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    #1

    Jan Ulrich retires

    He was my favorite and a cycling legend in my eyes. If only Lance Armstrong was found out ... Ulrich would have been the best.

    Former Tour winner Ullrich quits
    Jan Ullrich announces his decision to retire
    Ullrich announced his retirement in Hamburg on Monday
    Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has announced his retirement from cycling.

    The 33-year-old, who also claimed the Olympic road race title in Sydney in 2000, won the race in 1997 and finished runner-up on five occasions.

    But he was suspended from racing on the eve of the 2006 Tour after being linked to a doping scandal.

    "Today I'm ending my career as a professional cyclist," said Ullrich. "I never once cheated as a cyclist."

    Ullrich said on Monday that he would continue in the sport, working as a consultant for the Austrian-based Volksbank team.

    The rider, who was born in Rostock in the former East Germany, emerged as a top cyclist when finishing second in the 1996 Tour de France.

    606 DEBATE: Give your reaction to this news

    After his victory in the race in 1997, some predicted Ullrich would dominate the sport but he had to live in the shadow of seven-time winner Lance Armstong.

    He competed in the Tour de France on eight occasions, never finishing out of the top four.

    As well as winning gold at the 2000 Olympics, Ullrich also took the silver medal in the time trial, a discipline in which he was twice world champion (1999 and 2001).


    I couldn't live without cycling - it's my passion and my life

    Jan Ullrich

    He also won the Tour of Spain (1999) and the Tour of Switzerland (2004 and 2006).

    But he also battled weight problems in the off-season and was dropped by Team Telekom in 2002 after a positive test for amphetamines.

    Ullrich claimed the drug had been spiked into an ecstasy pill he had taken at a nightclub.

    His suspension in 2006 came after a Spanish doping investigation known as 'Operation Puerto', which led to a host of riders being banned.

    Despite always insisting on his innocence, Ullrich was fired by his T-Mobile team last July and has been without a team since then.

    He has been under investigation since last summer although he has not been charged with any doping offence.

    "I still don't understand why I was not allowed to compete in the Tour last year," he said. "My life as a cyclist collapsed that day.

    "I've been painted as a criminal while I've done nothing wrong."

    Ullrich said that he had had riding offers but will instead work for the Volksbank team in an advisory capacity.

    "I could have had a team immediately," said Ullrich. "I had offers, also from Pro Tour teams."

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/6396899.stm
    Last edited by Guest; 26-02-07, 04:36 PM.
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    #2
    Brilliant drummer

    Comment

      #3
      I lived in Germany throughout his career and he actually made me watch and enjoy the Tour. A great pro, a thoroughly humble guy and the whole country was so proud of him. It was such a shame he never beat Armstrong (who is on the absolute top spot of my most loathed sportsmen of all time) after 97, the country's hopes were always up.

      I saw this little program once where he was out riding somewhere in Germany, training and just knocked on a random family's house door and asked whether they could make him some pasta. He had 2 kilos of the stuff Great guy

      Comment

        #4
        model professional, atleast he is still having an input into the sport in some respect. Always enjoyed the tour de france, ever since i was a kid during the Stephen Roche days. Ulrich is a legend in the sport. IT almost feels like he has died lol.
        Bill shankly to Tommy Smith after he'd turned up for training with a bandaged knee:
        'Take that poof bandage off, and what do you mean YOUR knee, it's LIVERPOOL'S knee !'

        "Sorry, boss, I should have kept my legs together," said Lawrence. "No, Tommy, your mother should have kept her legs together!," replied Shankly.

        * After Tommy Lawrence had let in a fluke goal between his legs

        Comment

          #5
          Originally posted by fredo View Post
          He was my favorite and a cycling legend in my eyes. If only Lance Armstrong was found out ... Ulrich would have been the best.
          But he wasnt found out Ullrich was.

          Comment

            #6
            he was never the best. Big Mig-uel Indurain was always my absolute hero, back in the Banesto team of the early 1990's.
            didn't he have a heart twice the regular size or something like that that enabled him to have a resting heart rate of 19 or something crazy

            Comment

              #7
              The BEST was Eddy Merckx. Belgium guy from the 70's. He was the greatest and most successful cyclist of all time.
              Go **** yourself

              Comment

                #8
                Originally posted by stringy View Post
                But he wasnt found out Ullrich was.
                Ullrich always denied he doped himself ! Ullrich was untouchable at the time Lance Armstrong reappeared on the scene after surviving to cancer ... and the rest is 7 straight Tour De France victories. That's unreal ... There was never that big a difference between them.

                Comment

                  #9
                  Originally posted by fredo View Post
                  Ullrich always denied he doped himself ! Ullrich was untouchable at the time Lance Armstrong reappeared on the scene after surviving to cancer ... and the rest is 7 straight Tour De France victories. That's unreal ... There was never that big a difference between them.
                  He denies doping but he was caught taking exctacy if i remember correctly. No the same i know but he was certainly dancing on the pedals up alpe duez that year.
                  Armstrong used to crush Ullrich in the mountains which is where the tdf is won and lost.
                  Ullrich was unlucky Armstrong was around when he was at his peak.

                  Ullrich should not of started the season so overweight then maybe he would of peaked for the tdf instead of after it!!

                  Shame he,s retired.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Originally posted by fredo View Post
                    Ullrich always denied he doped himself ! Ullrich was untouchable at the time Lance Armstrong reappeared on the scene after surviving to cancer ... and the rest is 7 straight Tour De France victories. That's unreal ... There was never that big a difference between them.
                    Armstrong was the best by far, Ullrich wasn't fit to lace his shoes. Lance was, as someone has already stated, a better climber, a better professional and a freak of nature. Armstrong never took drugs and by god, the cycling authorities (especially those in france) would've loved nothing more than to nail him. They certainly tried hard enough.

                    Ullrich was as fat as a pig off season, Armstrong trained hard every day, that's the difference.

                    I really wish people would acknowledge Armstrong for the rider he was. I would however say that the team around Lance was second to none and played an important role in his success, but he always rewarded them well.

                    Armstrong is, IMO, the greatest ever sportsman. As cycling goes Indurain was class too.

                    "If Gerrard continues to play up front, leaving this lack of creativity and intelligence in Midfield, the season WILL be over by Xmas."

                    I still don't think we'll finish in the top 4 this season."

                    FatTony 24/08/09

                    Comment

                      #11
                      It's a shame he's retired but you can't keep going forever.

                      I think he deserves some respect for his achievements even if he was beaten in the Tour by Armstrong. Thing is, there's more to cycling than the Tour even if it is the biggest race.

                      As for the drugs allegations, there has been so much of it in cycling.

                      I am interested to know what Michele Ferrari helped Armstrong with though.
                      .
                      Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.



                      May the Lord bless this post.

                      Comment

                        #12
                        I agree that the connection with Ferrari was suspiscious, however Lance NEVER tested positive for anything.

                        He would surely have failed at least 1 test if he was using banned substances.

                        Ullrich was well known for drinking and eating off season so you could argue that between the pair of them, Lance, who trained everyday of the year against Jan, who ate and drank heavily for a quarter of it would be the one I'd be wondering about.

                        "If Gerrard continues to play up front, leaving this lack of creativity and intelligence in Midfield, the season WILL be over by Xmas."

                        I still don't think we'll finish in the top 4 this season."

                        FatTony 24/08/09

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Loads of them drink too much. A mate of mine knows O'Grady and he has often seen him completely hammered. It's incredible but I suppose a lot of young men do the same...

                          I'm not calling into question Armstrong's greatness - I just think drug use has been endemic and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if it emerged for him too despite all the negative tests.

                          With the right medical team I reckon you could get away with systematic doping.

                          What these athletes are required to do is so beyond the reach of ordinary mortals it's amazing they aren't all high as kites all the time. However when you look at the performances of the avowedly clean athletes (Moncoutie for instance) they are so up and down - brilliant one day, poor the next - that you can't help wondering how some riders are fantastic every day for three weeks.

                          Of course that may be simply be the difference between being good and being great.
                          .
                          Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.



                          May the Lord bless this post.

                          Comment

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