Jan Ullrich wanted to relate in an interview to the German newspaper Bild what happened on the trip to Cuba which he organized to celebrate his birthday and which ended with a hospital admission in Mexico in which it was hinted that Ullrich had relapsed into his addiction to alcohol and drugs.
A hypothesis that Ullrich himself denied, assuring that on this trip he suffered a thrombosis and a blood infection. “It is true that I entered a hospital. I had a thrombosis and a very serious blood infection. But I have not become addicted to alcohol and drugs again. At the beginning of the treatment I underwent a drug test which, of course, came back negative. “
Ullrich confessed that the situation he lived in Mexico was serious, and even assured that he had once again escaped death. “You know my story, 3 years ago I was really bad because I followed the same path as Marco Pantani. I almost died. In Mexico I escaped death again.”
The German ex-cyclist also confessed that, despite overcoming his problems with alcohol and drugs, he still has to deal with other health problems such as back pain. “Three or four intervertebral discs have been completely damaged. I am now 1.81 when I used to be 1.83.”
Ullrich also wanted to thank the gesture of Lance Armstrong, who already helped him with his problems with alcohol and drugs in 2018 and who, as Bild reported, was also the first to visit him in the hospital on this occasion. “Lance Armstrong was the first person who came to see me at the hospital. He helped me a lot and I am very grateful to him for that.”