Ullrich may return to cycling as adviser
- By VeloNews.com
- Published Apr. 19, 2009
Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, who retired in 2007, could be set to return to competitive cycling as a team adviser, it was a former teammate said Sunday.
Danilo Hondo, who is competing in the Tour of Turkey for Czech team PSK Whirlpool, told the German tabloid Bild he wants to create a new cycling team and that his former Team Telekom teammate would play a role.
“Jan is always a subject (which one talks about when discussing cycling), we have talked about it,” Hondo said. “Jan is always a magnet which could make things move things.”
Hondo says the team would mainly consist of German riders and sponsors and could be ready as early as next year.
In 1997, Ullrich, 35, became the first German to win the Tour de France, but was banned from the Tour in 2006 amidst allegations of doping and announced his retirement from cycling in February 2007.