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 back on his racing bike, fit again, and able to laugh. Jan Ullrich seems happy again. That's the impression viewers got when they watched the video podcast "The Move" by Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, and Johan Bruyneel over the weekend. All four former teammates met at a training camp in Mallorca and reminisced about the past – both their sporting and personal lives. The conversation began with Jan Ullrich's recent past. The German cyclist made headlines about 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 rivalry between Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong went down in Tour de France history. The German was never able to defeat the American. While Jan Ullrich celebrated his only Tour victory in 1997, Lance Armstrong won the Grand Boucle seven times in a row. However, all of his victories were later revoked due to his doping confession. George Hincapie was Armstrong's teammate for all of his Tour wins. Johan Bruyneel was the team's sporting director. In France, they repeatedly faced their main rival, Jan Ullrich . While sporting respect characterized their relationship in the past, it is now a friendship. And despite the highly questionable past of both professionals – especially regarding doping – they still have a relatively large fan base. The rivalry remains one of the greatest in Tour de France history.