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.

Jan Ullrich

Ullrich in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Jan Ullrich
Nickname	Der Kaiser, Der Jan, Der Junge, The Yoyo[1]
Born	(1973-12-02) 2 December 1973 (age 51) Rostock, East Germany
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Amateur teams
1987	SG Dynamo Rostock
1987–1989	SC Dynamo Berlin
1991	SC Berlin
1992–1994	RG Hamburg
Professional teams
1995–2002	Team Telekom
2003	Team Coast
2003	Team Bianchi
2004–2006	T-Mobile Team
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France General classification (1997) Young riders classification (1996, 1997, 1998) 7 individual stages (1996, 1997, 1998, 2003) Vuelta a España General classification (1999) 2 individual stages (1999) Stage races Tour de Suisse (2004) One-day races and Classics World Time Trial Championships (1999, 2001) National Road Race Championships (1997, 2001) National Time Trial Championships (1995) Olympic Road Race (2000) HEW Cyclassics (1997) Giro dell'Emilia (2001) Rund um Köln (2003)
Medal record Representing  Germany Men's road bicycle racing Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Road race 2000 Sydney Time trial World Championships 1993 Oslo Amateur road race 1994 Catania Time trial 1999 Verona Time trial 2001 Lisbon Time trial

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

Palmarès

1993

Amateur World Road Race Cycling Champion

1995

 Germany 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

 Germany 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

 Germany 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