Jan Ullrich

Jan Ullrich (born 2 December 1973 in Rostock, Germany) is a retired German bicycle rider. He was very good in riding in the mountains. In Individual time trials he was one of the best cyclists at his time. He won the Tour de France in 1997. Jan Ullrich is the only German athlete who has won this event.

Beginning 
Jan Ullrich started cycling early. When he was ten years old, he won his first race. After Germany's reunification he went to a club in Hamburg. In 1993, when Ullrich was 19 years old, he won the World Amateur Road Race championship in Oslo, Norway. In this year Lance Armstrong won the Professional World Race championchip. The year after, he became third in the Individual Time Race championchip. After this succes he became a professional member of the German Team "Team-Telekom".

Tour de France 
Jan Ullrich first rode the Tour de France in 1996. There he won a stage and became overall second, after his team mate Bjarne Riis. Some experts say, Jan Ullrich could have won the Tour the France that year, but he did not because he helped his team-mate over the Tour.

In 2007 Bjarne Riis said that he used drugs to win the 1996 Tour. In 1997 Jan Ullrich won the Tour the France, when he was 23 years old (fourth youngest winner of the Tour since 1947). During this year he won the Tour de Suisse, German-Tour and HEW-Cyclassics. At the end of the year, he was elected as the "sports person of the year" in Germany.

Doping
Many of Jan Ullrichs Team-members said, he was taking drugs in the 90. In 2002 he tested positive for amphetamine. He said he took pills in a disco, without knowing that they were an illegal substance. He was suspended for 6 months. In 2006 Ullrich was suspected to be a client of Fuentes. In 2007 a DNA-test gave the evidence that he was one, and that he was planning to use the illegal blood doping. Ullrich denied using drugs for a long time. In 2013, Ullrich decided to tell the truth. He admitted he used illegal substances during his career.

Palmarès 

1993
 Amateur World Road Race Cycling Champion
1995
 National Time Trial Champion
1996
Tour de France
 2nd place overall
 Winner white jersey
 Winner stage 20
Regio Tour
1997
Tour de France
 Winner yellow jersey
 Winner white jersey
 Winner stages 10 and 12
 National Road Race Champion
Luk Cup, à Bühl
HEW Cyclassics
1998
Tour de France
 2nd place overall
 Winner white jersey
 Winner stages 7, 16 and 20
Rund um Berlin
Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt
1999
 World Time Trial Cycling Champion
Winner Vuelta a España
2000
Summer Olympics Road Race Champion
Tour de France: 2nd place
Coppa Agostini
2001
 World Time Trial Cycling Champion
 National Road Race Champion
Tour de France: 2nd place
Giro dell'Emilia
Versatel Classic
2003
Tour de France
 2nd place
 Winner stage 12
Rund um Köln (Tour of Cologne)
2004
Tour de France: 4th place
Tour de Suisse: winner
Coppa Sabatini
2005
Tour de France: 3rd place
2006
Tour de Suisse: winner

References

Other websites 

 Official Homepage
 Jan Ullrich at the Internet Movie Database

1973 births
Doping cases in cycling
German cyclists
Living people
People from Rostock
Sportspeople from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Tour de France winners
Vuelta a España winners