Road Bike Racing - Ullrich hits bike rack with car

I just read that Jan Ullrich, after drinking several
glasses of wine, drove his Porsche 911 into
a bike rack containing 2 bikes and drove off.
Someone noted his number plate and turned him
in.
Wow, I would have thought that as a pro
cyclist he would have at least stuck around.
I think he should replace the 2 bikes with
brand new Pinnarellos.
Marty

Any idea on what happened after he was turned in? Was he arrested, fined, what? Don't know about the DUI or OWI laws in Europe but had he done that here in the US he would be in serious trouble. Just because someone here is a celebraty does not mean we are going to slap themn on the wrist for something like that due to their celebraty status. In fact here in the US we tend to make examples out of them.

Sorry for the soap box preaching but I have absolute zero tolerance towards drunk drivers. My attitude toward it is if you drink thats your business, but once you get behind the wheel of a car and are intoxicated, then it becomes everyone elses business. And even though the laws and punishments have gotten a lot tougher on DUI and OWI, to me they are not tough enough, yet.

All the article said was he lost his license
(driving, not UCI). It was actually his team
manager who made the statement about the
wine, and said that fron the team leader this was
unacceptable behaviour. There was some hint that
this was a result of his bad season.
I agree with the rant, I have no tolerance for
DUI.

Marty

Apparently, drunk driving laws in Europe are incredibly strict, including germany. You'd think it would be just the opposite but no, they come down on you really tough.

I think Ullrich is probably in a funk about his season, not like that's an excuse. Hopefully he'll get over it before he screws up further. However, it doesn't sound like anyone died or anything horrible happened- he was just being dumb. Boy, bad things are happening a lot these days- horrible accidents, etc. Is there a bad planetary conjunction or something?

Well, Telekom team boss Walter Godefrood announced that the team will punish Jan for this. Dunno what will happen to Alexandr Vinokourov, as he was in the car too (as were two women). Telekom will punish him because Ullrich, as their main rider, should be an example to others and his misbehaviour is not good for the team.

Just my 2 Euro cents,
Timo

Got this article on from www.procycling.com.


"After 'Pantani's Problems,' it's now 'Ullrich's Upset.' At this rate they will soon stop taking bets on Lance Armstrong winning his fourth Tour de France...

Jan Ullrich, of Telekom, has had his driving licence confiscated and may face a police investigation after a late-night incident in Fribourg on Tuesday this week. At the wheel of his Porsche 911, Ullrich reportedly ran over some parked bikes and then crashed through a barrier in the town centre before fleeing the scene.

Reports in today's German tabloid newspaper Bild stated that a witness had noted down the number plate of the Porsche and then reported the incident to police. They then traced the former Tour champion and Olympic gold medallist to his home where they took his licence and tested his blood for alcohol levels.

Ullrich, 28, was apparently with his Kazakh team mate Alexandre Vinokourov, winner of this year's Paris-Nice and, according to Bild, two unnamed young women.

Telekom's management are said to have confirmed that Ullrich may have drunk several glases of wine and have apparently attributed this lapse in behaviour to frustration over his recent injury troubles. Ullrich is still expected to race in the Tour of Bavaria on May 22.

Team directeur sportif Rudy Pevenage, said: "Such behaviour does not correspond with his role as leader of our team. This matter will have to be discussed together with team director Walter Godefroot."

My nephew used to live in Spain. The DUI laws are really strict. They will usually take away your license and confiscate your car. As I recall the alcohol level is lower than the U.S. even.
Wonder, two glasses of wine. Wonder what the blood level is at that amount of consumption.
Ullrich has been know for his moodiness ?

According to Spiegel Online, Ullrich's blood alcohol content was 0.14 -0.15% when tested after the incident. In Germany, the legal limit is 0.05%. There was no clarification about how long he would go without a license. My guess is that it would a month at the very minimum and could easily be as long as a year (but this is just guessing).

It said that he would be charged with DUI, the accident, and for fleeing the scene. It seemed as though he would end up with a fine plus paying about 1700 EUR in property damage. The team manager made clear that Ullrich would be paying this out of his own pocket. Ullich was quoted as saying (in a rough translation) "I've done a dumb thing. I stand with the thing and will accept all of the consequences." ("Ich habe Mist gebaut. Ich stehe zur Sache und werde alle Konsequenzen tragen.")

Cheers.

I think this is a real shame. IMHO, he is one of the class acts in the peloton, and he lets this happen to himself. It is turning out to be a bad year all around for him.

As opposed to all of the druggies who ... Oh, never mind. :(

Cheers...Gary

Hmmm. And what makes you so sure that Jan is not a Druggie?

Not sure, but have not seen anything about him that I recall. One can always hope. :rolleyes:

Cheers...Gary

Aha, I see

Vijfhuizen? Da kennik wel. Groeten uit Amsterdam-West :)

Dank u wel!

I guess we shouldn't always be totally surprised when elite athletes do stuff like this- they ski, ride, etc at incredible speeds and take all kinds of risks. Why be surprised when they do things that are wild or reckless? I always thought Jan had that kind of tendency anyways. Remember Pantani was in that big crash with his car? I know he wasn't drunk, though. ANd I remember a couple of years ago, Hermann Maier, the world ski champ, got in similar trouble. At the end of the season he was celebrating his world title at a bar in Italy, got totally smashed, stripped to his underwear and danced, and then went out and beat up a phone booth! However, he paid a fine. To Ullrichs credit at least he owned up to what he did. Some of these guys need better ways to blow off steam that's for sure, but it's not like they did an OJ or something.

To Ullrichs credit at least he owned up to what he did. wabbit

hmm... how i see it, his driving off was the worst part. and he ownly 'owned up to it' afterwards when not doing so wasn't really a viable career choice

if he had had a few too many drinks and then driven and then hit a few bikes and whatever, and then left a note of aplogy and then later replaced the damage then that would be a mistake, but handled in an OK and respectable way --- or maybe he could have bought the people brand new better bikes personally signed by Ullrich or whatever and they might of even been happy about it...

what i find so horrible about what Ullrich did, is that he DROVE OFF and then had to be tracked down by police after people wrote down his license plate and gave it to police.

imagine if he hadn't been caught... then some innocent people would have some damaged bikes that they would probably have to pay for out of pocket (i don't think my insurance covers such damage) b/c a super-wealthy high profile athlete didn't want to stop to maybe cause problems for his public image after doing something illegal and very dangerous (driving while intoxicated)

and yeah, maybe he isn't having the greatest season, but come on... why is it that 'successful' people seem to have so much more trouble doing the 'right' thing than normal people? they don't think the laws apply to them or they can buy their way out or what? Dallas Cowboy players come to mind here...

i'm able to act responsibly and pay for any damages i cause and apologize if i screw up and i'm not rich - it should be way easier for him...

Originally posted by Timo
Aha, I see

Da kennik wel.

Ah, Nederlands is toch wel veel veranderd hoor!