Photo Gallery Fallen Hero
1996 -- Jan Ullrich's first Tour de France. He finished second despite helping his Teammate Bjarne Riis win the race.
Riis and Ullrich (r.) celebrate first and second place respectively. One year later...
...Ullrich overtakes his captain and...
...becomes the first German to win the Tour de France. He was made "sports person of the year" in Germany.
Defeated: In the 1998 Tour de France, Ullrich lost his yellow jersey to the Italian cyclist Marco Pantani. This was also the year in which doping allegations graced headline after headline -- calling the race "Tour de Dopage."
A Duel: Ullrich met his match in 1999: For six years, the American cyclist Lance Armstrong and the German cyclist competed almost neck to neck.
The American, however, remained undefeatable -- he won 7 times in succession. The two cyclists still maintained an honourable sportsman's rapport...
...though Ullrich did cite his failure to defeat Armstrong as the reason behind his depression in 2001.
In 2002 he was caught drink driving, as well as tested positive for amphetamines which he said he had taken at a party in the form of ecstacy tablets. Ullrich's contract with Team Telekom was terminated, and he was banned from racing for six months.
A year later he celebrates his comeback with Team Coast and later Team Bianchi.
Though a Tour de France victory still eluded him -- Lance Armstrong went on to win it for the fifth time in 2003.
Though Ullrich did not win the race, he was made "Sportsman of the Year" in Germany for waiting for Armstrong -- who had fallen off his bike -- at a decisive point in the tour.
Ullrich enjoys a victory at the Tour de Suisse in 2004, but gives up the yellow jersey in the Tour de France that year and places fourth -- his worst ever result.
Ullrich announces his engagement with girlfriend Sara Steinhauser just before the 2006 Tour de France...
...It had only been a year since seperating from Gaby Weiss, whom he is said to have divorced due to her reluctance to be in the limelight.
Doping allegations: Ullrich was suspended from Team T-Mobile a day before the Tour de France 2006 began. His name had cropped up whilst the police had been investigating the spanish doping scandal. Ullrich was suspected of having received treatment from Eufemiano Fuentes, but staunchly denied allegations.
Ullrich was fired from T-Mobile on Jul. 20 2006 as a result of the allegations, an act which he described as "unacceptable".
Ullrich, in an interview with German TV channel ZDF, described feeling victimized by the doping allegations, claiming he was "shocked" by the accusations...
...which he denies to this day, despite the evidence mounting against him.
