LEAD: Ullrich admits, regrets contact with doping scandal doctor

Feb 10, 2012, 9:07 GMT

Berlin - Former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich has admitted for the first time contact with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes but has not directly said he was involved in doping.

Ullrich said on his homepage he would not contest Thursday's ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) who found him guilty of blood doping.

'I know it was a big mistake which I regret very much,' Ullrich said.

'For this behaviour I wish to apologize sincerely to all concerned - I am very sorry. In hindsight I would have acted differently in some situations during my career.'

CAS Thursday banned ban the now retired Ullrich for two years. and stripped him of third place at the 2005 Tour and his 2006 Tour de Suisse title.

International cycling federation UCI evidence had shown that the German was one of the clients of Fuentes in the Operacion Puerto case.

The scandal broke in 2006 when Spanish police conducted an operation against the Fuentes doping network and uncovered blood bags linked to cyclists in raids on the doctors clinic in Madrid.

Ullrich said he had felt under pressure to perform well ahead of the 2006 Tour de France.

'After my win in 1997 and five second place finishes the pressure from the public, sponsors and myself was immense. Everyone wanted a second Tour win, especially after the retirement of Lance Armstrong,' he said.

Then shorty before the 2006 Tour came the 'huge blow' of 'suspension, headlines, house raids, ostracism, criminal investigations, charges,' Ullrich said.

'I felt I had been left out on my own, as if I had fallen through a sieve. The whole world wanted to be put me against the wall and then I instinctively went under cover.

'I wanted at the time, shortly after my suspension, to admit publicly the mistake I had made, but my hands were tied. On the advice of my lawyers, and as is usual in such cases, I kept silent on the charges.

'In the end this affair became such a strain on me over the years that I became ill and at some point collapsed.'

The CAS ruling ended a complicated case which also involved the Swiss cycling federation and Olympic Committee because Ullrich, 38, was competing with a Swiss licence at the time.

Ullrich was kicked out of the T-Mobile team when the Fuentes case became public and he retired a few months later.

He was the first and only German to win the Tour de France, in 1997. He also has a title from the 1999 Vuelta, Olympic road race gold and time trial silver in 2000, plus two time trial world titles from 1999 and 2001.

Ullrich protested his innocence over the years, saying, 'I never cheated anyone,' and paid an undisclosed sum after an agreement with German prosecutors who were also probing him.

'I am glad that a verdict has now come,' Ullrich said.

'For me the chapter of my active cycling career is finally over and for me personally and fpr my family it is the end of a difficult period lasting many years.'

The ruling 'cannot change my plans for the future,' he said.

'I have never thought about of returning to the sport of professional cycling in any capacity.

'With this declaration everything is said from my side and I do not wish to make any further statements or give any interviews on the issue.'

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