He is one of the nation’s tragic sports heroes, Jan Ullrich. Once a celebrated bike hero, the crash followed later, sporty and, above all, privately. As a human. Doping affair, drug abuse, alcohol problems made the headlines of a man who sent Germany into ecstasy almost exactly 25 years ago. At that time. A country in cycling fever. On July 27, 1997, he became the first German to triumph in the legendary Tour de France. Long-time rival Lance Armstrong now gives unprecedented insight into the life of an athlete who always pushed himself to the limit. And beyond.
“He scared me, nobody else. This man made me get up early. He changed my life. He had more talent,” said Armstrong in the ARD documentary “Being Jan Ullrich”.
When Ullrich celebrated his first and only tour win, the American was still working on his comeback. It was only in 1998 that he returned to the tour after his cancer. From then on, the duels between Armstrong and Ullrich dominated cycling for years. With the better ending for the Texan.
The 50-year-old has won the tour seven times. All successes were denied because of proven doping offenses. Doping, epic duels with Ullrich in the Alps and Pyrenees shaped cycling from the late 90s to the 2000s.
The fall after the climb
“I’m sure that Armstrong had other weapons. We didn’t exaggerate, everything was medically under control, and then Armstrong blows him away like that. Then it’s not the same weapons,” recalls Rudy Pevenage, Ullrich’s long-time supervisor the legendary duels.
What unites both is the fall after the ascent. Revelations about doping practices throughout Armstrong’s career robbed him of his sporting achievements, his reputation. And cost a lot of money. The deep fall of a cycling legend. And Ulrich? The Eufemiano Fuentes doping scandal threw him completely off track. From then on private scandals dominated his life.
“He was bedridden unconscious”
In the meantime, things have calmed down around Ullrich. Also thanks to Armstrong. Rivals had long since become a community of destiny. friends who help each other. This is how Armstrong describes a visit by Ullrich to the Betty Ford Clinic in Bad Brueckenau around four years ago. “He didn’t know I was coming, I didn’t know where I was going. I saw a man in a place no human being had ever seen before. We all know some crazy friends. But I hadn’t seen anyone in such a state.” , Armstrong describes the meeting of the two in the documentary.
And it shouldn’t remain the low point in Ullrich’s life. Two years later, he was thrown out of a plane on his way to Cancun for a riot. He was taken to a local clinic. Armstrong immediately flew to Mexico. “He was tied to the bed without consciousness. It was the worst of all,” said the American. Ullrich fights his way back to life bit by bit. Into an everyday life. A hard way. His friend Lance accompanies him.