May 7/02 11:26 am - Ullrich Will Not Start Tour

Posted by Editoress on 05/7/02
 

Armstong's Main Rival Will Not Start 2002 Tour

Jan Ullrich's Team Telekom has confirmed today that he will not be fit for the Tour, blaming ongoing knee problems as the reason.

Ullrich, has been kept out of most of this year's competitions with an ongoing knee injury said to have been instigated by excessive weight training in the off season. In 1999 he had a similar problem, but the knee problem then was blamed on a late (1998) season crash.

So it will fall to Eric Zabel to lead Team Telekom at this year's Tour.

Speculation is that Ullrich is now at a crossroads in his career, and whether he will be able to stage a comeback.

Ullrich had his driving licence confiscated last week by German police after being reported for driving his Porsche into a bike stand and knocking over several bicycles. His blood alcohol level was reported to be 1.4 mg/L at the time (legal limit in Germany is .05).