Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) has been the poster boy of German cycling’s recent recovery. His victories helped to renew the interest of public broadcasters and his easy-going manner managed to restore the affection of the public. His carefully coiffured hair even played a part in attracting a major sponsor – Alpecin shampoo – into the sport three years ago.
And yet, as the Tour de France starts from Germany for the first time in 30 years, some reminders of a problematic past still linger. This July marks the 20th anniversary of Jan Ullrich’s Tour victory, the first and still only time a German has won the race, but it is also the 11th anniversary of Ullrich’s implication in the Operacion Puerto blood doping inquiry and the abrupt end to his career.
Earlier this week, it emerged that Ullrich had not been formally invited to attend the Grand Départ in Düsseldorf and would instead participate in a charity race in Bocholt to mark his 1997 Tour victory. On Saturday afternoon, as the 198 starters hurtle around the streets of Düsseldorf, the episode will hardy warrant a second thought, but in the days leading up to the race, Ullrich’s absence has been generating headlines in Germany and beyond.
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When asked for his take on the Ullrich situation in Düsseldorf on Thursday afternoon, Kittel gently insisted on responding in his native German, lest his words be misunderstood. Although Ullrich belatedly confessed to doping in 2013, he has never spoken in any depth about the specifics, and therein, Kittel said, lies the obstacle.
“He has to deal with his past, this is what the German public expects. He has to say clearly what happened, and that’s the big problem,” Kittel said. “If he did that, then I think that he would be back on the cycling circuit, and he would be welcome to the Tour de France like the others. But it’s the decision of Jan.
“The Ullrich case was investigated by others, but he himself did not do much to explain to the public what happened and deal with his past. But everybody deserves a second chance.”
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