Jan Ullrich

[Michielveedeebee]

If only he had trained as hard as LA...
He'd've kicked some LA ***

 

[Digger]

Jan was my favourite. Such a class TT rider. And I think his imperfections made him all the more likeable. He had class both on and off the bike. And his line about putting two and two together is a very powerful one on the state of cycling. Hope he enjoys his retirement.

The photo of him being pushed by Guerini in the 06 tour of Romandie is amazing. He was absolutely f****d.

 

[ergmonkey]

Yeah, pity he was a long time dope cheat but hey its hard to be fat, fast and not on the juice

"Dope cheat" or not, I can't think of a single reason for a Lance fan to harbor any animosity toward Jan Ullrich. Ullrich made Lance's victories worth so much more, preventing the Lance Years from just being seven straight runnings of the 2002 steamroller. Man, did that Tour suck. Try imagining the 2001 Tour without Jan: probably wouldn't have seen the explosive attacks from Lance, the "look", and certainly wouldn't have seen a podium rider trying to attack Lance on each mountain stage even as it became increasingly futile. Moreover, Ullrich was always gracious in defeat; word has it he practically brought the house down when he made a cameo at Lance's post-Tour bash in '05 to say goodbye. Apparently Lance looked a little confused at first, but Jan just walked up and gave him a big hug. True class.

Lance fans--perhaps even more than most other cycling fans--owe Der Kaiser a very big 'Thank You'.

 

[Beech Mtn]

Remember this:

 

[elapid]

I would say his withdrawal from the sport under the circumstances was certainly a major part of it. Then the German tv senders jumped on the "anti-doping-anti-cycling" bandwagon, and helped to run it into the ground. Sinkewitz's positive gave it the death blow, and the Gerolsteiner doping cases drove the last nails into the coffin.

Susan

Hi Susan,

If doping by German cyclists was the death of TV coverage of cycling in Germany, how did the networks respond to the rash of doping in athletes competing in the Winter Olympics? Has anyone in Germany noted the hypocrisy? If so, what was the reaction by the TV networks?

 

[Nick777]

My favourite rider, after Indurain retired.
Like most who like him, it was not just his cycling, but the fact that he seems so much more human & likeable than most champions - & one that you could have a beer with.
Favourite Jan moments:
- The penultimate (TT) stage of the 1996 TdF - when he came close to dethroning Riis
- Andorra stage of the 1997 TdF
- Sydney 2000 & more specifically, the 2nd last time up the Bronte Hill
- the constant hopes that he had kept his weight under control over the winter
- the first time trial stage in the 2003 TdF, when he obliterated the entire field.

 

[Yo Momma]

I too love and miss him , one of my favorite riders .

 

[pedaling squares]

@ergomonkey - very well put.
@ joe_papp - nice story. Good to hear he treated other riders well.

The thing that I liked about Ullrich was he combined incredible talent with a down to earth persona, and there was also that you-never-know-what's-gonna-happen factor. Monday he looks apathetic and out of shape, Tuesday he crushes the field. I most liked watching him ride in the 2003 tour, when he didn't have that strong Telekom/T-Mobile team and you weren't sure if he was the Jan Ullrich of two years before, and then he nearly dethroned the king. It bothers me that he is out of the sport while Valverde is still winning races. I still think he'd be competitive today, but much more importantly I hope he's enjoying his post-cycling life.

 

[Boeing]

since we are all playing googleboy

looks like red can pull chicks

 

[Boeing]

Jan's best opportunity

 

[brianf7]

That was when EPO wasnt cheating everyone used it.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

As many know, i am a big Ulle-Fan. It kills me everytime i see AC, Valv-Piti and Epo-Lance ride, while he was sacrificed.

He had class (when he waited for Epo-Lance in 2003), he was human (he had his share of bad days in the mountains) and he was not arrogant.

The only pipo not forgiving him in Germany is the media. They have double standards in the case of doping and betting scandals. They still show Athletics, Soccer etc...

But the german fans are different, many of them still like him. He is still in the forums even after 4years of forced retirement, because we all miss him.

 

[Bagster]

As many know, i am a big Ulle-Fan. It kills me everytime i see AC, Valv-Piti and Epo-Lance ride, while he was sacrificed.

He had class (when he waited for Epo-Lance in 2003), he was human (he had his share of bad days in the mountains) and he was not arrogant.

The only pipo not forgiving him in Germany is the media. They have double standards in the case of doping and betting scandals. They still show Athletics, Soccer etc...

But the german fans are different, many of them still like him. He is still in the forums even after 4years of forced retirement, because we all miss him.

Laughable how LA is alway portrayed as the villainous drug cheat and here we have a true, convicted drug cheat being held up as a hero. One reason why these forums are just a joke

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Laughable how LA is alway portrayed as the villainous drug cheat and here we have a true, convicted drug cheat being held up as a hero. One reason why these forums are just a joke

Yeah it´s a joke, but for other reasons then you write. Ulle (and others) were sanctionized, but LA, AC & Piti not. That´s the big difference here. Go back to your double standard Fan-Boy-LA-Thread and keep on, seeing him loosing big time this year...

 

[Bagster]

@ergomonkey - very well put.
@ joe_papp - nice story. Good to hear he treated other riders well.

The thing that I liked about Ullrich was he combined incredible talent with a down to earth persona, and there was also that you-never-know-what's-gonna-happen factor. Monday he looks apathetic and out of shape, Tuesday he crushes the field. I most liked watching him ride in the 2003 tour, when he didn't have that strong Telekom/T-Mobile team and you weren't sure if he was the Jan Ullrich of two years before, and then he nearly dethroned the king. It bothers me that he is out of the sport while Valverde is still winning races. I still think he'd be competitive today, but much more importantly I hope he's enjoying his post-cycling life.

Why don't you nominate him for sainthood!
Look,yes he was a real talent but he was also lazy, needed (by his coaches admission) to be externally motivated, undisciplined in his diet and at the end of the day an underachiever. Against LA? well it was a case of 'woulda, coulda, shoulda'...but he never did, which is why LA is a champ and Ule was a very good rider who could perhaps have been a great rider but at the end of the day always ended up as 'first loser' when it really mattered

 

[Bagster]

Yeah it´s a joke, but for other reasons then you write. Ulle (and others) were sanctionized, but LA, AC & Piti not. That´s the big difference here. Go back to your double standard Fan-Boy-LA-Thread and keep on, seeing him loosing big time this year...

Mate I dont really care if he wins or not. He made muppets on this forum look stupid last year after they wrote him off (just like you are doing now). He may do it again, but really it doesn't matter because win or lose he is still the greatest TDF champ ever.I realise it is sacrilege to actually be a LA fan on these forums but I am not the one defending a doper, you are and just because others have doped doesn't alter the fact that Ule was a cheat, simple as that...much as you would seem to like it to

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

he is still the greatest TDF champ ever.I realise it is sacrilege to actually be a LA fan on these forums but I am not the one defending a doper

Now your word "joke" becomes a real meaning.

Merckx, Indurain, Anquetil, Hinault, Coppi (and others) are all better TdF-Riders then Epo-Lance. Because you Fan-Boys always forget that LA had some real bad Tours (36th, not finishing 3 times) before he got ill. Ulle for example never had that kind of bad Tours. He was good from the start and didn´t have to have a illness for doping-excuses. So please leave your half-truths in the LA-Fan-Boy-Thread...

Of course you are defending a doper. If you wanna discuss this, go to the clinic.... Ah, you´re feared because you would get heavy flak there. That´s why you try to discuss this in a "Ulle-Thread".

Good bye ignorant cry-baby

 

[craig1985]

 

[Bagster]

Now your word "joke" becomes a real meaning.

Merckx, Indurain, Anquetil, Hinault, Coppi (and others) are all better TdF-Riders then Epo-Lance. Because you Fan-Boys always forget that LA had some real bad Tours (36th, not finishing 3 times) before he got ill. Ulle for example never had that kind of bad Tours. He was good from the start and didn´t have to have a illness for doping-excuses. So please leave your half-truths in the LA-Fan-Boy-Thread...

Of course you are defending a doper. If you wanna discuss this, go to the clinic.... Ah, you´re feared because you would get heavy flak there. That´s why you try to discuss this in a "Ulle-Thread".

Good bye ignorant cry-baby

Lol your reasoning would be funny if it wasn't so ***. It doesn't matter what LA did before he got ill, an athlete is judged on how many events he wins not on what he loses. Using your logic Roger Federer looks pretty average, lets ignore that fact he has won more Grand Slams than anyone else and just point out how many times he has lost...now thats great reasoning!!
Most objective people would look and see that LA has won two more tdf's than anyone else, beat Ule in every race post 1999 and mke the logical conclusion that he was therefore the better rider. Not on these forums of course, where an Alice in Wonderland logic seems to rule.

Also I am not defending a doper, you are. This is an Ule post, a post about a doper...not an LA post. I am not defending LA, merely pointing out that his Tdf record overwhelmingly shows him to be the better rider. His tdf record is better than any of the riders you mention. Does that make him a better rider than Merckx, of course not but it does make him a greater tdf champion.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

beat Ule in every race post 1999

Wrong: he lost to him big time in the 2003 ITT and mountain stages. Just search for the facts before you post nonsense and half truths again and again...

Also wrong: Epo-Lance (= at least 6 time DOPER) isn´t the best TdF-Rider ever (see the reasons i wrote before).

He did win the most TdF, that´s true. But that doesn´t mean he is the best. To go by your logic; for example Charles Haley must be the best/greatest NFL-Player ever, since he won the most SB´s (six). What funny logic LA-Fan-Boys have...

And pls don´t forget that is a Ulle Thread; the LA-Fan-Boy-Forum is just around the corner...

 

[Bagster]

Wrong: he lost to him big time in the 2003 ITT and mountain stages. Just search for the facts before you post nonsense and half truths again and again...

Also wrong: Epo-Lance (= at least 6 time DOPER) isn´t the best TdF-Rider ever (see the reasons i wrote before).

He did win the most TdF, that´s true. But that doesn´t mean he is the best. To go by your logic; for example Charles Haley must be the best/greatest NFL-Player ever, since he won the most SB´s (six). What funny logic LA-Fan-Boys have...

And pls don´t forget that is a Ulle Thread; the LA-Fan-Boy-Forum is just around the corner...

Wow silly me, I thought I was talking about tdf wins, I didn't realise that winning a few stages but not the overall race when you are in the race to contend for the GC makes you a champ. You are the one talking the half truths, I was talking tdf wins thats what counts not a couple of stage wins.

Hardly a great comparison given that NFL is a pure team sport while cycling has an individual winner albeit supported by his team. At least 6 times doping? that must be why he incurred all those bans from the sport eh?

Go back to your Ule fantasy... but always the bridesmaid never the bride even when doped up to his eyeballs

 

[Bagster]

Move over fat boy I'm coming through! And no, your brakes aren't rubbing...

 

[Bagster]

Dammit Ule,I told you twelve Frankfurters was too much have for breakfast!!

 

[Nick777]

Why don't you nominate him for sainthood!
Look,yes he was a real talent but he was also lazy, needed (by his coaches admission) to be externally motivated, undisciplined in his diet and at the end of the day an underachiever. Against LA? well it was a case of 'woulda, coulda, shoulda'...but he never did, which is why LA is a champ and Ule was a very good rider who could perhaps have been a great rider but at the end of the day always ended up as 'first loser' when it really mattered

Dear oh dear.

 

[Bagster]

Dear oh dear.

wow thats deep