Ullrich to work at Cologne cycling classic

Retired German Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner who years later admitted to doping, is returning to cycling as the Cologne cycling classic director.

Jan Ullrich. Source: Getty

Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, after admitting to doping in 2013, says he is returning to cycling as sporting director of the classic Rund um Koeln race in Cologne.

Ullrich has told the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper it's "a great honour" to be part of his "absolute favourite race" on June 11. He won the event in 2003.

The 43-year-old Ullrich, who in 1997 became the only German to win the Tour de France, was dogged by doping allegations throughout his career and admitted to German magazine Focus in 2013 that he had received blood-doping treatment from Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.

He had been banned for doping for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport the year before. Ullrich retired in 2007.