In a press conference held before presenting the documentary of his sporting and personal life entitled La Presa on November 28, the formidable German road racer – TDF champion in 1997 -, Jan Ullrich, openly accepted and confessed to having resorted to systematic doping. to compete, which finally led to his exclusion from the 2006 Tour de France a few days before the start of the race in Strasbourg.
The great star of the late 90s and early 2000s, close to turning 50, is the owner of a stormy sporting and personal life that he has not tried to hide, having previously stated that he drank whiskey like water and consumed cocaine, coming close to the death.
Fortunately, he found in his archrival the North American Lance Armstrong (also disqualified from the 7 Tours he won), his lifeline in the last 5 years thanks to a solid friendship and respect that arose while they were the stars of cycling at the time.
In his reflections, Ulrich remembers coming into contact with doping in 1995-96 before TDF while part of the T-Mobile team, adding that “almost everyone took things to improve their performance and I’m not interested in knowing what they did. I did it to make sure I started a career on equal terms. That was what there was at that time. Cycling had a system and I ended up being part of it.”
The Sydney 2000 Olympic Medalist and second in the 1998 -2000- 2001 and 2003 Tour said he felt today “guilty and I accept my guilt. “I was a young man then and that was the best way to build a career, but I don’t feel like a criminal.”
Despite everything, he believes that he deserves “to be considered the winner of the 1997 TDF although others do not think so but my heart tells me that I am the winner of that TDF.”
In his responses, the German “panzer” invoked the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes who advised him in that field, but warned him of the levels of risk to which he was exposed and “I decided to assume them to the lowest possible degree,” he expressed calmly.
Finally, Ulrich considers that today he has restored his life, noting that he enjoys good health and has a family that is his pole to his land. His son is already starting to compete and Ulrich finally points out in Cyclingnews that “I would like to have a chance in this sport in Germany, if they can forgive me throughout my life.”
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico