Jan Ullrich has finally fully confessed to doping, including before he won the 1997 Tour de France, revealing how he opted for the lowest risk when choosing a blood doping programme with the infamous Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes.
“Yes, I doped,” Ullrich said to Stern and other German media after a pre-release screening of the four-part documentary 'Der Gejagte' ('The Hunted'), which will be released on Amazon Prime in Germany from November 28.
Ullrich's victory in the 1997 Tour de France made him the poster boy for a boom in German cycling and he remains the only German to ever have won the sport's biggest race.
He became Lance Armstrong's biggest rival in the sport after the Texan returned to racing following treatment for testicular cancer, but he never managed to beat Armstrong or win the Tour again, finishing second in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003.
Ullrich’s career ended abruptly when he was pulled from the 2006 Tour before the start in Strasbourg after serious accusations of blood doping emerged.
Ullrich confessed to working with Dr. Fuentes back in 2013 and has more recently indicated he doped and tried to justify why.
Now he has openly confessed to doping just before the release of the documentary, which comes after the two years of filming and research. The process was part of Ullrich's period of introspection after a mental and physical breakdown in 2018, fuelled by whisky and cocaine, almost killed him.
The documentary will initially be available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland but the production company behind it is negotiating with other territories.
During the filming of the documentary, Ullrich visited Marco Pantani’s home town of Cesenatico and met his parents, learning of the tragedy of Pantani’s death after several years of cocaine use and mental illness. Pantani’s mother attended the pre-release showing of the documentary in Munich on Wednesday, along with Ivan Basso and Ullrich's former directeurs sportifs at Team Telekom, Rudy Pevenage and Olaf Ludwig.
“It was a huge shock for me at the time,” Ullrich said of Pantani's death in a long interview with Armstrong published in Germany newspaper Zeit.
Armstrong travelled to Europe to help Ullrich when he was at his lowest in 2018 and the two fierce rivals are now good friends.
“His mum was incredibly touched when I stood in front of her, there is a real connection. Even if it sounds trite: in a way we are like one big family,” Ullrich said of Pantani.
Early this week Ullrich explained that he refused to confess to doping despite the growing evidence because he didn’t want to “drag a lot of people down with me into the abyss.”
Looking fatigued after making a complete confession to different German media on Wednesday evening, Ullrich now regrets not confessing sooner.
"If I had told my story, I would have had many wonderful years. But I didn't have the courage. Now it feels good to admit my guilt," he told the dpa news agency and other German media.
"Almost everyone took performance-enhancing substances back then. I didn't take anything that the others didn't take. For me, cheating starts when I gain an advantage. That wasn't the case. I wanted to ensure equal opportunities.
“I was guilty and now I feel guilty. I can say with all my heart that I did not want to deceive anyone. I didn't want to get ahead of the other riders.
"It was just a different time then. Cycling had a system and I ended up in that. For me it was important to start the races with equal opportunities."
Ullrich won the amateur world title at just 19 in Oslo in 1993, when future rival Armstrong won the professional men’s road race at just 21.
Ullrich now reveals he started doping soon afterwards, when he turned professional with T-Mobile.
“I came into contact with it in 1995/1996, before the Tour de France. At the time it was explained to me in a plausible way. I was not afraid. It was so obvious to me at the time,” he admitted.
“I was young and naive and came into an existing system. And that was made so palatable and indispensable to me that I decided to do it. My career would have been over if I hadn’t done it. I never felt like a criminal."
Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France were officially removed from the record book after he was banned for doping by USADA but Ullrich’s former teammate Bjarne Riis is still officially the 1996 winner after his doping confession.
Ullirich believes he deserves to still be considered a Tour de France winner, despite now confessing to doping even before his 1997 victory.
“I know what I have achieved. Personally, I think I deserve the title. Others have to decide that. But in my heart I am a Tour de France winner,” he said .
When a blood haematocrit threshold and then an anti-doping test for EPO were introduced, Ullrich, like some of his biggest, most daring rivals, switched to blood doping.
"I wanted to win and build on my successes. I had a new team at the time and Dr. Fuentes was recommended to me - that's how I ended up there," he revealed, unafraid of the medical consequences, yet also concerned about taking too many risks.
“Everything was medically controlled. Ultimately, it was my own blood that I had taken, something natural and under medical supervision, I wasn't afraid.
“Fuentes asked me: Which traffic light do you want to go through? The green, the yellow or the red? It was immediately clear to me - these are the risk levels. I said: always green. I don’t even want to know what the other levels are.”
The Ullrich documentary will be released on November 28, and the German will turn 50 on December 2. He has slowly rebuilt his life since his problems in 2018, with cycling and his children playing a major role in his return to health and stability.
His confession to doping is a final step toward full personal redemption.
“I am healthy, I have both feet back in life and have found my centre,” he said. “Life has become easier.”
Ullrich’s children have started cycling and racing themselves, apparently with some of the talent of their father. He hopes to even find a role in the sport, if is forgiven for his doping, especially in Germany, where a black and white stance to cheating, and especially to doping in cycling, still runs strong.
"If I had the opportunity, I would take the chance because I'm a master in this field and I still feel good," Ullrich said. "I simply love this sport and it will shape me throughout my life."
