Cycling: Ullrich, doping doctor had contact
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BERLIN -- Hours after receiving a two-year ban for blood doping, 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich of Germany admitted on his website that he had "contact" with a Spanish doctor who ran a doping program in which he was accused of participating.
Ullrich did not directly acknowledge doping but said he would not contest a ruling Thursday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Ullrich said on his website that he accepted the ban -- "not because I agree with every point in the reasoning for the ruling, but because I finally want to put an end to the issue."
The CAS ruled that Ullrich was "fully engaged" in Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes' doping program, exposed in the Operation Puerto probe. The court stripped him of his third-place finish at the 2005 Tour. Ullrich retired from racing in '07.
"I confirm that I had contact with Fuentes. I know that this was a big mistake, which I regret very much," Ullrich said.
"In retrospect, I would act differently in some situations during my career," Ullrich said.
Ullrich, 38, said he was relieved the long judicial process was finally over and that he had no intention of returning to professional cycling in any way, while being active on the amateur side.
After winning the Tour in '97 and finishing runner-up five times, Ullrich said he was under "enormous pressure" in '06 from "the public, the sponsors and myself."
"Everyone wanted a second Tour victory, especially after the retirement of Lance Armstrong," Ullrich wrote.
The verdict Thursday fell nearly six years after Spanish police raided clinics alleged to be providing doping services to athletes working with Fuentes.
Ullrich was suspended weeks later from the '06 Tour de France, before being fired by T-Mobile.
In his statement, Ullrich said he wanted "to openly admit the mistake I made" shortly after the suspension, but "my hands were tied."
"At the advice of my lawyers, as usual in such cases, I remained silent," Ullrich said.
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NOTE -- Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador returned to training in Madrid for competition, four days after receiving a two-year doping ban from sport's highest court. Contador tweeted a photo of himself on a bike along with the message: "Going back to work, sacrifice and hard training, this is our sole secret." On Monday, Contador received a retroactive ban and was stripped of his '10 Tour de France title because of a positive test for clenbuterol taken during the Tour. Contador can return to competition Aug. 6, meaning he will miss the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and London Olympics. He is eligible to race at the Spanish Vuelta. Contador, who blamed the positive test on contaminated meat, hasn't ruled out appealing.
First Published February 11, 2012 12:00 am
