he always races it off in time for the Tour. Compared to his perennial rival, Lance Armstrong, Ullrich has been said to have perhaps a more advantageous physiology that would prevail were it not for the near-maniacal training regimen of Armstrong, but this is debatable. Armstrong himself admitted that it is Ullrich whom he considers to be his most dangerous rival, going as far as admitting that he would examine photos of Ullrich in the early season races to see how his form was developing.
The day before the 2005 Tour de France, during a training ride, Ullrich crashed. He was closely following (drafting) his accompanying team car when it stopped unexpectedly. He was unable to stop and plowed into the back windshield, narrowly avoiding cutting a major artery by several millimetres. He was not wearing a helmet at the time.
During the 2005 Tour de France, Ullrich was passed by Lance Armstrong in the first stage time trial after starting a minute before him, causing speculation that he was once more doomed to be beaten by the American. Ullrich fell again in the mountains, bruising his ribs. During several other pivotal moments in the Tour, he could not keep up with Armstrong or Ivan Basso. Ullrich began focusing on finishing ahead of the surprise star of the mountains, Michael Rasmussen, for a podium position in the general classification. At the individual time trials nearing the end of the 2005 Tour de France Ullrich had a stellar time trial, demolishing the competition, save Lance Armstrong who came through to set an even quicker time near the end of the stage. Rasmussen had a terrible time trial, which consisted of several crashes and around five bike changes, which ultimately gave Ullrich a podium place in the Tour de France.
[edit] Post-Armstrong
Lance Armstrong retired after the Tour de France in 2005. [8]. However, he seemed more motivated than ever to win at least one more Grand Tour (either the Tour,Giro or Vuelta ). Notorious for coming out of the winter with serious weight problems (see above) and in bad condition, he began his preparation for the 2006 season early, with his mentor Rudy Pevanage finally back in the T-mobile staff and watching his every move. Early reports indicated that Jan was indeed in much better shape than in previous years and would be ready for what could be his second victory in the Tour de France. Ullrich finished 115th in the Tour de Romandie on April 30. However, Jan injured his knee in the off season and this could have limited his performance in the 2006 Tour de France, had he participated (see below).
In May, riding in the 2006 Giro d'Italia, not to win but to prepare himself for the Tour de France, Ullrich targeted the Stage 11 50km ITT, and won it by a decisive 28 seconds over Maglia Rosa Ivan Basso, who beat 3rd placed Marco Pinotti by another 33 seconds (which means Ullrich beat everyone except for Basso by over a minute). Only five riders were able to finish within two minutes of Ullrich's time.
Ullrich dropped out of the Giro during Stage 19, with back pain. Team Director Rudy Pevenage stated that the problem was not bad but merely as a precaution to avoid possible Tour de France problems.
He won the Tour of Switzerland for a second time in preparation for the Tour de France, winning the final time trial in decisive and dramatic fashion jumping from third to first in the GC.
[edit] Operación Puerto doping case
In the weeks prior to the 2006 Tour de France, Ullrich's name was mentioned in a large Spanish doping scandal, nicknamed Operación Puerto doping case. Ullrich himself has always denied the rumors. However on 30 June 2006, one day before the start, he was suspended from participating in the Tour de France.[9]
Ullrich's biggest rival (according to many experts) Team CSC's Ivan Basso, who finished 2nd in 2005, and several other riders were also excluded. The decision to exclude Ullrich could be based on several text messages from his mentor, Rudy Pevenage, with Doctor Fuentes. Ullrich himself stated that he has nothing to do with Fuentes and he will try to prove this. If found guilty by the doping authorities, Ullrich faces an almost certain career-ending suspension.
On 20 July 2006, Jan Ullrich was fired from T-Mobile in relation to the aforementioned accusations. T-Mobile general manager Olaf Ludwig announced the news during the 18th stage of the Tour de France between Morzine and Macon.
Ullrich published a statement on his website saying that his dismissal was 'unacceptable.'
"I am very disappointed that this decision was not communicated to me personally but that it was faxed to my lawyers," Ullrich added. "I find it shameful that, after so many years of good cooperation and after all I have done for the team, I am being treated as a fax number."
There are rumours linking Ullrich with rivals Discovery Channel, team of retired Lance Armstrong. Discovery Channel opted for Levi Leipheimer, instead, as the future of Ullrich remains uncertain, as he also was excluded from the 2006 Vuelta.
Ullrich is trying to defend his reputation in court,where he won a case against Dr. Werner Franke. Franke accused Ullrich of buying doping up to 35.000 Euros each year, after reviewing the files of the Puerto affair. The court stated that Franke has to keep his comments out of the media as his statements lack solid grounds. Franke however also went to court against Ullrich, claiming that Ullrich lied while being under oath when asked if he had used doping.
At this point, Swiss Cycling (Ullrich lives in Switzerland and rides with a Swiss license) are investigating all the documents and will come to a verdict soon.
Recently, the justice department raided his house for several hours, collecting DNA material. Ullrich was on a honeymoon during the event with his new wife Sara, and was so shocked with the news that he aborted it.
On October 18 2006, Ullrich had laid off his personal physiotherapist Birgit Krohme. Speculations quickly rose that this was a sign that Ullrich had given up hope of returning to racing. However, Ullrich denied these rumors. On 25 October 2006, he issued a document from the Spanish court on his website, which said that no charges would be filed against Ullrich. Then after months of speculation, he subsequently announced his retirement from cycling on Monday, 26th of February 2007, after weighing his options. At the retirement press conference he said "Today I'm ending my career as a professional cyclist. I never once cheated as a cyclist" and revealed that he would remain tied to professional cycling as an advisor to Team Volksbank.
On February 26 2007, Jan Ullrich announced his retirement at a press conference in Hamburg.
[edit] Signature bike frame line
In May 2006 Ullrich launched a signature bike frame line, the "Jan Ullrich Collection"[10], which he helped to develop. There are three models catering for all types of cyclist, from enthusiast to pro. They take their names after significant times in Jan's career. The 'Campione', the 'Olymp' after his Gold and Silver Olympic medals, and finally, the 'Grand Tour' after his Tour de France victory in 1997. They range in price from 1395 to 2995 Euros and are available only as frames (not as complete bikes).
[edit] Quotes
- "I have seen many lean riders in the peloton, but very few Tour winners", in response to criticism about his weight.
- "My motivation doesn't come from rivals, but because I love cycling. That's what motivates me…. I don't get my motivation by putting the picture of my rival on the mirror"
- "Totally fucked up", replying to a journalist who asked him how did he feel after winning stage 12 of the 2003 Tour de France.
[edit] References
- ^ ELITE MEN TIME TRIAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. UCI. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
- ^ "Ullrich's blood alcohol level more than 1.4 g/L" Cycling News, 2002
- ^ "Ullrich tests non-negative for amphetamines" Cycling News, 2002
- ^ 'Ullrich foregoes B test: "It was a stupidity"' Cycling News, 2002
- ^ "Ullrich concedes in Battle of Jan's Knee" Cycling News, 2002
- ^ "Ullrich given six months suspension" Cycling News, 2002
- ^ "Ullrich moves to Coast" BBC Sport, 2003
- ^ Ullrich said he would ride for one or two more years.
- ^ "People in Sports: Jan Ullrich looking for new team" Seattle Times, 2006
- ^ Signature bike frame launch.
[edit] External links
[edit] Palmarès
- World Time Trial Cycling Champion (1999, 2001)
- Summer Olympics Road Race Champion (2000)
- Germany National Road Race Champion (1997, 2001)
- Germany National Time Trial Champion (1995)
- Tour de France [2.HC] (1997)
- 2nd (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003)
- 3rd (2005)
- 4th (2004)
- Under-25 Competition (1996, 1997, 1998)
- Total Stage Wins: 7
- Vuelta a España [2.HC] (1999)
- Tour de Suisse [2.HC] (2004, 2006)
- Stage, Giro d'Italia [2.HC] (2006)
- Stage, Deutschland Tour [2.HC] (2005)
- Young Rider Competition, Ronde Van Nederland [2.1] (1997)
- Rund um Köln (Tour of Cologne) [2.3] (2003)
- Stage, Giro della Provincia di Lucca [2.3] (2001)
- Regio Tour [2.3] (1996)
- Stage, Internationale Hessen Rundfahrt [2.4] (2001)
- Giro dell'Emilia [1.1] (2001)
- Coppa Sabatini [1.2] (2004)
- Coppa Agostini [1.2] (2000)
- Versatel Classic [1.4] (2001)
- Luk Cup, à Bühl [1.4] (1997)
- HEW Cyclassics [1.5] (1997)
- Rund um Berlin [1.5] (1998)
- Rund um Die Nürnberger Alstadt [1.5] (1998)
- Amateur World Road Race Cycling Champion (1993)
| Preceded by Abraham Olano |
Winner of the Vuelta a España 1999 |
Succeeded by Roberto Heras |
| Preceded by Bjarne Riis |
Winner of the Tour de France 1997 |
Succeeded by Marco Pantani |
| Preceded by Abraham Olano |
World Time Trial Champion 1999 |
Succeeded by Serhiy Honchar |
| Preceded by Serhiy Honchar |
World Time Trial Champion 2001 |
Succeeded by Santiago Botero |
 |
| 1896: Aristidis Konstantinidis | 1900-1920 | 1924: Armand Blanchonnet | 1928-1932 | 1936: Robert Charpentier | 1948: Jose Beyaert | 1952: Andre A. Noyelle | 1956: Ercole Baldini | 1960: Viktor Kapitonov | 1964: Mario Zanin | 1968: Pierfranco Vianelli | 1972: Hennie Kuiper | 1976: Bernt Johansson | 1980: Sergei Sukhoruchenkov | 1984: Alexi Grewal | 1988: Olaf Ludwig | 1992: Fabio Casartelli | 1996: Pascal Richard | 2000: Jan Ullrich | 2004: Paolo Bettini |
Categories: T-Mobile Team | 1973 births | Living people | German cyclists | Olympic competitors for Germany | Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics | Olympic gold medalists for Germany | Natives of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | Tour de France winners | Vuelta a España winners | German Tour de France stage winners | German cycling road race champions | World cycling champions
