Jan Ullrich

Ullrich with his five 2^nd places in the Tour de France has been compared with the “eternal second” Raymond Poulidor, but I don’t think this is a good comparison. Poulidor came in 2^nd at the Tour three times and five times came in the 3^rd spot. He never wore the yellow jersey even for one day. He also came in 2^nd once at the World Championship. He did win the Vuelta once though and several classics as well. “Pou Pou” as he was affectionately called in France was beloved because of all his 2^nd places and he was a good contrast to the too smooth Anquetil. Much like with the Chicago Cubs baseball team it is always popular to root for the underdog.

While their list of wins is similar between Poulidor and Ullrich they are not the same. Ullrich did win the Tour and after his win in ’98 many people (including me) thought this would be the guy to win the Tour more then 5 times. With his weight problems in many years, the drug incident, and others it makes you question his commitment. So while Poulidor was viewed as an overachiever that got stuck competing against naturally superior athletes of Anquetil and Merckx; while Ullrich is viewed as very gifted athlete that has the bad luck of going against Lance, but perhaps has underachieved as well. It is hard for the public to love you if they think you are wasting some great talent.

The next 2 years are critical on how Ullrich will be remembered in cycling history. If he wins the Tour at least once then he will be remembered as a great athlete that had the misfortune of racing as the same time as Lance. If he doesn’t then he will be remembered as an underachiever who could have won more. Ullrich like Lance has put all his eggs in the Tour basket and since that one race is what he focuses on then that is how he should be expected to be judged. 

Comments

[Rich]

Ulrich has had his moments of underachievement, but remember that he has been a protagonist in the one day races, won the Olympic road race medal, the Vuelta, the Tour, and many other good races. Lance himself has said he's the more talented rider. Where Jan is less strong is mentally, and that's a shame for all of us who hoped he'd beat Lance last year or the year before. That would have provided the drama the tour has been lacking in the last seven years.
I hope Jan tries for Tour victory again with a Discover channel type of team. Surely there are other riders who will sacrifice all for the spoils of victory. Remember, all the Discovery guys have profited handsomely and been on the Tour-winning team, which gives them fame beyond the winning of smaller races, etc.

[Tim]

I agree that Ullrich is a very talented rider and does have some great wins. That is why I said his comparison to the eternal second is not a good one. He is a champion rider that has underachieved. How much of that is his own doing and how much is the bad luck to be at the same time as Lance we will never know. I wish he had concentrated more on other races and done other Grand Tours rather then putting all his eggs in the Tour basket.