Swiss license for Ullrich?

By Susan Westemeyer

Jan Ullrich just finished an eight-day training camp on the island of Mallorca with his friends Andreas Klöden and Matthias Kessler, both of Team Astana. "Hard training is simply more fun with a group of guys who know each other well. We had good weather and worked hard for eight days of training," said Ullrich, who returned to his home in Switzerland Monday evening.

He is supposedly in close negotiations with two teams, and there are rumours that there may be an announcement out of Switzerland this week. Apparently he will be receiving a new Swiss license. (The 1997 Tour de France winner denounced his license in October.) Last month, Bernhard Welten, who is handling the Swiss Olympic investigation of Ullrich, said that the German was, at the moment, free to ride again, once he had a license.

In addition, there was a court hearing Tuesday morning in Hamburg, Germany, concerning his libel case against Dr. Werner Franke. Franke had appealed an injunction which prevented him from claiming that Ullrich had paid Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes €35,000 for doping products. An announcement of the court decision is expected sometime Tuesday afternoon.