Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich defiantly maintained his innocence on Monday after German prosecutors dropped a fraud investigation in exchange for a “six-figure” payment to the state and charity.
The deal announced on Monday ends a 21-month-old investigation into whether the now retired rider defrauded his T-Mobile team by taking performance enhancers, thus increasing his income by illegal means.
Ullrich maintained he didn’t dope, and said he accepted the deal proposed by the prosecutors to “free my family from the public pressure” and to save money.
“I was always a fair sportsman,” Ullrich said on his Web site on Monday. “My successes are the results of hard work and passion for my sport and I am very proud of my long and successful career.”
Monday’s decision does not absolve Ullrich of doping, and he remains under investigation in Switzerland where he could yet receive a lifetime ban from involvement in professional cycling.
Bonn prosecutors left little doubt they believed that Ullrich — and his T-Mobile teammates — used doping, but stressed that it was not the main point of their investigation.
The prosecutors said the investigation had forced Ullrich to end his riding career and had led to a massive loss of income. They said Ullrich had agreed to a “six-figure” payment, but did not disclose the exact amount.
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
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Chess great Magnus Carlsen on Friday quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York after governing body FIDE barred the Norwegian from participating in a round at the tournament for wearing jeans. FIDE said in a statement that its dress code regulations were designed to “ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.” It issued Carlsen a US$200 fine and gave him an opportunity to change into the correct attire, which the world No. 1 rejected, it said. Carlsen said he had a lunch meeting before the round and had to change quickly. “I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like
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