Ullrich Makes a Comeback

After a convoluted chapter of mishaps Jan Ullrich, the Olympic champion and 1997 Tour de France winner, finally returned to racing yesterday after a 14-month absence, finishing 22nd in the opening stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire in Fontenay le Comte.

It is, he hopes, the first step to challenging Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France this July, but his comeback has had more twists and turns than the average Alpine pass.

Two hours before the start yesterday morning he was still awaiting the green light from the International Cycling Union. It wanted to ensure that financial guarantees had been met for his contract with the German squad Coast, who were suspended from racing earlier this season for failing to pay their riders' wages.

The team, sponsored by a jeans manufacturer, signed Ullrich in January but without the money to pay him. A co- sponsor willing to contribute the money was found only on Friday and the team boss Günther Dahms did not agree terms until late on Monday afternoon, after Ullrich and his personal manager Rudy Pevenage had spent most of the day waiting at Nantes airport. Apparently he was resigned at one point to quitting Coast.

The whole saga began when the German injured his knee while weight training in December 2001. In spring 2002 he had to pull out of the Tour, and in July it was announced that he had tested positive for amphetamines in an out-of-competition test conducted by his then team, Deutsche Telekom.

Ullrich admitted taking pills in a nightclub - he was supposed to be in a rehab clinic nursing his knee - and was banned for six months. He decided to leave Telekom, and chose Coast after several months negotiating with the Danish team CSC. Armstrong commented that he would have gone to CSC for nothing rather than to Coast, which may now strike a chord with Ullrich.