“Was almost dead”: Jan Ullrich talks about the darkest time

“Was almost dead”
Jan Ullrich talks about the darkest time

Jan Ullrich is fine again. After his drug crash, he “slept for three years”, and now his brain is “clear again”. The former tour winner is currently cycling on Mallorca with his former rival Lance Armstrong. And makes a harrowing confession in conversation.

In a good mood and in probably the best health in years, Jan Ullrich spoke more openly than ever about the darkest period of his life. “Three years ago I felt really bad,” said Germany’s former cycling hero in the podcast of his former rival Lance Armstrong. “You visited me and I was on the same path as Marco Pantani – almost dead.” The Italian cycling star Pantani died of a cocaine overdose in 2004, the exact circumstances of the death have not yet been clarified.

On the holiday island of Mallorca, Ullrich, Armstrong and his former teammate George Hincapie and team boss Johan Bruyneel were now sitting on a white sofa and chatting in high spirits on a terrace by the water about old times. Above all, Ullrich was noticed after the alcohol and drug escapades of the past that he was doing better. “I slept for three years and needed the time for myself. But now my brain is clear again, my body is fit. I have a few ideas and can tell more next time,” said Germany’s only winner of the Tour de France.

He has good friends around him, only drinks water, his girlfriend cooks healthy food. “Good friends brought me back to life and I’m happy again,” said the 47-year-old. Armstrong, three years his senior, said, “We’ve all gone through shitty times, all in different ways. But the most important thing is, we’re here.”

Two fallen adversaries

Armstrong and Ullrich had fought legendary duels at the Tour de France in the early 2000s, from which Armstrong always emerged as the winner. Ullrich only had a real chance of defeating the Texan in 2003, but fell in the rainy last time trial. Armstrong were later revoked and not reassigned all seven Tour victories because of doping, Ullrich is still in the results lists.

However, Ullrich was withdrawn from the race in 2006 shortly before the start of the tour because he and other top stars had been exposed as a customer of the Spanish doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. Then the crash followed. “After all that shit 15 years ago, I forgot what was good for me,” said Ullrich. “Cycling is good and being with my friends, my children and my family is good for me. I forgot all that and that was my problem.”

In autumn 2018, Ullrich had admitted drug problems in a statement and, according to his own statements, underwent treatment. A few weeks earlier, Ullrich had been temporarily taken into custody after a dispute on Mallorca with his neighbor at the time, the actor and director Til Schweiger.

Bruyneel revealed that the rivalry is not over yet. “Jan was here a day earlier and asked me how he could annoy Lance a bit. I told him to go full throttle on the first day if Lance is still suffering from jet lag,” said the Belgian in the cheerful lap. Armstrong is organizing a one-week cycling camp for wealthy customers on Mallorca.

Ullrich wanted to turn down the invitation, but was then convinced – and trained almost every day for five weeks. “I thought my cells had forgotten everything. But God gave me this body and this talent. And then I’m just like this: full throttle or nothing,” said the Rostock native.

.
source site