Jan Ullrich also saw “Being Jan Ullrich”. In a short clip, the cycling legend thanks his fans for the positive feedback – and is already looking forward to the upcoming Tour de France.

The Tour de France starts this Friday in Copenhagen, Denmark. It’s the 25th edition of the greatest cycling classic since Jan Ulrich’s glorious tour victory in 1997. Since then, Ullrich has experienced hard crashes, but now he’s apparently going through life more positively again.

Shortly before the start of this year’s Tour de France, Ullrich addressed his fans in a short clip. Leaning on a sports bike, he says hello from a private bike tour and wishes all drivers and teams, “especially our German drivers”, all the best and much success. He will follow the next three weeks with excitement, “the best should win”.

Positive feedback on the documentary

In addition, explains Ullrich, he would like to thank him very much for the positive feedback he received on the current ARD documentary “Being Jan Ulrich”. “Of course I also looked at it and it aroused great emotions in me,” admits Ullrich. “I know I’ve had a very intense life with all the ups and downs.” But now he has to move on quickly, “it’s damn hot, I still have to climb a few hills before I get home”.

25 years after Ullrich’s tour victory, ARD is showing a multi-part documentary about Ullrich’s successes and the subsequent crash, including drug excesses and massive addiction problems. In it, many prominent companions also have their say, such as Ullrich’s great rival Lance Armstrong, who reports how he found Ullrich in a miserable condition in a Mexican clinic a few years ago. “He was bedridden, unconscious,” Armstrong said.

Ullrich is now doing better again, as his friend and former sports director Rudy Pevenage told the star. Only recently did the two have dinner together in Ullrich’s hometown of Merdingen. “He made an excellent impression, also physically,” says Pevenage. On the bike tour together, he couldn’t keep up with Ullrich despite the electric motor support.