Jan Ullrich

Jan Ullrich was a German professional who was considered one of the best time trialists ever. He first came to international notice in 1993 when he won the last World Amateur Championship in the road race. After turning professional, Ullrich placed second at the 1996 Tour de France, winning the white jersey as the best young rider.

He would improve on that in 1997 to win the Tour, adding a second white jersey. In 1998 he was unable to keep up with Marco Pantani, who won the Tour, but Ullrich placed second and added his third white jersey, one of only two riders, with Andy Schleck, to ever win that jersey three times. Over the next several years, Ullrich added multiple palmarès winning the World Championship in the time trial in 1999 and 2001, and at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he won a gold medal in the road race and silver in the time trial.

But the appearance of Lance Armstrong kept Ullrich from ever again winning the Tour de France. He placed second behind Armstrong in 2000-01 and 2003, third in 2005 and fourth in 2004. His five second-places at the Tour is not a record for the race, this belongs to Joop Zoetemelk with six. Ullrich also won the 1999 Vuelta à España and the 2004 and 2006 Tour de Suisse.

He was often criticized for gaining weight in the off-season, and not training as much as he should, but Armstrong always said Ullrich was his strongest competitor. In 2006 he came under suspicion of doping and was banned from the Tour. He eventually retired in February 2007. In 2012, he was found guilty of doping in the last instance in 2012 and his successes since May 1, 2005. were annulled. In 2023 Ullrich revealed he began doping in 1995.