Ullrich press officer: Jan is in good spirits

Former T-Mobile manager Olaf Ludwig told Australian based website cyclingnews.com his personal views about Operacion Puerto: "You have to say that it is all a joke. It has been a catastrophe for the riders involved, for the teams, for the race organizers and for all of cycling," Ludwig said. "The names of 40 or riders were directly made public, but the other 240 were never publicized. Now the individual federations are trying to deal with it. It is a farce."

Ludwig continued his conversation with cyclingnews.com by saying, "These are hard times for cycling, when so many decisions remain open. Operation Puerto doesn't make things easier, and there are problems with the ProTour and the race organizers," Ludwig said, and concluded with: "How will it go in the future, what should the organizer do, decisions have to be made. Can Ullrich and Basso ride again, what is with the ProTour? Some quick answers would help cycling."

Meanwhile Tinkoff manager Omar Piscina told German TV station Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) that he is worried about Jan Ullrich. Piscina finds an analogy in the Ullrich case in to the tragic case of Marco Pantani. Piscina stated: "I fear the worst what could happen to Jan this winter if he doesn't know wheter he will ever race again."

Jan Ullrich responded on German based website radsport-aktiv.de: "I am honoured that people worry for me. Apart frommy intention to sit in the saddle again next year again, i feel with bot feet firm on the ground. Personally i am very happy and my family gives me all the support you could wish for."

Jan Ullrich's press officer, Michael Lang told cyclingnews.com today that Jan Ullrich is back on his bike again. Lang stated: "As we speak right now he is on the bike," Lang said.

"He is starting a gradual training and will then go to a training camp in the next two to three weeks," Lang continued. "Right now he is training alone, but we guess that the next step will be training with one or two other athletes. Then it depends on how things go. The training camp will probably include several other athletes."

Michael Lang also explained why the lawyers of Jan Ullrich think that the Swiss cycling federation should not be in charge of possible proceedings against Jan Ullrich: ""our lawyers think that the Swiss federation should not be in charge. There is an article in the UCI rules that says if there is a violation which does not involve any positive doping results, as is the case here, then whoever found or started the case should be in charge of the investigation. That is why our lawyers think that the Spanish federation should be in charge of any investigation of Jan Ullrich."

About a possible new license for Jan Ullrich, Lang said: "We can't say yet where or when he will be applying for a new license. He gave his Swiss license back, and both Germany and Austria said that they don't want to work with him, but there are still lots of options open." A professional license can't be applied for until the middle of this month: "so that he can't even apply for new license for 2007 yet anyway."

Rund um den Henninger Turm race organizer Bernd Moos-Achenbach would like to see Ullrich at his race and told German TV station Hessischer Rundfunk: "We would like to let Jan Ullrich start at the Henninger race, given that he is cleared from doping allegations."