Jan Ullrich held his much aniticipated press conference today to announce his plans, and for those of us hoping he might once again make a comeback it was a disappointment. We generally tow a pretty cynical line here at SofC, but his retirement announcement for me was quite a sad moment. Jan Ullrich represented the perfect adversary to Lance Armstrong, and while the big Texan undoubtedly came out ahead it was nice to look forward to cheering for the underdog, especially when Lance's Tour wins took on their inevitable nature towards the end. 2003 was the last great chance we all had to watch Ullrich put the hurt on Tex, the sight of him powering through that hot ITT while Lance faltered was one of the rare moments where everyone gasped at the idea of Armstrong not winning.
I think this is the reason Ullrich had such a following in the US. While everyone else Lance raced against seemed content on going for second place, Ullrich really had it out for him. Sure, the past few years Ivan Basso was closer in the mountains than Ullrich, but the Italian seemed destined to be a successor while Jan was his rival. The careers of the two great bike racers seemed to define each other. First Lance won because Jan wasn't there, and then Jan didn't win because Lance was there.
Ullrich came to prominence at a young age as Bjarne Riis' talented assistant in the Dane's 1996 Tour usurping of the great Miguel Indurain. Just one year later, aged 23, Jan showed the world what he was made of by dropping the biggest names in the world on his way to the yellow jersey in Andorra. Riis struggled in over 3 minutes behind and passed the Telekom leadership to his young apprentice. Two weeks later Ullrich would ride down the Champs Elysee in yellow for his only career Tour victory. In a sport where riders reach their prime between 28 and 32, the 24 year old Tour winner was the biggest prospect since Eddie Merckx. No one knew how much the young German could win, but everyone knew the potential was there for him to become one of the greats.
1998 saw Ullrich beaten in an incredible upset by climbing specialist Marco Pantani, thanks to a superhuman effort over the Galibier and up Les Deux Alpes where the Italian put 9 minutes on his rival, stealing the yellow Jersey that had seemed secure on Jan's shoulders that morning in Grenoble. That stage will go down in cycling history, Pantani's ride was legendary, but a little remembered fact of the day was Jan's flat tire while chasing down the valley after the Galibier. The time he lost there might have changed things, but that seems to be the story of his career from then on.
For the next season Ullrich skipped the Tour and instead easily won the Vuelta a Espagna. Meanwhile in France, Lance Armstrong picked up the first of his Tour wins, and the general consensus was that it was only because Ullrich wasn't there. Next year would prove the doubters wrong as both Ullrich and Armstrong went for victory in Paris and the German once again brought home silver. Later that year however, Jan got some well earned retribution by beating Lance to the gold medal in Sydney.
Last year's Tour de France was one of the most hotly anticipated editions in history, with at least as many fans rooting for Ullrich as Basso, but as we know now they were both kicked out on the eve of the race's start. While Basso has since re-signed and continued racing, the German became tainted goods and endured a year of investigation and rumor-mongering. The worst moment had to have been having his house looted for DNA while on a honeymoon with his new bride.
While the rest of the world focused on moving on from 2006's doping scandals, and true evidence failed to materialize in operacion puerto, Jan seemed forever trapped by it, guilty until forced into retirement. In the end it was obviously to much, and who can blame the guy. As long as he's got some euros hidden away I can only wish him the best as he sets off on a retirement filled with (hopefully) Mallorcan beaches and all the brat's and beer he can gobble. I know I'll miss the "Kaiser" of the peleton, and I'll look back on his career and think of how close he was to truly becoming one of the greats.
So, in the interest of celebrating the high points, here's a chance to relive the highest. Stage 10 to Andorra in the 1997 Tour de France, where Jan drops the entire field and takes his first yellow jersey of his career, all while wearing the German National Champion jersey. Enjoy.
