Steelrider

Personally, I feel a little sorry for Jan Ullrich. The German press is a lot harder on him than anything that has been seen in the english-speaking press. It would be one thing if the guy came off like an a$$ and was thoroughly unlikeable, but from the things I've read, he actually seems like a pretty well adjusted guy who happens to be a great rider. He just had the bad fortune to be at his competitive apex at the same time as the best in the Tour's history. Let's see, his own DS constantly challenges his will to win and occasionally his manhood, his team has no less than 3 "leaders" who don't support each other and causes some split loyalties within the team, they have always been downstream of the best Tour cyclist in history when nothing less than the yellow jersey is acceptable...Sure, being the second best rider to the best Tour rider of all time is a pretty lofty position and the big bucks get the big expectations, but I'll bet that there are times when just about every day sucks except payday.

wabbit

That's the thing, everyone says he is a very nice guy. I can't remember who it was who said it, but it was something to the effect that he was too nice to win the tour again. Sometimes I've seen people whom I know to be mean, rotten and horrible people who become hugely successful. And I think it's because they're mean and rotten; sometimes I wished I could be a mean, rotten b*tch like Omarosa and just trample over everyone to get to the top. Because it's worked for people I know. I don't mean that Lance is mean and rotten or that you have to be that way to succeed, but you have to have this killer instinct and subsume everything else, and Jan can't do that. IT's not physical, since he's as strong as an ox, it's just the mental is thing, I think they call it ruthless single-mindedness. BUt something has to give. Lance devoted his entire life to the tour, but his marriage ended, and he lost a lot of friends. Not everyone wants to do that in order to set a sports record- you have to have the cojones, so to speak (not to make fun of Lance's missing one of them).

H2OChick

... but I bet he still has more good days than bad, which is all any of us can ask for, pro-cyclists or not.

Simon Templar

Doesn't Jan realize by now that he uses too big a gear and that it doesn't work?

EURO

Phil Ligett has a lot to answer for...

Jan's best time on Alpe d'Huez is 4 seconds or something behind the record. As David Millar said 'If Lance didn't exist, Jan would be winning everything, and everyone would be copying him by climbing seated in a big gear'.

DocRay

I still don't quite understand why everyone has such great hopes for Ullrich, it seems that most have forgotten Basso's efforts last year.

mrkott3r

Plenty of people are rootin for Basso, Jan has been around longer and he has had a fair bit of bad luck and poor team mates/strategy.
I mean if Jan was in the postal/discovery team and lance rode with T-mobile. Jan would have won a lot of those tours.

SpongeDad

Didn't Jan almost win in 2003(?) but for a fall in a time trial going around a turning circle?

Jan definitely suffers from not having an organized team. You know Zabriski et al are going to pull for Basso like all the Posties pulled for Lance - where is Jan gonna get that kind of support?

Anyone who thinks Jan is undisciplined is full of it. You don't peform at the top of your profession by being a loafer no matter how much talent you have. I think people just harp on this stuff to make up a narrative that's interesting to them whether it's real or not.

timmhaan

well, i think lance went into the last time trial nearly a minute ahead. two stages earlier jan had rode everyone off his wheel and lance had to scramble to hold onto the yellow jersey. that was crazy!

merlinextraligh

No, the tour was very close, but Armstrong had a minute on him going in to the TT, and despite Jan going all out, Armstrong was putting more time on Uhllrich before he fell. Only after Uhlrich fell and it was obvious that Armstrong was going to win, barring his own fall, did Armstrong slow way down. Without the fall, Armstrong would have likely still put time on Uhllrich, and would have also won the stage.

Duke of Kent

Because there are three ITTs this year (Jan > Basso), no TTT (advantage: Jan), and not as many mountaintop finishes as years past (advantage: Jan). I'm pretty sure that this has been stated in a lot of other threads and also readily available on the TdF website. Basically, the course suits him far more than it does Basso. He took a minute and a half out of Basso on a hilly TT in stage 20.

yellowjeep

I really hope he kicks ass this year. From the press photos and what not (from a differnt thread in january) he already 'looked' ready to go. I think it could be his year especialy with the course the way it is.

patentcad

The guy makes millions of bucks annually riding a bicycle, plus endorsement Euros, plus he's a beloved national hero in Germany, one of the most modern and nicest nations in Western Europe. Oh yeah, that's gotta suck. I'd be a happy guy too.

Not for nothing, but Jan already WON the Tour de France. Remember? Maybe not. Half the idiots here were still watching Teletubbies when that happened. What the hell does Ullrich have to prove to ANYBODY? The whole world can go F itself. And Jan will think that while he smiles sweetly for the cameras (as always). How do you NOT like a guy like Jan?

I hope he wins this year. Unless Floyd is kicking ass of course. Then he can finish 2nd for the 12th time for all I care, nice guy or not. I'm supposed to feel sorry for Jan Ullrich? Ummm - can't do it.

daytonian

+1

patentcad

Hey that sounds great on paper. Just like Jan's prospects for the past EIGHT TdF's, eh? Now all he has to do is SHOW UP and PERFORM on the day when it counts and not let some other great world class cyclist wax his 2nd place ass in the Super Bowl of Cycling. Which he hasn't done in 9 years. And nobody knows that better than Jan. I'd love to see Jan do that. He SHOULD do that. THIS YEAR.

Now or never meine kleine runnerupenputz. Come on Jan. The whole world is rooting for you.

But watch out for that dorky looking Landis kid from Pennsylvania. Man, he's pissed.

It kills me to hear people say Floyd's not angry. Right. This is the kid who rode his bike 400+ miles per week after 9PM all winter after his Dad gave him endless chores to do so he couldn't do it during the day. What the hell else would motivate somebody to do THAT? Oh yeah, then when he turned 18 this conservative Menonite PA boy moved out to California to get the hell away from his parents. You gotta love that. Not your typical 'turn the other cheek' Amish approach to conflict in life.

Maybe if Jan had some of that pissoff mojo he would have won a couple more Tours eh? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Jan Ullrich. Classiest guy in cycling. But maybe too nice for his own good when it comes to bike racing. Tough nasty bastards do pretty good in bike racing. Remember Bernard Hinault? He LOVES Lance. That should tell you something about Armstrong right there. Nobody said he was Mr. Nice Guy.

Hard to know who to root for. The pissed off kid from PA or the Nice Guy from Germany we all know and love. I'd love to see them finish 1-2. Basso Shmasso.

Jakey

Jan is playing oppossum. Come july he will I hope.

the beef

Jan is amazing, definitely my favorite pro cyclist. The way he mashes those big gears is awe-inspiring.

Keith99

Some including myself would differ on Lance being the best Tour rider in history. Yes the most wins, but...

His largest winning margin is less than Eddys smallest. Eddy finished in the top 3 spots in ALL THREE major competitions 6 times. Lance never did this. Eddy never finished less than 6th and that in the twilight of his career. Eddy won multiple jerseys at the tour 4 times. Lance never has. Oh and in his first TDF Eddy won everything. All 3 Jerseys, team championship, most aggresive rider and final stage. (Hinault is the only other rider to win all three in a career). He must have been exhaused by the time the awards were over. If we expand it to best Tour rider as opposed to best TDF rider all the guys who have done doubles argueably pass Lance. Surely Hinault does and I would argue Coppi does also. I'm sure many would add Anquetil to that list and Spaniards would add Mig.

Veloduo

Oh, NOW I get it!!! He's been sandbagging for nine years...

joeprim

Even Lance gives Eddie the title of best bicycle racer. All Lance clams is the best cancer survivor racer. That's what he means when he says "it's not about the bicycle...". I would probable give him more than that based on the most wins in the TdF.

I'm looking forward to see how Jan does.

Joe

jkoman

" The Jan " will rule and the others will drool...will come back next year but Might be too much then
Basso will be super but Giro will be just a little too much
Landis will be a stud...biggest challenger
Vino will be most aggressive but lose in TT's
Hincapie will amaze many except those who will never be impressed...top 5 would be impressive
Evans will ......crash or impress
Valverde will need more team and have a bad day


Bruyneel will learn who his next champion will be.....Danielson or Popo

Keith99

I've never seen or heard a quote of Lance overstating his accomplishments or his position in cycling history. BUT I've seen his fans do it a lot.

patentcad

Exactly.

Jan is riding like a bit of a meatball at the Giro. On the other hand, he's done this 10lbs overweight 8 weeks before the Tour thing many times and pulled off a podium spot.

That is rather amazing. It really makes you wonder what Jan would have done if he could have entered May within 3-4 lbs. of his Tour de France weight instead of having to do the Jenny Craig racing program every Spring. That's gotta kill you from a bike racing standpoint. That's what you should be doing in Feb/Mar/ even April, but NOT May.

gattm99

I really look up to Jan for being an excellent bike racer, but not turning into a bike racing robot. Sure he may get a bit fat, but I bet he had more fun.

I can't decide who I want to root for this year, Basso's smile, Jan's stomach, or Floyd's mustache

Going to be interesting.

ElJamoquio

And he has the best blog in the business.