Jan Ullrich

Jan Ullrich (born December 2, 1973 in Rostock, Germany) is a German professional road bicycle racer. He won the Tour de France in 1997, finished 2nd five times and one time fourth (2004) and third (2005). He was the first German to win the Tour de France, which led to a bicycle sports boom in Germany. He also won a gold medal in the Olympics 2000 in Sydney and the Vuelta a España as well.

Recent years

For the 2004 season, Ullrich returned to Team Telekom (now named T-Mobile since a sponsorship change). 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.

Related Topics:
2004 - T-Mobile - Tour de Suisse - 2004 Tour de France - Andreas Klöden - Ivan Basso

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For 2005, Ullrich again captained the talented T-Mobile squad. As was his normal routine to prepare for Le 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, which he finished third after Aitor González (Team Euskaltel) and Michael Rogers (Team Quick Step).

Related Topics:
Tour de Suisse - Aitor González - Euskaltel - Michael Rogers - Quick Step

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Ullrich is constantly criticized and sometimes parodied for his weight, especially 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 is developing.

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The day before the 2005 Tour de France, during a training ride, Ullrich crashed. He was closely following (drafting) his accompaning team car when it stopped unexpectedly quickly. He was unable to stop and plowed into the back windshield, narrowly avoiding cutting a major artery by several millimeters. He was not wearing a helmet at the time.

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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. Resigning himself to never beating Armstrong, Ullrich began focusing on finishing ahead the surprise star of the mountains, 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 5 bike changes, which ultimately gave Ullrich a podium place in the Tour de France.

Related Topics:
Lance Armstrong - Ivan Basso - General classification - 2005 Tour de France

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Ullrich is one of the most popular sportspersons in Germany, and has appeared in many commercials.

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