From the celebrated sports hero to the outcast, which escapes into alcohol and becomes depressed: to characterize Jan Ullrich’s life as “moved” would be an immensified understatement. The Rostock in the podcast in the podcast “out of the depression” describes how much this has hit him in cycling and how he got back to his feet after numerous setbacks.
“I was in the cycling sky – and later appears.” Jan Ullrich describes in this way in this way Podcast “Get out of depression” by NDR Info and the German Depression Aid Foundation and suicide prevention his life story.
Ullrich has been an idol in Germany since his Tour-de-France victory in 1997. People love “Ulle”, the confessable and sometimes fallible star, who stubbornly fights for the second tour victory, but fails on Lance Armstrong year after year.
Abrupt career end 2006
In 2006 Armstrong stepped down and Ullrich in top form. Who, if not the Rostocker, should win the Tour de France? But there is a big bang immediately before the start. Ullrich is suspected of being a customer of the notorious doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes from Spain and is suspended by his team.
The dream of victory in Paris ends abruptly, Ullrich will never drive a professional race again. “I was torn from my life. And from then on it went downhill,” the 51-year-old describes the drastic moment in the podcast: “I was in shock and could not look at my bike for three and a half years.”
From “star to the leper”
Suddenly he is no longer the likeable “Ulle”, which makes it a little calmer in winter, while Armstrong fanatic summit around the summit. But an outcast. Sports heroes sometimes fall deep in Germany – and Ullrich deeper than everyone else. From “star to the leper”, says Ullrich in a podcast talk with Harald Schmidt (entertainer and patron of the German Depression Aid Foundation) and Professor Ulrich Hegerl.
The Rostock loses its life, gets into a negative spiral. “I had a race without a finish line. And I couldn’t cope with that. I was through the bottom. Cycling just went on without me. That eaten me up. Then alcohol was added to suppress it.”
Ullrich does not admit doping at first
Ullrich is in a “loop from self -pity”, as he says. Unlike numerous former teammates, he cannot get a doping confession. The situation is heavy on him.
“Then I was really depressed. I didn’t have any fun. I only got the bare essential. I didn’t train anymore. I didn’t feel like doing sports anymore,” explains his situation at the time.
A stay in the clinic for several weeks helps Ullrich. He has psychological care, finds pleasure to cycle again, reads a lot and believes that he is on the right track.
Total crash in summer 2018
For a good year and a half he is abstinent before falling into an even deeper hole. “I didn’t understand that I can never drink alcohol again,” explains Ullrich, who now lives in Mallorca with his family and is slowly increasing his consumption again.
In June 2018, his wife leaves him and moves back to Germany with the children. Then Ullrich completely loses the hold. “I absolutely exaggerated it, I almost died. That was the devil mixture: cocaine with hard alcohol for many weeks. I was no longer myself, not for a long time.”
Help of Armstrong and late confession
Ullrich urgently needs support and receives it from his former rival Armstrong, who has now become a good friend. “He helped me a lot at the time,” emphasizes Ullrich, who finds back into a regulated life bit by bit.
Shortly before his 50th birthday in December 2023, he finally freed himself from the heavy burden and confesses his doping offenses. In a documentary, a book and several interviews, Ullrich admits that prohibited agents are taken during its active time and makes pure table. “It almost eaten me,” says Ullrich with a view of the years of denying.
Ullrich: “Try to stay in my middle”
How is he doing today? “I try to stay in my middle,” says Ullrich in the podcast “out of depression”: “I have my tools like sports and yoga. I never thought that I would do yoga. What also helped me are breathing exercises, reading and longer rounds with the dogs,” he says and emphasizes: “I only drink water and eat very healthy. may.”
Ullrich has a new partner and regular contact with his ex-wife and children with whom he spoke openly about his problems. “Now it is up to me to regain the basic trust,” says Ullrich.
With cycling, the Rostock has had peace for a long time and has now organized cycling events, including in May in the Black Forest. Then Armstrong will also be there. “I’m still a fan of cycling, that’s my profession and I still like to drive myself,” says Ullrich – the fallen sports hero that has come up again.
This topic in the program:
Get out of depression | 25.03.2025 | 6:00 a.m.
