Ullrich: "When I see Froome, I never think about going doped or not"

[Kevincinho KDG10]

Ullrich: "When I see Froome, I never think about going doped or not"

Jan Ullrich, the winner of the 1997 Tour de France, believes that cycling has changed to the point that "when I see Chris Froome on the bike I do not wonder if he is doped or not.

 

The Tour of 2017 will leave Dusseldorf coinciding with the 20 years of the victory of a German cyclist in the French round, that of Jan Ullrich. The organizers, however, have so far made no reference to this coincidence because that name is still associated with doping.

Ullrich, however, believes that cycling today is a credible sport, and is not willing to overwhelm or question it. For two days, in a ceremony in London, he answered a battery of questions and on the website Cyclingnews explained that "today I do not want to think about doping." When I see Froome or anyone else I never think about whether they are doping or not. I see the race, sport. "

The 'Panzer de Rostock', which will turn 43 in December, is still in love with cycling: "After the World Cup and the Olympic Games, the Tour is the biggest sporting event. Cycling is a very good sport both for children and for the elderly, there is no need to see doping or not doping. " Ullrich lives in Mallorca with his family and his four children, away from a competition that went out in a bad way.

When Lance Armstrong's scandal, his confession and his sanction broke out, the Tour organizers decided to forever erase the American's name in the list, leaving the stalls of honor 'stuck' in the same spot. Ullrich was second in five occasions, three of them (2000, 2001 and 2003) during the reign of the Texan of US Postal. Eddy Merckx has been positive on one or two occasions and it is not good for the Tour to be without a winner for seven years.It is not good for history.But I do not make the rules " . The name of Ullrich was marked when its name appeared associated to the Operation Port like client of doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. He recognized his doping and was sanctioned when he had already left cycling in 2012. The Court of Arbitration Deportivo framed its relationship with banned substances in 2005, reason why only lost the third place of that edition.

Ullrich locked himself in. The German press and television subjected him to a real persecution. He felt ashamed. He does not like to talk about doping and denies that he was a 'trap': "I think you can only talk about cheating when you win with an unfair advantage and that was not the case. I think that at that time the problem was in the system Not only did it affect cycling, but other sports such as football. "

The German rider will take part in the events of the outing of the 2017 Tour in Dusseldorf, with other exclutores, but the French round has not yet officially communicated.