Ok, I realise that I may be the only one who cares about this, but TdF winner Jan Ullrich has announced his retirement! He won the Tour in 1997 and it was widely thought that he would go on to dominate proceedings for the next few years - and probably would have done if it weren't for some injuries, and some fella named Lance Armstrong! Having said that, he never finished below 4th in the TdF - which is pretty impressive!

He has been embroiled in the drugs controversy recently, but he was still won of my favourite riders, so i'm kind of gutted that he's retired...... :(

Dinky Jo, I was just looking for a forum to post this myself because I know you are an Ullrich fan! So yes I do care.

I feel sorry for the way Ullrich has been victimised. It does seem very likely that everyone at the top most echelon of the sport were self transfusing (taking blood out, and putting it back before major races.) It's technically illegal but when something is this widespread, I don't think it makes sense to point fingers at individuals. Sadly, this is precisely what happened to Ullrich, fuelled by some rather zealous individuals in Germany and it certainly seemed that he was being made the scape goat for a practise that in reality was universal. Why him and not the 50 other riders implicated? (and we are only taking about one network of several.)

I think he has probably done the right thing. I personally don't care too much if he was guilty. What I remember is his courage under adversity - he was never a very intelligent rider which would get him into big trouble but he had such tremendous heart that he would often pull himself out of the wreckage of his own creation where others would have given up. It was his huge misfortune to come up against Armstrong who perhaps had less raw power but much greater versatility and intelligence - without Lance Ulli could have been a five times Tour champion.

Two of my all time favourite sporting memories are the stage to Pla d'Adet in 2001 and the legendary stage to Luz Ardiden in 2003 - days in which both Armstrong and Ullrich gave their very best.

I hope his fellow Germans now leave him alone.

Yeah, I feel sorry for Ullrich as well - I think he's kind of a German David Beckham. The press hailed him as a hero when he won the Tour in 1997, and then I think just waited for a chance to bring him back down again. They've had a lot of chances to do that over the years unfortunately - what with his problems keeping his weight in check, as well as his positive test for amphetamines in 1999 (I think......) I think there's also been some sort of scandal in his private life as well.

In many ways I think the press - in general - has been very unfair to Ullrich: he's been seen so much as a failure 'cos he didn't win the Tour de France more than once. However, he never finished outside of the top 4, he also won the Tour of Spain and won the Olympic Road Race in 2000. He really did have a good career.

Like you said, the blood doping appears to have been endemic within the peleton so it does seem unfair that he has been singled out - especially as Basso has been signed by Lance Armstrong's old team (would be Discovery, but they've stopped their sponsorship of that team.) I really hope Ullrich does well in his new role as a consultant!

I care too, I always find it sad when athletes I like retire, even when it's well and truly time, which I think is not the case with Ullrich. I only really follow cycling when the TDF is on and Jan Ullrich has been one of my favourite riders, a lot of the excitement of the tour is gonna go for me now that he isn't riding. Without speculating on the particulars of the doping controversy it was a huge dissappointment what happened last year.

It is a bit sad to see Ullrich go out on that note. I hope he has a successful next phase of his career. :cheers:

I haven't paid that much attention to cycling lately. The whole scandal at the start of last year's TdF, combined with the doping issue around Landis afterward sort of put me off the sport for a while. The tour was so exciting, too, before that news broke. I'd like to believe that Landis was innocent, but . . . . . :unsure:

Last year's TdF was just amazing - I spent 3 days sat in front of the TV cheering at the screen. It's such a shame as everyone was saying it was a "clean" TdF and it was the most exciting in years! :whistle: I don't believe Landis for a second - oddly enough i've just finished reading a book about Pantani, and his reasons for a high haematocrit test are pretty much idenitical to Landis' reasons for his testosterone levels: ending in "it's all a big conspiracy"

I really wish Ullrich had just kept going for one more year, but he's been on the scene for over 10 years now, i guess he felt it was about right that he went. Ullrich has always been one of my favourites, and he probably deserved another Tour win.....i guess it was just not meant to be. :(