"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Jan Ullrich

I think I'm really starting to like this guy. Of course I want to see LA go for and get 6. I also hope that Jan makes his attempt at 6 a big challenge. The sportsmanship that these guys have is absolutely amazing.

This is what Jan had to say about his crash in the ITT:
"I'm a bit sad because I could have won the stage. I wasn't really thinking about the yellow jersey. That would have been possible only if Lance fell and I didn't wish for that to happen. That would not have been fair."

That's a classy thing to say. In retrospect the entire tour was quite the spectacle and I would have to say that all involved are true champions and though LA took the yellow jersey, all the competitors ride away from the centenary as winners.

P.S. Except maybe Petacchi, I didn't like how he jumped off the bike on the first hill. Somebody who rides as much as these guys really should be able to climb at least one hill.

Ullrich is definetly a class act and a helluva rider. Hes obviously back in top shape and next year I predict an even fiercer tour. Hopefully beloki comes back. If he does I could definetly see LA, ullrich, beloki all within seconds of each other on the podium...not neccessarily in that order.

You mean y'all haven't been reading Jan's daily postings at his own Web site?

http://www.janullrich.de/

Seriously, next year make a point to read his daily posts and to read the post race interviews at www.cyclingnews.com. It gives you a whole different flavor of the Tour and balances out the OLN/Lance Armstrong bias (don't get me wrong, go Lance).

You mean y'all haven't been reading Jan's daily postings at his own Web site?

Unfortunately, I haven't. Had i known they were there I would have been reading. As much as I want to see Lance win I did get the feeling that his competitors didn't get as much coverage as they deserved. I only saw one post-stage interview with Jan and none from Beloki (before or after his crash) or Vino. I will definitely go read the daily postings from Jan now that I'm aware of them (a small way of prolonging this year's tour!):D

Vino, Tyler, Jan, Lance - gonna be a tough one next year. Love to see #6.

Imagine an uninjured Tyler!!!

Originally posted by MKRG
P.S. Except maybe Petacchi, I didn't like how he jumped off the bike on the first hill. Somebody who rides as much as these guys really should be able to climb at least one hill.

Yeah, That wasn't too cool. I know he's aiming to win some stages in the Vuelta but surely he didn't need to start conserving energy now...

I see Jan has his own line of bikes. I can't help but think that LA will too, sooner or later.

Is there an English version of the site? I can muddle thru Spanish but have no German.

You can go here: http://world.altavista.com/ and enter the URL and it will translate it for you (sort of).

Originally posted by Walter
Is there an English version of the site? I can muddle thru Spanish but have no German.

Is there a German version of Lance's site? Seriously, my fault for not pointing that out. If you don't read German -- and don't my deciphering German grammar that's not translated all that well by the software tools -- you can use Google's Lanuage tools:

http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en

With the tools you can either:

a). Try and see if you can get an entire page translated (doesn't always work with Java since the text you want to read isn't on the parent page that does get translated).

b). Go to Jan's page and then: highlight, cut and paste the text of various articles, updates or interviews into the Google's (or any one of many other, more sophisticated) langauge translation tool.

Jan is back. His ITT on saturday was kind of heroic, he rode like hell, took the risk, would have won the stage - and fell.
He lost at least 30 seconds but didn´t give up.
His attitude towards his sport has changed, he´s no more the sloppy genius, he became much more professional
Next year, I think he will be eben better.

Originally posted by Piratello
His attitude towards his sport has changed, he´s no more the sloppy genius, he became much more professional
Next year, I think he will be eben better.

... and, he has a better aero position on the bike! :D

Seriously, his lower position in the front may have actually hurt him in the ITT. I can't image that a bike would handle better in his position????

BTW, I completely agree. Jan is going to be the favorite next year. I can't wait to see it again! Does anyone know if he is doing the Vuelta this year?????

Jan made this years Tour what it was. All the pressure was on LA, Jan didn't HAVE to win, but he came close.

For all the guy's in Deutschland - do you remember however, when Jan fell from grace last year? The press here crucified him. He was called all sorts of names and wild accusations were hurled against him. Now he's Germany's darling again.

I like Jan more now than I did a few years ago (that probably goes for a lot of people), but I like Eric Zabel more, I think he deserves more recognition and to me he always falls under the shadow of Jan because it's Jan who can win the Tour and not just a few sprints.

Anyway, all the best to everyone in 2004, whoever wins, it should be good. :)

yes, this is typically german (but not just only german though...)

If you win, everybody loves you, e.g. Boris Becker, Franziska van Almsick, Michael Schumacher etc. etc. etc.
Next year, your success is self-evident and expected.
If you lose then, you´re the last idiot on earth -
till you´re successful again...

it was totaly wet, he had a new front wheel (4 carbon spokes) and was fast as hell... (57 km/h average)

PS: No Vuelta

I was glad that he seemed pretty content with his finish. He was all smiles on the podium. He shouldnt have any doubt about how strong he was this year. If Ullrich gets just a bit stronger on the climbs, even Lance wont be able to beat him.

In terms of shear ability Ullrich is in class of his own. He could be the modern eqyuivalent of Merckx.
However he did enjoy his success a little too much after his win 97 but I'm sure he'll be back next year stronger, fitter wiser and more prepared. This year was big learning curve for Ullrich and I think it's changed him. He seems more at ease with himself. Next year is his year. Lance has reached his sell by date and i suspect we'll see him ride his last tour next year.
Perhaps the personal washing machine he found himself in end Jan took it's toll on his preparation but he still won his 5th. But all great champions have a day when enough is enough.
Next year I'd like to see Ullrich win with Lance a close 2nd. The handove from champion to champion and the signaling of a new era for a few years

I hope ullrich does do the vuelta, but if he does it won't be to win, but he'll work for Casero. I think Jan has an advantage on LA, he's had a year off and I think that will add a couple of years to his career. And this year, he had less pressure on him than lance did, except you could see he was nervous at the end. No one expected anything of him after his absence, but lance had HUGE pressure on him and you could see how it affected him.

Actually, wasn't Jan using one of those old five spoke Mavic front wheels?

Note: in the near future Pecharroman will join the race for the yellow jersey (mark my words).

Ullrich made the Tour, enriching Armstrong's victory with intense competition. His relaxed and humble TV manner was very endearing, as was the overall level of sportsmanship, which most of the riders endorsed.

I think the guy has achieved much more than he envisaged, finding something near his best form, rehabilitating his public image, winning a stage, getting on the podium, returning to the role of champion-in-waiting. There are holes in this year's team (understandably) and he is still prone to the occasional off-day, but Armstrong was right to focus on Ullrich as the main competitor this time. With a good team and preparation, next year could be a changing of the guard, when the cracks in Armstrong's facade open-but it's 11 months too early to put money on it:)

Originally posted by Flaneur
but Armstrong was right to focus on Ullrich as the main competitor this time
...Still, we'll never know what Beloki was capable of this year. He was better than Ulrich in the Alps and very good in the timetrial.