According to his former sports director Rudy Pevenage, Jan Ullrich should seek the limelight again.
“I just hope that Jan shows himself a lot more in public in the next few months. In the end he didn’t do anything. Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain – all the people want to see Jan Ullrich,” said the Belgian of the German press Agency.
25 years ago, Ullrich was the only German to win the Tour de France and triggered a cycling boom in Germany. In 2006, the career of the native of Rostock came to an abrupt end after his connection to the doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes became public. For this he was later banned by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport Cas. After that, Ullrich also made many negative headlines privately.
The times at Ullrich’s side were “the most beautiful moments in my life as a sports director”, said Pevenage. “There were ups and downs. We had a lot of fun,” said the 68-year-old. The tour victory in 1997 was amazing. “You come back to a different life. He was in demand everywhere. That changed Jan’s life. The calm was gone. It was incredible.”
According to Pevenage, Ullrich should have won the tour at least three times, especially in 1998 and 2003. The German cycling star had always lost out against Armstrong. “I think that Jan was stronger than Armstrong in terms of his sporting potential,” says Pevenage. “Well, Armstrong also had a different character. He concentrated on cycling for the whole twelve months.”