Recent Ullrich photos

frenchfighter

josame

what's Jan's status - can he enter any granfondo he likes etc or is he barred from certain comps??

inkyfingers

Bet he'd still ride a pretty good club 10!

Ron Stuart

josame wrote:

what's Jan's status - can he enter any granfondo he likes etc or is he barred from certain comps??

They usually ride Grand Fondos because they are banned, I've done a few when this guy was riding http://www.e-steroid.com/steroids-blog/ ... talia.html he went on to come third in the 2003 TDF.
Organisers love them because they bring in (ironically) prestige. :roll:

emadden

I rode the Colnago Miami Gran Fondo in November and Kaiser Jan was riding (along with Simoni and Garzelli)... Drafted him for a bit which was cool ... after two hours and around half distance (80km) we turned into a massive head wind and Jan and two other "team mates" went on the front and put the hammer down even more. Speed went up to 50-55kmph and blew the whole thing the pieces. The lead group went from about 100 riders down to 30 in about 4km... What a beast! I keep forgetting that he isnt so old!

calvjones

frenchfighter wrote:

Clearly Ullrich's bike line never took off then. Shame; I would have quite liked one. Effectively a custom frame for me!

rick_chasey

Obligatory 'Jan Ullrich' blog post.

http://www.myspace.com/kaiserjan/blog/138463492

LangerDan

Ron Stuart wrote:

josame wrote:

what's Jan's status - can he enter any granfondo he likes etc or is he barred from certain comps??

They usually ride Grand Fondos because they are banned, I've done a few when this guy was riding http://www.e-steroid.com/steroids-blog/ ... talia.html he went on to come third in the 2003 TDF.
Organisers love them because they bring in (ironically) prestige. :roll:

Jan has specifically been banned from Gran Fondos in Germany by the German Fed, but AFAIK, he's free to paricpate in events outside Germany

Cleat Eastwood

this was posted in sportives section - Jan looks like he's really enjoying himself, and i'm glad, I still like him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Nf11zg ... ure=relmfu

rick_chasey

Can't. Help. But. Like. Jan.

inkyfingers

Rick Chasey wrote:

Can't. Help. But. Like. Jan.

I like him, think it must be an English thing, we love the underdog.

shockedsoshocked

Rick Chasey wrote:

Obligatory 'Jan Ullrich' blog post.

http://www.myspace.com/kaiserjan/blog/138463492

His posts on his official page read much like that anyway.

A few people I know have met Jan, and said he's a top bloke. Him and Armstrong were staying at Alp D'Huez at the same time once. Where as Lance was surrounded by a horde of helpers and wouldn't stop to talk to anyone, Ullrich just spoke to anyone who spoke to him, and had time for everyone. Being a nice guy goes a long way I guess.

Ben6899

He should flip it.

iainf72

I find him more odious than Armstrong

Poor Jan. Nice guy Jan. Meanwhile he's getting tooled up, cheating on his girlfriend with a team mates sister, drinking too much and driving and lying to his fans. At least he's friendly though.

:P

knedlicky

‘more odious than Armstrong’. Those are harsh words for someone who, by contrast with Armstrong, was naïve, never calculating, and always approachable.

I personally never took to Ullrich a lot, because I prefer riders who have a bit more panache in their riding style and who are a bit more revealingly talkative when interviewed, but I never disliked him either.
But I suspect some of the sympathy others have for Ullrich was because he was like ‘us’ – he didn’t take things that seriously, he put on weight, he took drugs down the disco, he went with a training partner’s girl, he drank and drove, and so on.

Did he lie to his fans, as you wrote – I don’t think so. He said he never cheated in the terms of his then cycling associates, which seems highly probable given what went on at the time.
And unlike others, he also said he never doped specific to any race - what he got up to was apparently only during his training weeks. Perhaps a bit lame but still relevant considering what Landis did, and (on rest days) what Armstrong’s team and the likes of Sinkewitz also did, all during Tour.

I know there are people who would like Ullrich to reveal everything, and hold it against him that he hasn’t done that, but since he’s been punished in more ways than one (bans and fines, as well as negotiated-forced contributions), and punished far more than other discovered or very probable dopers, I respect his unwillingness to tell more.
Someone who robs a bank but doesn’t say where he buried the booty gets a higher sentence, but is never forced to state the hiding place. In Ullrich's case the sentences mostly came before he ever had chance to reveal the details, so it's no wonder he never did.
By not disclosing everything, Ullrich also thus forfeits on the money he could still earn by doing so, although unlike others, he has now little to lose - something which some of his critics could perhaps reflect upon.

With respect to his changing female partners, in a recent interview, Ullrich said that both women now got on well together, that he sees his daughter from his earlier relationship very frequently, and that he regards the success of his patchwork family (three children from two women, who all apparently see each other often and mix well together) as a more significant success in his life than his 1997 Tour victory.
Given his nature, I can believe he was sincere in saying that.

In the same interview, Ullrich was asked, if times were repeated, whether he would wait for LA like he had done during the 2003 Tour when LA crashed, and Ullrich said ‘Yes’. Maybe that was answer was to be expected in an interview, but when Ullrich was also asked whether LA had ever thanked him for the gesture, Ullrich emphatically answered ‘No’.
Perhaps an intrinsic difference between the two, and thus leading back to how you can say Ullrich was ‘more odious than Armstrong’.

Ron Stuart

I don't know enough about Jan Ullrich or care for that matter about his failings as a person if true or false.
I just wished he had disciplined himself better and maybe he could have done a bit better in the Tours.
Still it's good to see he still likes to ride a bike.

bompington

knedlicky wrote:

he was like ‘us’ ... he went with a training partner’s girl, he drank and drove...

Speak for yourself

BikingBernie

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

this was posted in sportives section - Jan looks like he's really enjoying himself, and i'm glad, I still like him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Nf11zg ... ure=relmfu

That is one challenging 'sportive' - 238 km and 5500 meters of climbing. Makes the Marmotte look tame!

Ron Stuart

BikingBernie wrote:

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

this was posted in sportives section - Jan looks like he's really enjoying himself, and i'm glad, I still like him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Nf11zg ... ure=relmfu

That is one challenging 'sportive' - 238 km and 5500 meters of climbing. Makes the Marmotte look tame!

Saw this one on Eurosport not long ago and the bloke who won it, yes won it, looked not that much younger than me :shock: ...... http://www.hauteroute.org/en/

Le Commentateur

BikingBernie wrote:

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

this was posted in sportives section - Jan looks like he's really enjoying himself, and i'm glad, I still like him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Nf11zg ... ure=relmfu

That is one challenging 'sportive' - 238 km and 5500 meters of climbing. Makes the Marmotte look tame!

It's part of the Italian Gran Turismo magazine's Pretigio series that includes the well known Italian events like the Maratona and Nove Colli. It almost always seems to rain on that event or is just cold, which is why I've never wanted to do it. Lonnnng climbs on that route, hence the distance.

Beatmaker

I like Big Jan. if I had been a pro, I'd have been like Der Kaiser.

Le Commentateur

frenchfighter wrote:

Looks like Majorcan landscape.

shinyhelmut

bompington wrote:

knedlicky wrote:

he was like ‘us’ ... he went with a training partner’s girl, he drank and drove...

Speak for yourself

Absolutely. Friends' partners, workmates' partners OK but never a training partner's girl!

Ron Stuart

You don't have to go all the way over there you can do something completely mad here and save a lot of money....

Bryan Chapman Memorial (Classic) Audax

619km cycling event starting from Chepstow. Controls at Bronllys, Devil's bridge or Nan-Yr-Arian, Dolgellau (KINGS YH), Menai Bridge, Dolgellau (KINGS YH), Aberhafesp and Weobley.

Traverse Wales twice, taking in some of the finest (and diverse) scenery the principality has to offer.

Speeds:15-30 kph
ROA:10000
AAA:8.25
Total Climb:8300m
Event No:12-195
Category:BRM

Oh! and if anyone finds that an average speed of 18.75 mph on this route a bit slow just let me know ta! I know someone at the Rapha Condor team :shock: :shock: :shock:

knedlicky

Here he is in Ulm (not Ulli-m) yesterday, 17 May.

He took part in a 70 km ride for charity, with former Profis Kai Hundertmarck (one-time Frankfurt GP winner) and Rolf Gölz (several TdF stage wins).
On the second photo Ullrich is at the back on the right, and it might be Gölz in the middle at the back.

napoleond

Rick Chasey wrote:

Can't. Help. But. Like. Jan.

Me too!

dennisn

Ron Stuart wrote:

I just wished he had disciplined himself better and maybe he could have done a bit better in the Tours.

That seems a bit harsh. Here's a guy who wins the TDF and comes in with very high placings for more than a few years. I doubt that there are too many people in this world capable of doing what he has done. He was a threat in just about any race he entered. How many people have that distinction?

Ron Stuart

dennisn wrote:

Ron Stuart wrote:

I just wished he had disciplined himself better and maybe he could have done a bit better in the Tours.

That seems a bit harsh. Here's a guy who wins the TDF and comes in with very high placings for more than a few years. I doubt that there are too many people in this world capable of doing what he has done. He was a threat in just about any race he entered. How many people have that distinction?

He spent a lot of the early season getting rid of excess fat he had put on over the winter months. He started towards the end of his pro years to over winter in South Africa and it improved but when Lance Armstrong was weighing his food Jan just laughed. That's all that was meant by my comment.
I always thought he was a much better rider than Riis and it was a shame when he sacrificed himself so Riis could dope himself to a win in the TDF.

frenchfighter

Rapha and Sky. Hmm.

doug5_10

And sunnies under helmet straps, tisk tisk!

deejay

doug5_10 wrote:

And sunnies under helmet straps, tisk tisk!

Simple, Throw the straps in the trash bin.