Ullrich's Future in Doubt as Scandals Take Their Toll
July 24, 2006
Jan Ullrich must have watched the final stages of the Tour de France Sunday with a bitter taste in his mouth. Just a day before the tour's start, the 1997 winner was suspended by his T-Mobile team along with Spaniard Oscar Sevilla when new evidence from investigators in Spain implicated them further in an ongoing doping scandal.
Without Ullrich, T-Mobile claimed three stages wins, one for Matthias Kessler and two for Serhiy Honchar, a podium place in the general classification as well as winning the teams' classification. With the German, the first from his country to win the Tour de France, they may have been celebrating a Yellow Jersey victory on the Champs Elysees on Sunday.
Andreas Klöden, who finished as runner-up to Lance Armstrong in 2004 and took third this year behind overall winner Floyd Landis, paid tribute to his estranged team-mate and countryman, saying T-Mobile could have achieved greater things with Ullrich in the team.
"We fought till the end for Jan Ullrich, so he can be proud of us," said Klöden, who maintained that team officials were wrong to suspend their leader. "With Jan here, we would have won the tour this year. Jan was innocent. I know him. He's a good friend of mine. I find it hard to understand why he should have to prove his innocence."
Ullrich clearly struggles to understand this too, reiterating that he hasn't been charged -- or found guilty -- of anything.
"In a country governed by law, not only I but every individual is innocent until proven guilty," Ullrich said in a statement posted on his Web site.
Former champion sacked by fax
T-Mobile sacked Ullrich and Sevilla when both riders failed to respond to an ultimatum: prove you are not linked to the ongoing doping affair. Ullrich was fired from the team by fax, a form of dismissal the German rider called "unacceptable."
"I am very disappointed that this decision was not communicated to me personally, but that it was faxed to my lawyers," Ullrich said. The 32-year-old rider had been under contract with T-Mobile until the end of the year. "I find it shameful that after so many years of a good and fruitful working relationship and after all that I have done for the team, I am merely sent a fax."
T-Mobile general manager Olaf Ludwig said at the time: "Jan was suspended and has not provided proof of his innocence, contrary to what he announced. Dismissal was the logical outcome."
No positive test or proof of innocence
"For us it's not a witch-hunt. Jan will always be the first ever German to win the Tour de France, but at the same time we are not saying that he was doped. However we have no proof of his innocence."
"We made this decision because we believe, looking at the information provided by investigators, that Jan Ullrich is implicated in the Spanish doping affair," T-Mobile spokesman Christian Frommert added. "However Ullrich has not returned a positive doping test."
Despite rumors of a meeting between the former Olympic champion and T-Mobile officials in a bid for reconciliation, Ullrich's future in cycling remains in doubt.
A career of awards and controversy
His suspension from cycling will last as long as the investigation into his alleged involvement in the doping scandal. If found guilty, a longer ban will be handed down and given the 32-year-old Ullrich's age, his proneness to injury and growing disillusionment with the sport, he may have contested his last tour.
This doping scandal may prove to be the final straw for a rider who has always offset his achievements with controversy.
Ullrich's collection of accolades -- Tour winner in 1997, Olympic gold in the road race at the 2000 Games and several others world titles -- will always be remembered alongside his highly publicized battles with weight problems, a drunken driving incident and a positive doping test in 2002 after ingesting two ecstasy pills. Any positive outcome in this latest doping scandal will over-shadow his entire career.
If Ullrich is to retire in ignominious circumstances, it will be a sadly fitting career end for a rider who would be remembered as the German cyclist of the century who could have achieved even more than he did.