Former companion of Jan Ullrich: Media manager Christian Frommert died

The German sport mourns the loss of Christian Frommert. The former press spokesman for the legendary bike team Team Telekom and later media director of the Bundesliga club TSG Hoffenheim died on Tuesday evening at the age of 58. Frommert, who became known primarily through his role during the doping scandal around Jan Ullrich (51), succumbed to cancer.

Born in Worms, the native had had difficult health phases in the past. Over ten years ago, he fought against an anorexia in public, about which he “then eat something!” published. In the meantime, he only weighed 39 kilograms with a size of 1.84 meters. In August 2024, he was diagnosed with cancer, against which he had been fighting chemotherapy and immunotherapies since summer of last year.

Between 2005 and 2008, Frommert was head of sponsoring communication at T-Mobile International and Deutsche Telekom. During the doping scandal around Jan Ullrich and the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes (70), he became known nationwide because he took over crisis communication for the cycling team. With Ullrich, with whom he had no contact for years, he met again for the first time in 2023 and has maintained regular contact since then.

In 2013, TSG Hoffenheim brought him into the team, where he was considered a close confidante of patrons and SAP co-founders Dietmar Hopp (84) and significantly developed the association’s communication department. Hopp paid tribute to Frommert as a person who had worked for the club with the greatest commitment. “Christian Frommert has shaped the club far beyond the communication work. I personally lost a leader in it, but also a close confidante and companion,” said Hopp in the statement.