25 years ago, Jan Ullrich drove to the first German Tour de France victory. He almost paid for the consequences of the summer fairy tale with his life.
At the end of the three weeks that were to change his life forever, Jan Ullrich was enjoying pure happiness. Cycling’s new pop star waved in the yellow jersey to 200,000 cheering fans on the Champs-Elysees, holding a plush lion in each hand. And a Germany that had been transformed into a cycling nation celebrated a young man from Rostock with joy, whom it had accompanied through a three-week summer fairy tale for eternity.
A summer fairy tale, as a result of which Ullrich was almost to perish. “I was almost dead,” he says in the five-part ARD-Documentary “Being Jan Ullrich”, which traces the summer of ’97 and Ullrich’s tragic career from historic triumph to total crash 20 years later on the 25th anniversary of the first and only German tour victory.
The story of the 1997 Tour summer comes from a different cycling world than the one in which the 2022 Tour begins on Friday in Copenhagen. A time when professional cyclists were still unreservedly idolized. In which a 23-year-old sent a whole country into hysteria.
Ullrich goes into the race as a noble helper
“It was almost like 1954 when Germany became soccer world champion,” recalled reporter legend Herbert Watterott. And even with the knowledge of the depravity and manipulative nature of cycling in the 1990s, you can still hardly escape the intoxicating appeal of those images and stories.
Ullrich, who was already second on the tour in 1996, was planned as a noble helper for Telekom captain and defending champion Bjarne Riis. But at the latest on this historic July 15, 1997 in Andorra-Arcalis it was clear that Ullrich is the stronger.
“If you have really good legs, go ahead,” Riis told him. And Ulrich drives. “He only got out of the saddle once and the lead group exploded,” wrote The Team. Ullrich has yellow at the stage finish.
Ullrich duped competition
Two days later, the individual time trial in St. Etienne turns into a sheer demonstration of power: Ullrich overtakes Richard Virenque, who started three minutes before him – the Frenchman is still second on the day. In the Alps he controls his toughest rivals, Virenque and Marco Pantani – it’s a big show that draws millions upon millions of Germans in front of the TV.
And on the streets: When the tour rolls through Alsace in the final week, tens of thousands make the pilgrimage across the border to experience the new folk hero. After that, he only had to get through one tricky situation: Ullrich was suffering from the Grand Ballon, weakened by a cold and the constant stress. Helper Udo Bölts grunts in legendary: “Torment yourself, you pig!”
Ullrich has a lead of more than nine minutes
Three days later he arrives in Paris as the winner of the tour. Ullrich is 9:09 minutes ahead of Virenque, and nobody has won more clearly since then.
With the end of this tour, a new life begins. “Thousands of people suddenly came to the autograph session. Shopping or going to the cinema was not possible. I first had to learn to deal with the huge boom,” Ullrich told Stern. He never really learned.
Ullrich came to the 1998 tour as a big favorite, also got the yellow jersey, but lost it to Pantani after a terrible slump on the Galibier – Ullrich should never wear the maillot jaune again.
Ullrich causes scandals
Great success followed (Vuelta victory in 1999, Olympic gold in 2000) and even greater scandals. In 2006, Ullrich had to leave the tour like a beaten dog because of the alleged involvement in the Fuentes doping affair, was sporty, the real decline begins – drugs, alcohol, 2018 as a low point an arrest.
In the meantime, Ullrich has become quieter, he should be doing much better. Calm, especially inner: It would be the best anniversary gift.
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