Remember Olaf Ludwig?

[Alpe d'Huez]

Nice article on the CN front page.

Ludwig was sort of like Erik Zabel, before Zabel. A great sprinter who could climb some, and managed to win the Peace Race when it was big in Eastern Europe. When the wall came down, it was great to see him racing with the pros, even though he may have been just past his peak at that point.

 

[Anonymous]

he was a great rider.. just a few years to early to really enjoy the best of his career

 

[usedtobefast]

olympic champion in 1988? his attack for the gold medal was well timed, and
he made it stick.

 

[euphrades]

I thought he did win the green jersey in the 1990 tour and a stage to boot.

 

[irishpeloton]

He also won the stage on the Champs Elyssés in the 1992 Tour.

 

[Finbar]

I always liked Olaf - one of my favourite cycling photos is him winning the Amstel Gold in a bunch sprint.
He was riding for Panasonic and you can see three or four of his teammates in the bunch mimicing his 2 handed victory salute - brilliant.
Maybe someone will post a link to it if they can find it on the web.

I think Olaf ended up as DS for Telekom and was one of those swept away by Stapletons' new broom. It seems that he took the fall for the practices that were going on in Telekom even though he had only been a DS for a year or two.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Not DS, but team manager.

He was T-Mobile team co-manager in 2005, and team manager in 2006. The sponsor ended his contract as of October 31 of that year, turning things over to Bob Stapeleton.

It seems to be I did an interview with him that fall, have to see if I can find it.

Susan

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/features/?id=2006/ludwig06

Susan

 

[Finbar]

Thanks

Susan

thanks for the info - as the saying goes "the worst ink is better than the best memory" -although I think that it will have to be updated for the digital age!!!

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Too bad Olaf couldn't have gone pro sooner. Races like Milan-San Remo, or perhaps a race like Tirreno or Romandie could have been within his reach, or of course more green jerseys.

Good interview. Don't want to change the topic of his career, but what he had to say about OP was pretty interesting in that how little has changed in so many people's perceptions.