Jan Ullrich assets

Short introduction

Jan Ullrich is one of the most successful racing cyclists Germany has ever produced. He was the first and so far the only German to win the Tour de France. With a resting heart rate of 30 to 35, a lung volume of 6 liters and a heart size of 1200 milliliters, he was considered a small sports medicine miracle and talent of the century.

The fact that Ullrich won the Tour de France only once was due not least to his American rival Lance Armstrong, whose victories were subsequently revoked due to doping.

However, towards the end of his career, Ullrich was himself targeted by the doping investigators when his name was found on the list of customers of the Spanish doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. Ullrich later made a partial confession. However, he was allowed to keep his Tour de France title.

After the end of his career, Ullrich continued to draw attention to himself with negative headlines related to alcohol and drugs.

Early life

Jan Ullrich was born in Rostock, where he grew up in difficult family relationships. His father was a violent drinker who left the family when Ullrich was ten years old.

The climb that Ullrich made as a cyclist is all the more remarkable. At just nine years old, he managed to win a bike race organized by his school. A year later, he won his first race for the SG Dynamo Rostock.

Through further successes, the GDR competitive sports system finally became aware of Ullrich, which promoted him specifically and made it possible to switch to the children’s and youth sports school of SC Dynamo Berlin. In 1987 he won the GDR pupil championship in the quad, in 1988 the GDR youth championship in road cycling and in 1990 the GDR youth championship in point cycling.

After reunification, Ullrich moved to the west, where he celebrated his first successes as an amateur, including the overall World Cup for amateurs, the cycling Bundesliga and tour victories on the Czech Bohemia Tour and the Australian Pacific Power Commonwealth Bank Cycle Classic. In 1993 he was also voted German “Cyclist of the Year”

Career

In 1996, Jan Ullrich signed his first professional contract with Team Telekom. On his first Tour de France in 1996, Ullrich achieved his first stage win in the time trial. In the overall standings, he finished second behind his Danish team-mate Bjarne Riis.

The following year, Ullrich made his big breakthrough by winning the Tour de France. In Germany he was awarded the title “Athlete of the Year”.

In the coming years, Ullrich had to deal with illnesses and injuries in preparation for the Tour de France. Critics accused him of lacking fitness. Nevertheless, in 1998 Ullrich took second place behind Marco Pantani. In 1999 he won the Vuelta a Espana and the World Time Trial Championships.

In 2000, the Tour de France encountered Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong for the first time. In the end, Ullrich had to be content with second place. In the same year he won the road race of the Olympic Games in Sydney and was the first German to take the lead in the UCI world cycling rankings.

In 2001 and 2003, Ullrich again met the fate of finishing second in the Tour de France behind his eternal rival Lance Armstrong. After all, in 2003 he achieved the first stage win in a Tour de France since 1998.

He was also awarded the Fair Play badge by the German Olympic Society for his reaction to the fall of his opponent Lance Armstrongs. Instead of using the fall for an attack, he let Armstrong unlock him. At the end of the year, Ullrich was again athlete of the year.

In 2004 Ullrich won the Tour de Suisse. At the Tour de France, he finished fourth despite cold problems. In 2005 he finished third again. In 2006, he was excluded from the Tour de France for doping allegations related to the Fuentes scandal. The exclusion also heralded the end of Ullrich’s career, which he announced in early 2007.

Career highlights

The highlight in Jan Ullrich’s career was the victory at the Tour de France in 1997. The victory made Ullrich one of the most popular athletes in Germany. At the same time, cycling and especially the Tour de France gained unprecedented popularity.

Famous quotes

“I was second long enough, now it’s time for another tour win.”

“I have never cheated on any other racing driver in my career. That is a fact. ”

“From the day on, nothing was the same as before. I still don’t know how it happened. ” (Jan Ullrich on his suspension shortly before the 2006 Tour de France)

Amazing facts

Ullrich is the first and only German to have won the Tour de France so far
At just twenty-three, Jan Ullrich was one of the youngest winners of the Tour de France
In Ullrich’s adopted home of Merdingen, a street is named after him