Five years ago, Jan Ullrich, 49, experienced a violent crash with alcohol and drugs. The German cycling legend, who won the Tour de France in 1997, is now revealing how bad things were for him. On November 28, the four-part documentary “Jan Ullrich – The Hunted” will be released on Amazon Prime. In a published trailer there is a first violent confession from Ullrich.
“I used cocaine in bulk. I drank whiskey like water. Until shortly before death,” admits Ullrich, who had completely crashed in 2018 – at that time he was living on Mallorca. Prison after a fight with actor Til Schweiger, trouble with a prostitute, fake friends who wanted to rip him off.
Good friends and his former rival Lance Armstrong pulled Ullrich out of the swamp at the last moment, saving his life. After a relapse at the end of 2021, Ullrich said: “I escaped death again.”
Ullrich then completely shut down his environment. Withdrawal, therapy and meanwhile the return to normal life. “I managed to build a stable environment around me again. That brings me an incredible amount, like sport, it’s an important part of my therapy. I also talked to psychologists and tried hypnosis,” Ullrich told SPORT BILD at the end of 2022.
Ullrich has been organizing the “Re:Tour” in France since 2022, where you can book a multi-day tour with him. He is also tinkering with other business ideas. A job in the cycling circus would also appeal to him. He lives with his girlfriend Elizabeth in Merdingen in Baden-Württemberg.
In the Amazon documentary, Ullrich also talks about doping. He used to justify himself by saying that he hadn’t cheated anyone, because everyone was doping and he was only creating equal opportunities. Today he admits: “It was wrong that I didn’t cheat anyone. For me it was tailored to my opponents, but of course the fans are also part of it.” The Spanish doping doctor Eufemanio Fuentes also has his say: “They asked me about the miracle formula to become a winner.”
In an interview with SPORT BILD, Ullrich revealed about working on the documentary: “It’s mega-emotional. I tried to imagine it beforehand, but it’s going really deep now. In the years before I only did a suppression, now I’m doing a real work-up. Things came up that I hadn’t even remembered. It’s not always easy, of course tears flow sometimes. But I expect a lot from it for the rest of my life.”
