Tour de France - Ullrich refuses to comment on dope claims

Eurosport - Tue, 20 Oct 14:48:00 2009

Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has brushed off the latest doping allegations against him and repeated his assertion he will speak only when he is ready.

0721 Ullrich: Ich habe öfter den Schöpfer gesehen - 0

On Monday German magazine Der Spiegel cited a police investigation report which states Ullrich went to Madrid 24 times between 2003 and 2006 to see doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, the man at the centre of the Spanish probe Operation Puerto.

Ullrich won the 1997 Tour, but having been sacked by his team T-Mobile in the wake of the affair in 2006, the 35-year-old retired in 2007 and has always denied all doping allegations.

"More than three years after my last race as a professional cyclist, this is a repetition of known allegations from an already provocative source without proof," said Ullrich on his website.

"I don't want to fuel the debate, but as I have said before, I will give my view of the issue when I want to."

Der Spiegel's report was based on a 2,219-page investigation into Ullrich by German police which concluded that the rider "used Dr Fuentes doping system to improve his performances".

Ullrich visited Madrid on 24 occasions for consultations with Fuentes, it claims.

German police uncovered a wealth of information on the hard disk of the home computer of Belgian Rudy Pevenage, former sporting director of the Telekom and then T-Mobile cycling teams.

The police established that Pevenage had himself visited Madrid 15 times between December 2003 and April 2006, very often just before training camps and staying only a few hours.

According to the report, Ullrich paid Fuentes 80,000 euros and stepped up his visits (eight between February 2005-May 2006) ahead of the 2006 Tour de France.

The German was however unable to take part in the 2006 Tour because his T-Mobile team were suspended on the eve of the race after links were established with Fuentes.

According to Der Spiegel, the Rostock-born Ullrich earned 8.5 million euros between 2003-6.

The 35-year-old now lives in Switzerland with his wife and two children and takes part in charity cycling races and car racing, his new passion.

AFP

Comment 26 - 45 of 45

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  1. Has that idiot P.J.got nothing better to do than keep­ repeating the same thing adinfinitum!For goodness sake­ get a life & leave this site to people who can make­ intelligent & new comments.All he does is repeat­ the same old rubbish.

    From jacreesy, on Thu 22 Oct 10:22AM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    23.Lance has doped for most of his life! 20 years of­­ steroids.

    Lance injects hGH, insulin, hCG (female­­ fertility hormone), corticoids and does cow blood IVs­­ too!

    Nike protecs their doped tools. As they did with­­ Marion Jones Kobe Bryant (rapist) and Michael Vick!­­

    Martina Hingis too
    Tim Montgomery
    Justin­ Gatlin
    Kelli­ White
    Regina Jacobs
    Michelle­ Collins
    A-Roid
    Jason­ Giambi

    Lance has LOTS of steroid­ enhanced sneaker­ partners.

    From bikedad_99, on Thu 22 Oct 1:56AM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Nike Lance Pharmstrong is a drug cheat!

    From bikedad_99, on Thu 22 Oct 1:54AM
  4. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Fignon already CONFESSED his doping dummy!

    and MDs are­ last people on earth who understand PEDs. MDs do NOT­ even get proper diet!

    MDs sell chemo for­ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. You probably did not even know­ that Onchologist are drug dealers for Chemo Pharma­ makers. The Drug Companies sell the chemo for 50% of­ the Medicare reimbursement and have the MD sign an­ EXCKUSIVE contract.

    Cancer is a BUSINESS, not a­ desease.

    From bikedad_99, on Thu 22 Oct 1:53AM
  5. When you pay 250,000 to close a case, that's tacit­ admition of guilt, almost like pleading guilty. If Jan­ truly was innocent, he would never have paid. His­ comments about revealing his take on the whole issue­ later refers to the future when he will attempt to make­ more money by telling his story in a book or exclusive­ interview. He can't simply spill all the beans for­ free...

    From nordictrecker, on Wed 21 Oct 7:54PM
  6. Is it possible to get a certain P J kicked off of this­ site. The guy should be committed. I'd rather read­ about hot places.

    From terrytrudgian, on Wed 21 Oct 6:32PM
  7. In '96 a high number of Team Telecom used EPO,­ fact. A number of the teams riders at the time have­ admitted so. Including Eric Zabel who appears to be­ allowed to keep the Green jersey he won. All of the­ staff members and riders gave the same answer when­ asked about Ullrich. They never saw him take any drugs,­ they knew nothing about him taking or even asking for­ any drugs, which they all say they probably would have­ if he were taking EPO. Risse is stripped of his Yellow­ Jersey because of his drug use but ASO will not give it­ to Ullrich because they believe he cheated. They­ "believe" he cheated. They have "no­ proof" he cheated.
    As for Lance, his ex team­ mates get done for drygs regular once out of his team­ and are not allowed to win stages whilst riding for him­ so therefore missing out on taking the drug test. Maybe­ he wasn't taking drugs himself, just having his­ team mates do it to help him win. Maybe this is true,­ maybe i just though up another conspiracy theory and­ it's a load of bull. I don't know, and neither­ does any of us fans out there.
    Yes we need to know­ who cheats, but we need to catch the ones doing it now,­ like Ricco and Di Luca. We need to have the young­ cyclists clean so it carries on down over the years and­ becomes a clean sport.
    I love cycling, to me it is­ the greatest sport out there, let's start to clean­ uo from the new generation. Teach them the proper way.

    From KGL, on Wed 21 Oct 1:47PM
  8. Ullrich probably can't spill the beans until other,­ high profile riders from his era finally quit (for­ good). Wouldn't surprise me if he's paid­ handsomely by a big American sports corporation to keep­ his mouth shut...

    From , on Wed 21 Oct 1:39PM
  9. Let's face it. Dopers are cheaters and should be­ weeded out by any means necessary.
    I don't believe­ it is possible to win the TdF without doping.
    As time­ goes on the dopers develop more and more elaborate ways­ to mask the dope. One step ahead all the time.
    The­ blood passport is a good idea that needs further­ refinement.

    From xf8u39, on Wed 21 Oct 1:22PM
  10. Let's face it. Dopers are cheaters and should be­ weeded out by any means necessary.
    I don't believe­ it is possible to win the TdF without doping.
    As time­ goes on the dopers develop more and more elaborate ways­ to mask the dope. One step ahead all the time.
    The­ blood passport is a good idea that needs further­ refinement.

    From xf8u39, on Wed 21 Oct 1:22PM
  11. Let's face it. Dopers are cheaters and should be­ weeded out by any means necessary.
    I don't believe­ it is possible to win the TdF without doping.
    As time­ goes on the dopers develop more and more elaborate ways­ to mask the dope. One step ahead all the time.
    The­ blood passport is a good idea that needs further­ refinement.

    From xf8u39, on Wed 21 Oct 1:22PM
  12. crying out louud ullrich spit it out all you have to­ say is yes or no

    From Arnaud arnbarn cottey, on Wed 21 Oct 12:53PM
  13. Life bans for any doper

    From xf8u39, on Wed 21 Oct 10:45AM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Life bans for any doper

    From xf8u39, on Wed 21 Oct 10:45AM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Life bans for any doper

    From xf8u39, on Wed 21 Oct 10:45AM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Keep going Peter, I'm enjoying this

    From xf8u39, on Wed 21 Oct 10:17AM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Keep going Peter, I'm enjoying this

    From xf8u39, on Wed 21 Oct 10:17AM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Keep going Peter, I'm enjoying this

    From xf8u39, on Wed 21 Oct 10:17AM
  19. Oh for gods sake why is it as soon as any cyclist is­ connected to drugs the name Lance Armstrong is brought­ up by all the Lance haters? For gods sake leave the guy­ alone.He has NEVER tested positive despite the fact he­ has undergone more tests than anyone else.As he has­ often said,his kids carry his surname & he would­ not want them to be taunted so has never succumbed to­ the drug temptation.Can you lot not believe that hard­ work & training year round & in all weathers­ made him what he is.Just leave the guy alone.

    From jacreesy, on Wed 21 Oct 10:10AM
  20. just because you are retired - doesnt make it ok.

    From asun e, on Wed 21 Oct 9:02AM
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