'Eternal_second'_behind_Armstrong Jan_Ullrich

1 eternal second behind armstrong

1.1 2000 – 2002 tours
1.2 2003 tour , sportsmanship
1.3 2004 , 2005 tour

eternal second behind armstrong
2000 – 2002 tours

the 2000 tour de france brought ullrich, marco pantani , armstrong against each other first time. armstrong proved strong , won , again in 2001. ullrich crashed in 2001 , armstrong waited him return bike. ullrich cited failure defeat armstrong why fell depression next year.

ullrich rode in 2000 summer olympics in sydney, australia. after establishing three-man break telekom teammates andreas klöden , alexander vinokourov, ullrich won gold vinokourov second , klöden rounding out all-telekom podium. won silver in time-trial, losing 7 seconds viatcheslav ekimov beating armstrong soundly third.

in may 2002, ullrich had driver s license revoked after drunk driving incident. after positive blood sample amphetamine in june 2002, ullrich s contract team telekom ended, , banned 6 months. said had taken ecstasy amphetamine. had not been racing since january due knee injury, , german cycling federation s disciplinary committee agreed not attempting use drug performance enhancement, given minimum suspension.

in january 2003, ullrich , advisor rudy pevenage joined team coast, coast pulled out after financial problems , team bianchi replaced it. ullrich returned racing in march 2003 .

2003 tour , sportsmanship

the 2003 tour de france first many years ullrich had not been considered favorite. in first week, ullrich became sick , retired. lost minute , half on armstrong in alps. ullrich fought in time trial. armstrong had trouble heat , lost 1 , half minutes ullrich. ullrich within minute of armstrong in classification. next day, closed gap 19 seconds in first mountain stage. 2 days later ullrich rode away armstrong on tourmalet armstrong caught up. half way next climb, luz ardiden, armstrong s handlebar got caught in spectator s yellow musette waving in air , fell. ullrich waited armstrong recover, returning courteous display armstrong 2 years previously. armstrong caught group , attacked shortly afterwards.

ullrich lost 40 seconds in final kilometers, final time trial decisive. in it, ullrich crashed , saw stage , tour victory disappear. finished second, 71 seconds.

germany made ullrich sportsman of year. commenting on ullrich s wait armstrong recover, dan boyle, of institute international sport said act live him forever, cynics lost money, highly commendable thing did.

2004 , 2005 tour

for 2004 ullrich returned team telekom, named t-mobile. won tour de suisse. in tour de france, finished fourth, 8:50 behind armstrong, first finish lower second. klöden finished second , ivan basso third.

jan ullrich in hanover.

for 2005, ullrich again captained t-mobile. maintained low profile season, surfacing in 2005 tour de suisse, finished third behind aitor gonzález , michael rogers.

the day before 2005 tour de france, ullrich training when team car stopped unexpectedly. ullrich hit window, ending in seat of car. less 24 hours later ullrich passed armstrong in time trial. ullrich fell again in mountains, bruising ribs. not keep armstrong or ivan basso. ullrich began focusing on finishing ahead of michael rasmussen podium position. rode second time trial, beating armstrong. rasmussen had several crashes , bike changes, gave ullrich podium place in tour.