Kloden in Dubai with Der Kaiser

frenchfighter
frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
edited December 2010 in Pro race
8 day training camp and look who he has for company.
http://twitpic.com/3ac9hj
http://twitpic.com/3bm9ne
http://twitpic.com/3abzrq

And here on the bike:
http://twitpic.com/3baq37
Contador is the Greatest
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Comments

  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    Good to see Ullrich looking happy. I've always had a soft spot for him, despite his alleged doping.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • Gazzaputt
    Gazzaputt Posts: 3,227
    Great to see Ullrich looking good.
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    Strange that he is liked as much as Lance is hated yet he probably was the zenith of that East German 'preparation' regime. He was beautiful to watch in a TT as he he was just fluid. Sad that he was around at the same time as Lance and was unable to best him
    M.Rushton
  • Hibbs
    Hibbs Posts: 291
    mrushton wrote:
    Strange that he is liked as much as Lance is hated yet he probably was the zenith of that East German 'preparation' regime. He was beautiful to watch in a TT as he he was just fluid. Sad that he was around at the same time as Lance and was unable to best him

    I think there is a perception that he was a reluctant doper and didn't act like a sex addict in a brothel after 20 years in prison with the dope, and that that he was humble... hence the polar-opposite opinion of him to that other person. I personally feel he was cheated out of a great career as opposed to him cheating to a good career.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    Poor Jan. Forced to dope and become a multi-millionaire. It's a tough life, eh? :roll:
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    I must be the only one who can see very little difference between Ullrich and Armstrong. They both doped their way to race wins and riches. Both womanised. One of them drove around drunk, crashing cars etc.

    He might be a nice guy, but lets not fool ourselves that he accidentally doped or didn't really want to do it.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,244
    iainf72 wrote:
    I must be the only one who can see very little difference between Ullrich and Armstrong. They both doped their way to race wins and riches. Both womanised. One of them drove around drunk, crashing cars etc.

    He might be a nice guy, but lets not fool ourselves that he accidentally doped or didn't really want to do it.

    a) He didn't win... a lot

    b) he basically got rumbled.

    c) He didn't do the bizzare press thing, nor did he appear to coerce others to his way of thinking...
  • ridgerider
    ridgerider Posts: 2,851
    I liked him from the underdog point of view, and a German friend suggested an arrogant streak in him.

    I would put him in the "did no more or less than everyone else around him at the time" list...
    Half man, Half bike
  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    iainf72 wrote:
    I must be the only one who can see very little difference between Ullrich and Armstrong. They both doped their way to race wins and riches. Both womanised. One of them drove around drunk, crashing cars etc.

    He might be a nice guy, but lets not fool ourselves that he accidentally doped or didn't really want to do it.

    a) He didn't win... a lot

    b) he basically got rumbled.

    c) He didn't do the bizzare press thing, nor did he appear to coerce others to his way of thinking...

    I agree that morally there is not much between Armnstrong and Ullrich, the only reason I like Ullrich more is because he seems like a nicer bloke, hardly objective I know.

    Actually Rick, Ullrich did win quite a lot, he's just better known as the guy who usually came second to Lance. I've no doubt that they both had access to the best "preparation" methods available, I think the main difference on a sporting level was that Lance was more self disciplined in his training and during the off season.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    iainf72 wrote:
    I must be the only one who can see very little difference between Ullrich and Armstrong. They both doped their way to race wins and riches. Both womanised. One of them drove around drunk, crashing cars etc.

    He might be a nice guy, but lets not fool ourselves that he accidentally doped or didn't really want to do it.

    Ullrich didn't cure cancer though, so there is some difference. :wink:

    In my view, Ullrich gets a free pass from some because he isn't as loathsome a character as Armstrong.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Yet still I have a soft spot for him!

    0,1020,1315717,00.jpg

    0503001919.jpg

    Jan_und_Eric.jpg

    And my fave!

    Jan_Ullrich.jpg
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,244
    I agree that morally there is not much between Armnstrong and Ullrich, the only reason I like Ullrich more is because he seems like a nicer bloke, hardly objective I know.

    Actually Rick, Ullrich did win quite a lot, he's just better known as the guy who usually came second to Lance. I've no doubt that they both had access to the best "preparation" methods available, I think the main difference on a sporting level was that Lance was more self disciplined in his training and during the off season.

    He won one Tour, one Vuelta (big deal) and the sydney Olympics.

    Hardly 7 Tours and a Worlds is it?
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    WTF?

    Ullrich's palmares is the envy of many a pro cyclist!

    A tour (and a fair few stages), a vuelta, an Olympic gold and a World TT champs would make me happy!
  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    I agree that morally there is not much between Armnstrong and Ullrich, the only reason I like Ullrich more is because he seems like a nicer bloke, hardly objective I know.

    Actually Rick, Ullrich did win quite a lot, he's just better known as the guy who usually came second to Lance. I've no doubt that they both had access to the best "preparation" methods available, I think the main difference on a sporting level was that Lance was more self disciplined in his training and during the off season.

    He won one Tour, one Vuelta (big deal) and the sydney Olympics.

    Hardly 7 Tours and a Worlds is it?

    Are you for real? If you compare his palmares to Lance then it looks weak, but compare it to anyone else and it's pretty impressive.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,244
    I agree that morally there is not much between Armnstrong and Ullrich, the only reason I like Ullrich more is because he seems like a nicer bloke, hardly objective I know.

    Actually Rick, Ullrich did win quite a lot, he's just better known as the guy who usually came second to Lance. I've no doubt that they both had access to the best "preparation" methods available, I think the main difference on a sporting level was that Lance was more self disciplined in his training and during the off season.

    He won one Tour, one Vuelta (big deal) and the sydney Olympics.

    Hardly 7 Tours and a Worlds is it?

    Are you for real? If you compare his palmares to Lance then it looks weak, but compare it to anyone else and it's pretty impressive.

    I'm not unreal? :wink:

    My comments were in relation to Lance - I was suggesting that compared to Lance he hasn't won a lot, which is something that sets him apart from Lance. As opposed to Ian saying they're largely the same.
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    A nice guy who drink-drives... hmmm, how does that one work then?
  • johnfinch wrote:
    A nice guy who drink-drives... hmmm, how does that one work then?

    Being nice doesn't prevent one from being an idiot
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    mrushton wrote:
    Strange that he is liked as much as Lance is hated yet he probably was the zenith of that East German 'preparation' regime.

    The East German bit is partly why I have some sympathy for him. He was most likely introduced and indoctrinated into doping at a young age. He would hardly have been in a position to say no. If you're told repeatedly at an impressionable age that there's nothing wrong with doping, it can be hard to comprehend that there actually is.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    he was like the others in that E.German Gymnasium regime. Voight,Zabel etc. Working class kids who had a bike talent and then ruthlessly trained up and encouraged to win by any means possible. Ullrich went from metaphorical rags to riches but so have a number of others
    M.Rushton
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    RichN95 wrote:
    mrushton wrote:
    Strange that he is liked as much as Lance is hated yet he probably was the zenith of that East German 'preparation' regime.

    The East German bit is partly why I have some sympathy for him. He was most likely introduced and indoctrinated into doping at a young age. He would hardly have been in a position to say no. If you're told repeatedly at an impressionable age that there's nothing wrong with doping, it can be hard to comprehend that there actually is.

    Intuitively, as a big Big Jan fan I want to +1 this, but then we have to give Ricco a break :roll:
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.

  • And here on the bike:
    http://twitpic.com/3baq37

    That's the first time I've seen him in a pair of sunglasses that come remotely close to suiting him :lol:
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    calvjones wrote:
    Intuitively, as a big Big Jan fan I want to +1 this, but then we have to give Ricco a break :roll:

    I see your point, but with Ullrich it was the all powerful state telling him what to do in a country of the Stasi. No free press and consequences for defying the authorities. With Ricco it was just a coach, so there was more opportunity to turn his back on it. I don't believe Italian junior teams have ever had dissenters executed. Ricco's still probably a victim to a certain extent though.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    RichN95 wrote:
    calvjones wrote:
    Intuitively, as a big Big Jan fan I want to +1 this, but then we have to give Ricco a break :roll:

    I see your point, but with Ullrich it was the all powerful state telling him what to do in a country of the Stasi. No free press and consequences for defying the authorities. With Ricco it was just a coach, so there was more opportunity to turn his back on it. I don't believe Italian junior teams have ever had dissenters executed. Ricco's still probably a victim to a certain extent though.

    Fair point, but if Ricco was, what, 14 when he started, how far can we really blame him?

    Still an @rse tho!
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    At least Jan got out and has kept quiet. He hasn't sought the spotlight, he hasn't said I took it and I'm sorry and I'll be back, he has just stayed out of the spotlight. I'd like to see him do something again tho' wether coaching TTing or testing bikes for magazines or a bit of commentating. Not running the pie van tho'
    M.Rushton
  • Yorkman
    Yorkman Posts: 290
    Thats the thinnest Ulrich has been in the close season!
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Yorkman wrote:
    Thats the thinnest Ulrich has been in the close season!

    I thought that!
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    mrushton wrote:
    . I'd like to see him do something again tho' wether coaching'

    It would be a shame to let all the tips he picked up from Luigi Cecchini and Fuentes go to waste.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • dave_1
    dave_1 Posts: 9,512
    I agree that morally there is not much between Armnstrong and Ullrich, the only reason I like Ullrich more is because he seems like a nicer bloke, hardly objective I know.

    Actually Rick, Ullrich did win quite a lot, he's just better known as the guy who usually came second to Lance. I've no doubt that they both had access to the best "preparation" methods available, I think the main difference on a sporting level was that Lance was more self disciplined in his training and during the off season.

    He won one Tour, one Vuelta (big deal) and the sydney Olympics.

    Hardly 7 Tours and a Worlds is it?

    for some of us the Tour de France is the worlds, is the pro tour is the measure of the best all round cyclist in the world each year. jan Ullrich was the top or second from top rider for 5 years aisde from his fantastic grand tour wins. I have sympathy for this guy..I did race with him and so I know how good he was in 1993 before the inevitable blood doping choice had to be made by him.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,244
    Dave_1 wrote:

    ..I did race with him and so I know how good he was in 1993 before the inevitable blood doping choice had to be made by him.

    Do tell...
  • dave_1
    dave_1 Posts: 9,512
    Dave_1 wrote:

    ..I did race with him and so I know how good he was in 1993 before the inevitable blood doping choice had to be made by him.

    Do tell...
    The king died day before start, so the prologue was cancelled..that's why there is no results for stage 1,
    http://www.cyclingarchives.com/wedstrij ... jdid=11600


    Stage 2 average speed was 26mph over cobbles and horrible steep climbs. Was fckn horrible. Think I got dropped around day 5 and went back to UK. I remember meeting Eddy Mercx at stage start, and riding along with all the names that would become famous and infamous in the nxt 10 years! e.g. look at who was 3rd on stage..RIP Frank!