Jan Ullrich on doping: ‘The sponsors all knew’

In November, former professional cyclist Jan Ullrich finally came clean. “Yes, I doped,” the 50-year-old admitted. The unsurprising confession coincided with the presentation of the documentary series Jan Ullrich–The Hunted.

Reflecting on his decisions, Ullrich told Spiegel: “If I had shared my story earlier, I could have enjoyed many happy years. I lacked the courage. It’s liberating to finally admit it.” Though he expressed remorse, Ullrich took full responsibility for his actions.

Systematic doping was well known by all

He revealed that systematic doping was common within his Telekom team in the late 1990s, starting in 1996 and intensifying with autologous blood doping from 2003 onwards. Ullrich insisted that his goal was not to gain an unfair advantage, but to “level the playing field” in an era when doping, particularly with EPO, was rampant and undetectable in cycling.

Ullrich, who was considered the undisputed star of German cycling, had his life turn upside down in 2006 due to multiple doping scandals. His life further deteriorated with battles against depression and addiction. Speaking with WDR, he said, “The documentary was like therapy for me. Now I can talk about it with my children because it’s part of my life.”

A career turned upside down

He won the Tour de France in 1997 but could never replicate that success. In 2006, he was barred from the race due to his involvement in the Operación Puerto doping scandal and later received a doping ban from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He said confessing to doping was a relief, even if it was hardly a surprise to those who followed cycling in that era.

“I’m glad I did it, now I can move on with my work,” said a relieved Ullrich in a WDR interview. “There was so much speculation. I had to change something in my life, so I decided to talk. It was good for me. The weight has lifted. The documentary felt like therapy. Now I can talk about it with my children.”

The comeback of Der Kaiser

Regarding the dark period of his life that came after cycling, Ullrich said he is proud to have made a comeback. “I was good at repressing things and kept it up for a long time. Eventually, it escalated, also with the drugs and all those things. I eventually recovered through love for my children, but it couldn’t get any deeper. I was seemingly dead; visually, I saw hell,” he said.

Ullrich also addressed the role of sponsors in the doping culture: “People understand now that doping was systematic,” he said. “The sponsors knew everything. I can’t say it was kept quiet, but they paid me well. It was a mutual understanding not to discuss it.”

Ullrich was a professional cyclist from 1995 to 2006, spending most of his career with Team Telekom, later known as T-Mobile. In 2003, he rode for Team Coast/Team Bianchi for one season.

Several of his teammates also confessed to using EPO during their careers, including Bjarne Riis, Christian Henn, and Rolf Aldag.

Riis, who won the 1996 Tour de France, worked for years as a directeur sportif at CSC, and later at NTT Pro Cycling, which later became Team Qhubeka NextHash. Henn works for the German squad Team Lotto–Kern Haus, and Aldag is the DS of Vuelta a España winner Primož Roglič’s team, Red Bull Bora–Hansgrohe.