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This episode of The Cycling Podcast features Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie talking about Daniel\\u2019s biography of the German cyclist Jan Ullrich.

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Recorded over a glass of wine on the Giro d\\u2019Italia\\u2019s rest day in Abruzzo, Lionel starts by asking why Daniel wanted to write about the 1997 Tour de France champion.

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In a way it\\u2019s a classic tale of partially fulfilled talent \\u2013 Ullrich burst onto the scene in 1996, finishing second in the Tour de France behind his Telekom teammate Bjarne Riis. The following year, while still aged only 23, Ullrich won the Tour by nine minutes. Cycling looked set for an era of total domination by the German.

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But it didn\\u2019t work out like that as Ullrich\\u2019s vulnerability was exposed partly by the pressure of being the focal point of an entire nation\\u2019s cycling hopes and dreams. Lance Armstrong came back from cancer and won the Tour seven years in a row and Ullrich was regularly his closest challenger.

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Then, after Armstrong\\u2019s retirement in 2005, Ullrich looked set to inherit the crown \\u2013 until he was revealed to be a client of the blood doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.

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The Cycling Podcast is supported by Supersapiens and Science in Sport.

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Supersapiens is a continuous glucose monitoring system that helps you make the right fuelling choices. See supersapiens.com\\n

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For 25% off all your SiS products, go to scienceinsport.com and enter the code SISCP25 at the checkout.

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If you want to transform your diet, undo some bad eating habits or just get a better handle on the amount and types of food you are eating, like Lionel, you might want to try Noom. It\\u2019s the psychological approach to losing weight in a healthy, sustained way. Go to noom.com/cycle to get started today.

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The Cycling Podcast has a new collaboration with MAAP. We will be launching a MAAP + The Cycling Podcast jersey later in the summer but before we reveal the details of that see: maap.cc\\n

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Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to more than 60 exclusive episodes.

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