Jan Ullrich won the 1997 Tour de France and became the first German champion of the race.
Ullrich rode for Team Telekom and won the general classification at age 23. He also won the young rider classification and took four stage victories, including the decisive mountain stage to Andorra-Arcalis. His performance established him as one of the leading stage racers of his generation.
Before Ullrich, Bjarne Riis had won the 1996 Tour, but Riis was Danish rather than German. Ullrich’s victory was therefore the first by a German rider, although Germany had previously produced successful Tour stage winners and contenders.
Ullrich finished second to Lance Armstrong five times from 2000 through 2005. In 2012, the UCI disqualified Armstrong from his Tour results and vacated his titles, but Ullrich’s 1997 victory remains recorded. Ullrich later admitted blood doping and received a suspension in 2012.