"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Ullrich- €10 million over 3 years?

It is being reported here that Coast has tentatively proposed a contract with Jan Ullrich which would pay him €10 million over 3 years. Coast refuses to acknowledge the figure. The offer would only become official if Coast is listed in the top 10 by UCI, thus guaranteeing their slots in the big three tours. The rankings are due out next week and depend partly on an evaluation of Coast's finances.

The number popped up in an interview with Bjarn Riis at CSC-Tiscali, who said that he had heard of the Coast offer through the grapevine. Riis said that he was not willing to spend any more effort on Ullrich, by which he meant that he had made an offer and was waiting for Ullrich's response. Riis stated that his offer was certainly lower than the alleged Coast offer. He said he could not justifying paying that kind of money for someone who has not ridden a race in over 6 months. He also acknowledged that he was unable to dig up an additional sponsor to pay Ullrich higher wages.

The Ullrich camp has said that it will make a decision around 15 January. But, first we have to see where Coast places on the list.

Cheers,
Jamie

P.S. Rudi Pevenge has also said that he will leave Telekom to go with Ullrich.

that's a lot of money for ullrich... you think he's worth it? :rolleyes:

Jamie,

I read that the 10million Euro (I don't have that symbol)
was a false rumor. I think it was on cyclingnews.com?
The other thing was that Coast was waiting to see if they
were going to be UCI cat1 or 2.
The whole thing is very up in the air.
No, I don't think Jan is worth 10 million / year.

just my $.02 worth which wouldn't even pay for a minutes
salary!

Marty

Indeed, as I have understood it, the 10 Million Euro was a rumor. Coast said it had been "taken out of the air," but they did not outright deny it (as far as I have read). The important thing is, of course, that Coast has come up with a better offer than CSC-Tiscali.

Ullrich's camp is saying that they think Coast has a stronger team to support Ullrich, and that is a key reason for not going to Ullrich's old friend Riis. They also stress that it is important that Coast get the GS-1 rating before they will accept.

And, the psychological war continues: I read this morning that US-Postal also made Ullrich an offer. Ullrich as Armstrong's waterboy? Frankly, I find that pretty crass. Ullrich was quoted as saying, "I will not be riding for, but against Armstrong." It would have been more dignified for him not to say anything, or dismiss it with more irony.

I absolutely agree that Ullrich is not worth that kind of money until he starts winning some big races again. But, I do hope he has a good season so that we can get back to the drama on the road and get away from the silly soap-opera of drugs and car crashes that we've had to watch for the last year.

Cheers,
Jamie

Originally posted by jmlee
But, I do hope he has a good season so that we can get back to the drama on the road and get away from the silly soap-opera of drugs and car crashes that we've had to watch for the last year.

Cheers,
Jamie

I couldn't have stated it better. Here's to a year full of racing news - not doping news.

:D