Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich said on Saturday he was determined to make a cycling comeback despite the cloud of doping suspicion hanging over him.
”I know very well that returning to professional sport will be difficult but I’m determined to fight and to succeed,” said Ullrich on his website.
The 33-year-old German wrote a festive greetings message to his fans and thanked them for supporting him through his latest troubles.
The former Olympic champion, who won the Tour de France in 1997, was barred from competing in this year’s Tour de France.
Documents leaked to the press alleged that he was given EPO, steroids and human growth hormone by a Madrid doctor, Eufemiano Fuentes, who is accused of running a major doping network.
Ullrich was subsequently fired by his T-Mobile team and is still searching for a new outfit.
He has always protested his innocence and released a statement on his website explaining that he was no longer part of the Spanish investigation.
Swiss investigators — Ullrich holds a Swiss licence — have indicated that they will stop their proceedings against him.
The Spanish judiciary made documents from Operation Puerto available to cycling authorities but banned them from using that information to prosecute any cyclists. — Sapa-AFP