Would Discovery consider hiring "the Crusher of souls"?

[StalkerZERO]

Would team discovery benefit at all if they hired Jan Ulrich? Would that be advisable to hire him at all?

[shakeNbake]

Any team will benefit from Ullrich, but will they take the extra baggage from the scandal?

[StalkerZERO]

He is a lot of talent for sure but your right about the baggage. Obviously, his lack of discipline finally caught up to him. Wait, not so obvious. Tell me somethin bout ulrich...was he really careless when it came to training sometimes? I mean would he really party it up sometimes? If so perhaps thats why he had "special treatment" at that clinic in spain?
Perhaps he would take that same attitude with him to discovery. Although, if he were hired I don't think he would be so careless again and would want to prove himself by training as hard as he could. He can't have too many seasons left in him.

[DXchulo]

Jan is 32 years old and he's going to get suspended for a minimum of 2 years for his involvement in Operacíon Puerto. There's a pretty good chance that his career is over.

[merlinextraligh]

Odds are his career is over. I think he was about to the end anyway. I don't think Uhllrich truely enjoyed riding enough to maintain the necessarry commitment. My bet is that he will not seriously contest any sanction from Operation Puerto, and his racing career is over. If he doesn't avoid sanctions from Operation Puerto, he's looking at a 2 year UCI ban, and a 2 year Pro tour ban after that, which would definitely end his career.

[oboeguy]

I doubt that Disco would take on a known doper, and looks like Der Kaiser is on the path to being proved a doper. Plus there's that pesky two-year ban thing. "The saddest thing in the world is wasted talent." <sigh>

[Crack'n'fail]

I don't see it. If he is cleared (which will take a while) he probably would only try one more time to win. There was talk that he was planning on winning this Tour and retiring afterwards anyway.

[johnny99]

Jan is 32 years old and he's going to get suspended for a minimum of 2 years for his involvement in Operacíon Puerto. There's a pretty good chance that his career is over.

If the doping allegations are proven, then he may just retire. However, Operacíon Puerto seems to be collapsing. Half the accused riders were cleared today. Jan may be innocent.

[erader]

He is a lot of talent for sure but your right about the baggage. Obviously, his lack of discipline finally caught up to him. Wait, not so obvious. Tell me somethin bout ulrich...was he really careless when it came to training sometimes?

I mean would he really party it up sometimes? If so perhaps thats why he had "special treatment" at that clinic in spain?

Perhaps he would take that same attitude with him to discovery. Although, if he were hired I don't think he would be so careless again and would want to prove himself by training as hard as he could. He can't have too many seasons left in him.

ullrich got as fat as a pig in the winter and hung out in the discos instead of training. he was busted for taking ecstacy and he admitted it and apologized. ullrich's team mates never really respected him and at times would speak out about him in public.

two comments i really agree with is ullrich really never enjoyed riding bikes and he was one of the most talented rider of our time. it's easy to say that ullrich didn't stand a chance because of armstrong but der wunderkind was at one point considered more talented than armstrong (pre cancer).

ed rader

[Guest]

If he were hired by Discovery, how would that work with Levi aboard? Who'd be their GC guy? As proven from this year's Tour, it makes sense to have a team behind one guy, not two. Ullrich is better off with a team who supports him fully for his Tour win, as does Levi.

Koffee

[SaintAndrew]

If he were hired by Discovery, how would that work with Levi aboard? Who'd be their GC guy? As proven from this year's Tour, it makes sense to have a team behind one guy, not two. Ullrich is better off with a team who supports him fully for his Tour win, as does Levi.

Koffeedude... dude dude dude. i really don't think if ulle and levi were on the same team the management would spend a whole lot of time determining who would be the leader.


but i don't think discovery would take JU though, not only because he's beyond tainted, but also because armstrong hates him.

[Guest]

I don't think Armstrong hates Ullrich. First, in Lance's parting speech at the Tour in 2005, he talked about his respect for the two riders next to him on the podium. Second, Lance invited Ullrich to his final party after the Tour, and they partied together. Ullrich was even invited by Lance to give a speech.

I think Lance has a lot of respect for Jan, and vice versa. They were competitors, but they had respect for each other. Lance even talked about his mistaken conclusions about Jan's motives during the past tours (ie: Jan didn't wait when I fell was replaced with an apology and a statement where he said he believed Jan really did wait).

Koffee

[erader]

I don't think Armstrong hates Ullrich. First, in Lance's parting speech at the Tour in 2005, he talked about his respect for the two riders next to him on the podium. Second, Lance invited Ullrich to his final party after the Tour, and they partied together. Ullrich was even invited by Lance to give a speech.

I think Lance has a lot of respect for Jan, and vice versa. They were competitors, but they had respect for each other. Lance even talked about his mistaken conclusions about Jan's motives during the past tours (ie: Jan didn't wait when I fell was replaced with an apology and a statement where he said he believed Jan really did wait).

Koffee


yeah lance likes ullrich but he doesn't respect him. if you recall when lance made that speech he named a few of the riders of the future and after an embarassing second also named ullrich.

i think lance likes ullrich because the german knows his place and from what i understand about lance that's about as good as it gets :eek: .

ed rader

[Jared88]

Maybe if Jan joins discovery Lance would hammer some discipline into him.

[SaintAndrew]

I don't think Armstrong hates Ullrich. First, in Lance's parting speech at the Tour in 2005, he talked about his respect for the two riders next to him on the podium. Second, Lance invited Ullrich to his final party after the Tour, and they partied together. Ullrich was even invited by Lance to give a speech.

I think Lance has a lot of respect for Jan, and vice versa. They were competitors, but they had respect for each other. Lance even talked about his mistaken conclusions about Jan's motives during the past tours (ie: Jan didn't wait when I fell was replaced with an apology and a statement where he said he believed Jan really did wait).

Koffee
yeah but lance's media persona is a little different from the real lance, the guy who chased down a simeoni breakaway to get him to drop a libel suit, the guy who trued to beat up a competitor after he lost a race, the guy who saw dr. michele ferrari at least once a month even while he was being tried for doping charges.

[Guest]

yeah lance likes ullrich but he doesn't respect him. if you recall when lance made that speech he named a few of the riders of the future and after an embarassing second also named ullrich.

i think lance likes ullrich because the german knows his place and from what i understand about lance that's about as good as it gets :eek: .

ed rader

No he didn't. He was talking on the stand and turned and said maybe Basso would be the next one on the podium. Then he turned to Jan and said it may be him also. Then he went on to say it could be other riders too. But he definitely acknowledged Jan.

I don't see animosity there between the two.

Koffee

[Guest]

yeah but lance's media persona is a little different from the real lance, the guy who chased down a simeoni breakaway to get him to drop a libel suit, the guy who trued to beat up a competitor after he lost a race, the guy who saw dr. michele ferrari at least once a month even while he was being tried for doping charges.

I'm not talking about either scenario. That doesn't have to do with what I'm saying.

If you just want to talk about Lance being an ass, you can always start a thread on it. Lots of people would jump in, from the sounds of things. But what does this has to do with liking or not liking Jan?

Koffee

[ken cummings]

Interesting, if only to me. Some of the posters, like Koffee, properly Capitalized proper names like Discovery, Lance, Basso, and Der Kaiser. Others did not to such an extant that it almost seemed a deliberate insult. As far as the TdF this year I will hold judgement until the carbon isotope numbers on Floyds' testosterones are published.

[Guest]

I enjoy using correct punctuation and spelling. :D

Koffee

[-VELOCITY-]

I would love to see Der Jan on Discovery. This year they had no true leader. At least Jan's done it before. I think with a good team and a good strong director he can get motivated to get one more.

[yellowjeep]

I really think it would be odd to see Der Jan in anything but Easter egg colors, eg. celeste and pink.. er, magenta.

Seriously, if Jan comes though all of this, he will be my favorite rider, again, and I really hope he gets picked up by somebody that will give him a chance an one more.