Ulrich showed up in great shape for the 2003 tour and still finished second. Jan was never going to beat Lance just like Barkely was never going to get a ring while Jordan was playing.

And it wasn't a lack of fitness when Panatani cracked him.

Ulrich had a few fatal flaws other than his fondness for strudel, like not being able to ride in bad conditions, a lack of accelleration on steeper climbs, no killer instinct, no sprint, and poor strategic sense (and lousy teams). At best he might have taken all seconds to LA but that's it. He wasted a slice of his loaf of bread, but made very tasty sandwiches out of the rest.

Since I'm feeling contrarian, I'll also argue against FDB. He was/is nuts. You have to be at least sane enough to realize you're wasting it.

My pick(s): Fausto Coppi sitting in a POW camp. Eugeni Berzin for being lazy. Greg Lemond getting shot and losing peak years. Anyone who's ridden for T Mobile in the last 7 years (except Erik Zabel, who we love for all the right reasons).