Only one man prevented Jan Ullrich from becoming the most dominant Tour de France bike racer in modern history: Lance Armstrong. Their rivalry on the road spanned six spectacular years of dazzling racing, calamitous crashes and mechanicals, and public head games waged daily in the global media. For many Americans, Ullrich vs. Armstrong is the most vivid memory of the Tour de France from the height of Armstrong's controversial cycling career. Their struggle foreshadowed Armstrong's relationships with Alberto Contador and other rivals of the peloton.
Yet few knew Jan Ullrich, who was not fluent in English and rarely agreed to interviews with American media. Ullrich remains an enigma, the cycling wunderkind from East Germany who rode in the magenta jersey of T-Mobile and always finished second to Lance.
Jan Ullrich: The Best That Never Was is the first complete biography of cycling's second-best and his rivalry with Lance Armstrong, the man who bested him time and again.
