Jan Ullrich
 

What are Ullrich's chances of being competitive in the TDF?

Since he has always been competitive why would you expect any different. He remains a class act and an incredible champion...the guy has never backed off and always rides his butt off in the TDF...one of my fav riders.

He can't win.

As good as any other year.

I am a fairly new TDF fan, 3 years, and it seems that leading up to and during the first few stages, he is touted as a contender but he ends up fading away. Last year I remember one of the OLN commentators mention that Ullrich's performance suffers because of his off season weight gains and how quickly he returns to his racing weight.

every year they say that - even on years when he's below racing weight. If Ullrich isn't doing well - well it must be weight. A lot of commentators are farting with their mouths, if you catch them smoking they'll be flaming like a dragon.

American fans also have a tendency to trash Ullrich more than he deserves. He rides hard, doesn't talk trash to other riders, doesn't make excuses for himself and has finished in good places in every TdF ride. Won the Vuelta, Olympics and other events.

It is an amazing testament to Ullrich's ability that it was considered a shocker and a let down when he finished "only" fourth at the Tour de France last year. It was the first time in his career that he had ever finished the Tour off the podium. I'd LOVE to "suck" that badly as a racer! I respect Ullrich a lot, and I hope that he wins the Tour again before he retires.

Just making sure nobody is forgeting that he did in fact win the Tour.

As others have said, I think Ullrich is an uber-classy and talented bike rider.

Jan Ullrich had the unfortunate coincidence of being born at the same time as Lance Armstrong. That's really all there is to it.

This is obviously theoretical but If you follow for a second....
If there was no Lance, Jan's 5 second places and 1 win would put him at Lance's same record breaking number.

Not to mention everyone would be talking about how they need to start pushing a big gear like Ullrich etc....

lol....yeah...climbing seated on a massive gear is the ONLY way to get up a mountain fast. Everyone else is doing it wrong. :D

If ullrich won the last 5 tours, that would be funny. All the newbies would be saying **** like "You gotta grind em like Jan!" such is the power of sports media.

Great point. We'd all be trying to find the inner "beast of a man" in ourselves. And Chris Carmichael wouldn't be overexposed.

There would be even more Giants on the road...

ullrich takes more heat for coming in second than guys that consistently finish even lower, or not at all. it should be remembered that he is also a gold and silver medalist in the olymics - something armstrong was never able to accomplish.

And this would be a bad thing how?

seriously, I get tired hearing that Jan has more raw talent than
anyone else in the peloton. Now don't take me wrong, I have
tremendous respect for the guy, but raw talent or not, he just
can't get it done at the Tour.
You know its funny, Lance gets ripped a new one here for
his single mindedness, and single focus, but Jan garners
nary a word.

Marty

For the last 6 years no one else seems to be able to get it done either. I think the difference between 1st and 2nd is probably more about the team than the rider. Postal is increadible. The time trial was the height of the TDF last year for me.

Ullrich isn't the guy saying he has more raw talent than anyone else - in fact I've heard it more from Armstrong after he wins than anything else. Gracious winner that he is.

Ullrich can win this year, and I hope he does. I'll be rooting for him.

By the way, I thought this forum was deleted. Interesting.

Today's result:

http://circuitcycliste.sarthe.com/Si...eg=200&rub=210

I didn't mean to beat on Chris Carmichael. I have his food for fitness book, and the information therein is good, accurate stuff.

I guess I just don't appreciate the periodization style Chris uses (he's not alone) where you peak at one point in the season. Of course, this is exactly what I'm working towards for mid to late July. I'm a total hypocrit.

I just prefer (and want to shoot for) those guys that line up every at every race, are always out riding if even for a casual spin, and are always game. Not everybody can afford to be a one trick/race pony.

carmichael is just a sales person/rep -nothing he says in his books is new to the field of kinesiology or athletic training. He's just reporting things already summarized in various sources, studies, etc etc

I thought we cleaned up all of the old 2004 tour stuff. . .
probably just temporarily offline.

Marty

raw talent or not - to me, Ullrich is the sloppy genius who doesn´t get his talent on the road 100%. He should better have learneda lesson from Udo Bölts or Erik Zabel.

Consider his accomplishment. If LA were not competing, Jan Ullrich would have already been a 5 time TDF winner.

They always talk about Jan's weight. His race weight is around 160-165lbs which makes him bigger than most pro cyclists.

But I also have to consider that fact that he's been competitive in the TDF for over 7 years. That is a long time and very few have been able to stay at the top for such a long time.

I agree, if lance wasn't around, jan would have won at least three more times. I also think Pantani could have won the tour again if he hadn't had all that trouble. No one could climb mountains like he could, not even lance.

So far Jan is looking good in his first race, which is a good sign. Lance didn't do so well but he was sick, so you can't really attribute it to being fat or out of shape. With Jan you just never know. He doesn't have many chances left. But hey, the red sox won the series, so who knows?