Like the Macbeth character, Banquo, the 2009 Tour de France had the ghost of Jan Ullrich hovering over it.
All of the cast of times past, were present at the 2009 TDF.
We had Ully’s old adversary LA and his faithful lieutenants, pedalling the roads of France.
We had Ully’s former team captain and now SAXO DS, Bjarne Riis, directing his current generation of cyclists.
We had Bruyneel, Ully’s former opponent and manager of his nemesis Armstrong, watching as a new potential all time great, Contador, won the 2009 TDF.
And all the while, many fans wanted to see Ully back riding in the 2009 TDF.
Perhaps even renewing old rivalries with the cast of characters who actually took part in this years race.
What of Jan Ullrich?
His departure from the 2006 TDF was not a fitting way, for a man of his calibre, to leave the sport.
A TDF winner in 1997, and a TDF runner up 5 times, his TDF record alone would more than satisfy the
ambitions of all practically every rider who ever lived, save perhaps an Hinault or a Merckx.
The young man that appeared at the TDF in 1996 was largely unknown.
I had seen him at the Worlds Juniors in 1993 when I had a team in Oslo for the race.
I followed his progress in 1996 with interest, because he flattened every opponent as an amateur and
I wanted to see just how he would get on in big time professional cycling.
I need not have had any concern.
The precocious talent he showed as an amateur, was even more apparent when he finished second in his very first TDF
in 1996!
He beat the legendary Miguel Indurain – his own hero - in his first TDF!
Where to from there?
What must have gone through his mind ? A young lad raised and reared in the former East Germany is suddenly
transported to the limelight of the biggest annual sporting event in the world.
Not an easy road.
And with the expectation of the whole of Germany, in 1997, Jan Ullrich not only went out and rode the TDF but won it
at the age of 24.
Superstardom beckoned. Sponsors rolled up with lucrative contracts. German brand names like Adidas wrote blank cheques.
Too much, too soon.
How could any of us cope with superstardom at 24?
In 1998, he came back to the TDF and was beaten by the flying, mercurial Marco Pantani.
Pantani, a man who feared no reputation or talent, earned a hardfought victory over the German
wunderkind.
Their respect was mutual : Pantani respected Ully, as Ully respected Pantani.
From there, Ully developed knee problems and missed 1999 TDF but came back to win the 1999
Vuelta Espagne.
Was he back to his former greatness ? Had he restored his capability?
Who knows.
The wins in subsequent years at the Olympics and the wins at events like the Tour de Suisse are all great achievements which any
professional rider would give his right arm for.
But the TDF was always a case of unfinished business.
Injuries, spluttering preparations, did not help.
With his back to the wall, in 2003, Ully pulled together a makeshift team which almost, almost captured first spot again at the TDF.
What a story that would have been.
Should Jan have accepted the offer of his old team mate Riis – and worked with him again?
Should Jan have gone back to Telekom?
Hindsight is no sight, so they say.
In terms of his palmares, Jan Ullrich has no reason to feel bad.
Riders would kill for a palmares like his.
Maybe, just maybe, it all came a bit too soon for Jan Ullrich.
As a rider, he showed that he had the courage to come back and compete many times.
That is the sign of a real champion – when in adversity, the competitor comes out and challenges again.
Jan did that many times.
And perhaps that has been the best legacy of all.