Cycling: Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong met on Mallorca. The German tour winner was a guest on the American's podcast. There he spoke, among other things, about his difficult, recent past. Now the 47-year-old should be doing much better again.
Jan Ullrich is happy again
He's riding his racing bike again, is fit again and can laugh again. Jan Ullrich seems to be happy again. The viewers got this impression when they watched the video podcast at the weekend "TheMove" by Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie and Johan Bruyneel. All four former companions met on Mallorca in a training camp and talked about the past - sporting as well as private. Right at the beginning of the conversation, it was about Jan Ullrich's recent past. The German made headlines around three years ago when he was linked to alcohol, drugs and harassment.
Jan Ullrich:
"You know my story. I was really bad three years ago. You visited me and I was on the same path as Marco Pantani, almost dead. Then I recovered and good friends brought me back to life. And today I'm happy again."
Former competitors, now friends
The duel between Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong went down in history at the Tour de France. The German was never able to defeat the American. While Jan Ulrich celebrated his only tour win in 1997, Lance Armstrong won the Grand Boucle seven times in a row. However, he was later stripped of all victories due to his doping confession. George Hincapie has been a teammate with Lance Armstrong in all Tour victories. Johan Bruyneel was athletic director. In France they always got it with main competitor Jan Ulrich to do. While the relationship used to be characterized by sporting respect, today it is a friendship. And despite the very questionable past of both professionals - especially in relation to doping - both still have a relatively large fan base behind them. The duel is still considered one of the greatest of the Tour de France.