BERLIN (AP) _ German Chancellor Angela Merkel has turned down a
request to meet with disgraced cyclist Jan Ullrich, who retired from
the sport earlier this year after being implicated in the Spanish
doping scandal.
One of Ullrich's friends and business partners had sent an e-mail
to Merkel's staff suggesting a meeting, her office said Tuesday.
The aim of the meeting would have been to ``rehabilitate'' the
reputation of Ullrich and recall his merits and performances.
Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France champion, was excluded from last
year's race and was later dismissed by his T-Mobile team because of
the doping scandal. He denies any wrongdoing.
Several members of Ullrich's former Telekom team have admitted to
taking performance-enhancing drugs while riding together in the
1990s. A former masseur on the team has alleged Ullrich took drugs.
