The ex-cyclist Jan Ullrich decided to break the silence and talk about a harsh reality that was experienced in the pedal world in the 90s. The champion of Tour de France in 1997 and the Vuelta a España in 1998 He decided to open his heart podcast Einfach bad Luppen of the steering wheel Real Madrid, Toni Kroos, and his brother Félix.
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The story of the German cyclist is quite well known, his problems with doping increased and his sporting career went down the drain after being associated with the Operation Puerto in 2006. After the scandal he could not compete again in the Tour de France and after a year and a half he decided to announce his retirement, explaining that he never cheated.
Ullrich with Lance Armstrong.
Ullrich knew how to shine in the world of cycling, winning two of the great races of the WorldTour and being a road gold medalist in the Sydney Olympicsin 2000, and silver in the jousting time trial.
The life of Ulrich began to change after receiving a two-year sanction without competing that he received from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (TAS)Although the suspension did not affect his titles, it did hit his sports career.
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Since his retirement, he has been involved in several scandals for driving drunk and causing a serious traffic accident in 2014. He was accused of hitting a sex worker, attacking the German director Til Schweiger and relapsed several times into his drug addiction.
Jan Ullrich, German ex-pedalist.
Raw confession with Toni Kroos
Nowadays doping is displaced. Everyone knows what it is, but it wasn't like that then. Now I do feel guilty, but then I couldn't control it
This Tuesday, Ulrich returned to the foreground of the press Europe after his interview with Toni and Felix Kroos in a podcast in which he spoke about his doping problems and how media pressure and depression affected him.
“It seemed like I had to win every race because I had won the most difficult one. I couldn't disconnect because of the pressure from the media. When I went on vacation I wasn't calm. I couldn't go back to a normal life. I needed to rest, but I had events with sponsors , advertising, interviews… I had a pressure that I felt was extreme,” he began by saying.
It was at that moment when he fell into the dark world of doping, at a time when cyclists were not as controlled as they are today. “Then a doctor would come and tell you that he has a secret recipe with immediate effects. Nowadays doping is displaced. Everyone knows what it is, but then it wasn't like that. Now I do feel guilty, but then it couldn't be controlled” .
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At that time it was not a crime, but an equality of possibilities. You didn't feel guilty because you knew that the people you were fighting against also used it, many of them.
“It was on the list of prohibited substances, but it could not be controlled. At that time it was not a crime, but an equal opportunity. You did not feel guilty because you knew that the people you were fighting against also used it, many of them. You think that you're not doing anything wrong,” he said.
But the scandal knocked on his door and his life changed: “Suddenly you lose everything. I lost everything I had built for decades, friends, family, contacts… Everyone continues to live their lives when you have fallen and that makes a lot of damage. You wonder why you are like this if you have not done anything different than what many others have done. Suddenly they drop you and you have to get up alone. You no longer talk to friends but you talk to lawyers. You are lost and you cannot protect yourself“.
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However, Ullrich confessed to Toni Kroos that his motivations for getting out of so many controversies and all the problems were his children. His ordeal ended when he began to combat his fears.
After denying it for years, former cyclist Jan Ullrich, the only German to have won the Tour de France, admitted for the first time to having doped, in an interview published in Focus magazine. The German justified his doping in the interview because he wanted to reach the same level as the others since then “almost everyone took prohibited substances.”
“I had decided not to say anything, but I was building another life for myself and it didn't work out. So, in that very low moment, I decided that I had to share it with people, I broke all the barriers that I had built around myself,” Ullrich said.
And he added: “I was depressed. I had to stop what I was doing. I had to lead a normal life again. I thought I was totally defeated, but I told myself that I couldn't continue like this, that I have four children. They motivated me, because I “he had completely abandoned me. Without my children I probably wouldn't be here today.”
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