The year before doping scandals stripped cycling of its wow factor, one man rendered it speechless.

Jan Ullrich, 1997 Tour de France champion, annihilated his opponents and seemingly defied gravity in one of the Tours most jaw-dropping moments

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Words by Daniel Friebe

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retro: 1997 tour

imon Barnes, chief sports writer of The Times, wrote, The memory is burnt into my retina, calling it a moment of terrible beauty. Beautiful enough, in fact, for him to hail it his greatest Olympic memory. That blazing day in Seoul, the light hurting your eyes and the yellow-eyed, shaven-head human bullet taking the stage to turn the world upside down, Barnes poeticised. Then, 9.79 seconds later, he had finished, the last strides floating, celebrating, finger pointing to the skies. Ben Johnson had won the 100m, redefining our understanding of human potential. The terrible beauty of that moment will be with me for as long as I have anything to do with sport. On the day of Jan Ullrichs victory in stage 10 of the 1997 Tour de France, Antoine Vayer was watching on TV. Aged 34, Vayer was the coach of the Festina team whose chouchou, Richard Virenque, carried the best hopes of a home victory at the Tour since

between 100m races and Tour mountain stages, and 450W over more than half an hour is like a nine-second 100 metres. Admirable? Impressive? Sure, its impressive to look at Ben Johnson on the start-line in Seoul, with his deltoids practically bursting through his skin. But from a sporting point of view, its detestable. WEVE BEEN ROBBED of the wow factor. Weve lost it and we want it back. These are the words of former hour world record holder Graeme Obree. His troubles suicide attempts and battles with mental illnesses are well documented, but the Scot has also always maintained an incisive intellect. When Obree talks about the wow factor, hes talking about the admiration and wonder that Tour audiences used to feel. Now, as soon as soon as you see something amazing, theres a question. And as soon as theres a question, the wow factors gone, he laments. Its taken for granted that professional cyclings age of innocence ended with the Festina scandal on the eve of the 1998 Tour. Yet what almost no one stops to consider is that Jan Ullrichs astonishing ride to Andorra the year before was the last spectacle of its kind. It was the final time a worldwide audience watched the Tour open-mouthed. It was the last time everyone went, Wow... When Antoine Vayer calls Ullrichs performance an aberration, he ignores several things. One is that his calculations can never be totally accurate theyre estimates based on scientific principles. Another is that educated guesses are all we have to suggest that Ullrich was on EPO in 1997. For while former Telekom soigneur Jeff dHont says Ullrich was already cheating in 1996, while most of his then team-mates have confessed to using EPO and while he was heavily implicated in the Operacin Puerto scandal in 2006, the German continues to deny that he ever illegally enhanced his performance. Most of all, when Vayer damns the ride as an aberration, he forgets that the global audience watching that day werent thinking about doping. Most people felt theyd seen an incredible sporting moment, a scintillating feat of power and grace that, to re-use Simon Barness phrase, redefined our understanding of human potential. BEFORE THE 1997 Tour, as before every major race, Ullrich visited the Telekom team doctor Lothar Heinrich at the University of Freiburg. Jan, Ive never seen numbers like this before, Heinrich had gasped as he looked at Ullrichs fitness test readings.

Ullrich at Andorra is the zenith of the EPO era. Its Ben Johnson in Seoul. Impressive? Sure. But from a sporting point of view, its detestable
Bernard Hinaults win 12 years earlier. Vayer had left the Tour the previous day, after the stage victory of another of his protgs, Laurent Brochard. He doesnt remember where he was, only that he was sat in front of a television. As Ullrich trouser-pressed the Pyrenees, to use the expression employed by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Vayer watched with the wry distance of a man who could see not only the puppets, but also their strings. He knew what was going on as the coach of Festina, how could he not? Years later, he would embark on a painstaking analytical study of Tour mountain stages, computing each riders power output based on their time up each mountain and their body weight. Vayer still performs the same calculations for major tour stages and, to this day, he hasnt come across a figure like Ullrichs. On the climb to Andorra-Arcalis on stage 10 of the 1997 Tour de France, Jan Ullrich produced an average of 497W. By that calculation, it was the most powerful performance the Tour has ever seen. To me, Ullrich at Andorra is the zenith of the EPO era, says Vayer. Its Ben Johnson in Seoul. You can make quite good comparisons
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Festinas Laurent Dufaux leads the charge towards Andorra with Ullrich on his wheel

Ullrichs superiority became clear on that first Pyrenean stage. Loyal and humble by nature, the 23 year old followed attacks by Richard Virenque and Marco Pantani on the final climb but refused to collaborate, with teammate Bjarne Riis floundering behind. Riis was the defending champion and team captain, Ullrich the 1996 runner-up. Natures order was about to reverse these roles. Before us lay the hardest stage of the Tour: 252.5km, five steep mountain climbs, the finish 2,240m above sea level, wrote Ullrich in his 2005 autobiography. One of his team-mates in that Tour, Rolf Aldag, remembers the day well. It was such a long stage and I was dropped by the second to last climb, he recalls. At the bottom of the climb to Andorra, Id just about made it back onto the lead group with the yellow jersey at the time, Cdric Vasseur. Then the pace shot up and I never saw them again. Not only that, but Festina riders kept attacking to kill us off on the team classification. Aldag finished 37th, 12 minutes behind Ullrich. Virenque and Pantani were second

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and third, 1-08 adrift. It was superimpressive, remembers Aldag. In the hotel that evening, your legs still hurting, youre watching the TV pictures of Jan ride away with his hands on the drops. Im sure he must have used the big chainring on some parts of the climb. Having pulled on the yellow jersey and exchanged high-fives with Riis, Ullrich headed for the press conference. He explained that he wasnt a specialist climber and was surprised to have dropped so many mountain men. I didnt attack, it was just an acceleration, he said, describing the moment he powered around a steep left-hand bend, unhinging Francesco Casagrande and Pantani. You need a crazy amount of power to climb like Ullrich, with your hands on the drops, Casagrande swooned. Virenque was less gracious in defeat, slumping in the doorway of his Festina camping car, drenching himself with water and sulking. He was jealous, says Antoine Vayer. He said Ullrich was doping. Imagine that! Virenque saying Ullrich was doped!

From left: Riis, Virenque, Casagrande and Ullrich, the key figures in this legendary stage

The wow factor started to spread. Live on French television, Vayer remembers Bernard Hinault predicting that Ullrich would win the Tour for the next 10 years. Then-Giro dItalia champion Ivan Gotti reckoned Ullrich was stronger than five-time Tour winner Miguel Indurain. Even Ullrichs boyhood idol Greg LeMond was impressed. LeMond had bowed out of professional cycling in 1994 and stayed away from anything to do with the Tour. The American

felt the arrival of EPO in the early 1990s had, along with average speeds, hastened his retirement but admits that, in 1996, Riis and Ullrich rampaging through the mountains had somehow rekindled his curiosity. I watched a bit of Riis in 96 because I was shocked at this guy whod been a domestique when I was still a pro winning the Tour, says LeMond. That blew me away. At the same time I watched Ullrich and thought, wow, this is a real talent. He was only 22 and it
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Tim De Waele

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Tim De Waele

retro: 1997 tour

Ullrich with Festinas Virenque in his sights, before leaving the French favourite for dead

was his first Tour, yet there he was beating everyone but his team-mate. When I saw what he did in Andorra the next year, I hate to say that I didnt think anyone was clean, but... I was just looking at it assuming that everyone was doing the same thing, so it was the first time in years genetics had come to the fore, LeMond continues. Everyones always talking about a level playing field and I actually think it was at that time. I tried to separate the good and bad and look at the reality. Those guys were in a difficult situation, because they had a governing body that wasnt doing anything about what was happening in pro cycling. ON THE LEVEL, if not exactly natural, playing field of 1997, Ullrich triumphed. After Andorra, Ullrich was already three minutes ahead of Virenque, his closest challenger on the general classification. Ten days later, he had won the Tour by more than nine minutes, but his nervy display had dispelled any notions that he was another Indurain. Put simply, the unflappable, unbeatable Ullrich of Andorra was never seen again. Not in that Tour or any other. You forget how young he was. He became so nervous, says Rolf Aldag. I can remember the problems he had with his descending in the Alps, then the day in the Vosges, at the end of the Tour, when Festina attacked and blew the rest of us away. All that
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saved him that day was that other riders and teams were starting to defend their positions on the general classification. It wasnt only Ullrichs inexperience or the normal pressure of leading the Tour that began to eat at his composure. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the unified Germany had already enjoyed sporting success. But, Aldag says, there was something hugely symbolic about a young East German crossing the line first in the Tour de France with the red-black-and-yellow bands of national champion flapping across his chest.

Those guys were in a difficult situation, because they had a governing body that wasnt doing anything about what was happening in pro cycling
Even the year before, when Riis won, it was huge in Germany, Aldag says. Until then, Deutsche Telekom were just the company you called when youd been overcharged on your phone bill. All of a sudden, thanks to the cycling team, it was this great source of national pride. Would Aldag agree that Ullrich never rescaled the heights he reached at Andorra? I think that Jan was maybe as physically

As Riis is left in Ullrichs tracks, he passes the mantle of Tour champion on to his pretender

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Tim De Waele x2

EPO or no, the super-human efforts of Ullrichs Andorra win clearly took their toll

well prepared at other Tours, but perhaps not mentally. At Andorra, when Bjarne gave him the signal, he didnt need to think he just put his head down and rode full gas to the finish. But that was the only time his mind was so free. He was also unlucky that Armstrong came back so strong. Lance always seemed to have 10 per cent more than Jan. Antoine Vayer insists Ullrichs first and sole mountain Tour stage win served only to demonstrate the effectiveness of doping. Aldag disagrees and not just because he has no business accusing a former team-mate. He knows what effects EPO had, as he was also the target of ex-Telekom masseur Jeff dHonts allegations. But unlike Ullrich, in 2007 Aldag conceded that he had used EPO. I cant judge Jans performances in that Tour, Aldag comments now. I dont know the reality. I can only speak for myself and say that, yes, [EPO] made a difference to recovery and it would have made a difference by the end of the Tour. But would it have had that impact at the start, or after 10 days? Maybe not. It wasnt like turning on a tap. Aldags perspective of Ullrich seems nuanced by the same affection that colours most memories of Der Kaiser. An affection and guilty nostalgia. Or sympathy. Not even Greg LeMond is immune. I still think he was the most talented rider from the end of the 90s through to the first part of this century, LeMond argues. If you look back, everyone had the same drugs at that time. It was all EPO. Theres a human side to this, as well. He was a kid from East Germany, with a different background. I met him a few times and he always seemed a nice kid. People were
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calling him a fat pig, lazy, criticising him, and I can only imagine how it felt. Maybe when he tested positive for ecstasy in 2002 he was cracking. He was finishing second in the biggest bike race in the world, yet it still wasnt good enough. He was trying his hardest but still couldnt do it. Ullrichs inability to reproduce the miracles of Andorra became a source of exasperation not only to himself but the entire cycling world. Even his nemesis Lance Armstrong sometimes appeared frustrated. For once, Armstrong even agreed with LeMond, calling the lapsed Kaiser the greatest talent of his generation. Only twice more did Ullrich truly dazzle in the mountains in the Vuelta a Espaa in 1999 and for about two-and-a-

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Ullrichs win sparked a media frenzy that threatened to overwhelm Der Kaiser

As soon as anyones scoring an average of 410W on the final climb of a mountain, Im suspicious. This year at the Giro, there were six or seven riders
half minutes at the Plateau de Bonascre in the 2003 Tour. On neither occasion, though, was his force so terribly beautiful and devastating as it had been at Andorra. Aged 23, Jan Ullrichs peak performance coincided with a high point of cyclings wow factor. A year later, the wow had gone. Antoine Vayer was one of the unlucky few who had lost his illusions of clean cycling long before the 1997 Tour. These days, the Frenchmans excitement lasts as long as it

takes him to press a button on his stopwatch and whip out his calculator. As soon as anyones scoring an average of 410W or more on the final climb of a mountain stage, Im suspicious, he says. This year at the Giro, there were six or seven riders whose figures didnt square with me. Vayers outlook sounds gloomy. He thinks that its not. Oh, theres definitely a positive trend, he insists. Theres a different culture now. Until recently, a good metaphor for cycling was that situation where youre in a bar and the drinking majority are trying to convince the killjoys sipping lemonade to move onto the hard stuff. Sure enough, everyones soon getting drunk together... Thats no longer the case. Its no longer the majority and others dont bow to the pressure. Unfortunately, the bloke who wants to drink still goes off to get sloshed with someone else. And, who knows? Maybe when he does, a Pyrenean heat haze floods his senses, a young East German darts across his mind and a smile settles on his lips.

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retro: 1997 tour

Tim De Waele

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Yellow jersey holder Ullrich is congratulated by 1996 winner and team-mate Bjarne Riis

Virenque dejected after Ullrichs win. His coach said he was jealous of the German.

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