Ex-cyclist Jan Ullrich: “I wasn’t far from death”

In an interview with stern magazine, the 1997 Tour de France winner spoke about the difficult time after the doping scandal, his alcohol addiction and the escapades in Mallorca. “I wasn’t far from death,” said Ullrich.

Ullrich had a serious crash in 2018 and, among other things, caused negative headlines with his drug use. Three years previously he had moved to Mallorca with his wife Sara and their three children. It was “first and foremost an escape from the dreary German winter weather,” said Ullrich: “In the end, the crash followed – it couldn’t get that deep, any deeper.”

Ullrich was plagued by loneliness when his family abandoned him. The now 49-year-old started drinking. “Wine turned into whiskey. First one bottle a day, later up to two. It was a total numbing,” said the Rostock native. From then on, his finca developed into a “party place”, “at some point someone brought cocaine with them” and that “turns you from a human to a monster in a very short time,” admitted Ullrich.

“That was the only reason”

But when his wife Sara threatened that he would no longer be allowed to see his children, Ullrich gave in. That was “the only reason” to “seek medical treatment,” he said: “I knew: I had to do something if I even wanted to see her again.”

Ullrich also commented on the topic of doping. “Without helping, the widespread perception at the time was, it would be like going to a gunfight armed only with a knife,” he said. Sentences that he never said with such clarity back then. But in order to protect those around him, he decided not to say anything, said Ullrich.

He now regrets this decision. “From today’s perspective, I should have spoken. It would have been very hard for a brief moment, but after that life would have been easier,” said Ullrich and explained: “It has been a life of extremes so far. I was in heaven, and I was in hell. Now I’m back on earth, on the way to the middle.”