Farewell, Jan Ullrich !!!

Jan Ullrich has officially announced his retirement from cycling.

It is a truly sad day for those who, like me, have some passion for this sport; in the past months, Jan fought bravely to be treated as an equal, but I feel that he understood he could never win.

But, quite naturally, he won our hearts !...

Last year, I came up with a website about Jan. Check Jan Ullrich @ Olho Nu.

Here go some quotes on Jan...

"Jan Ullrich was one of the greatest. (...) He is one of the few of my era who has always been on the podium, even if he failed to win more races; (...) he began very young at 21 years-old and normally the ideal performance of a cyclist lasts ten years, and he is now 34. (...) When you have been at the highest level, you will have to make a lot of effort to maintain that same level".

- Miguel Indurain


"He started when he was very young and was always confronted with a lot of pressure; (...)This meant that he became mentally tired. He could have reached more during his career".

- Eddy Merckx


"Jan Ullrich is a person who from the very beginning I liked a lot and who has brought me much pleasure. When something goes wrong, he looks for the fault in himself and not in the team. For example, after the 1998 Tour, he repeatedly apologized to the team. He is an outstanding cyclist and a good person, who also has his faults and weaknesses. And that is one of the reasons that he has so many fans".

- Udo Boltz


"You admire him as sportsman, but when you know him, you admire him even more, because he is a wonderful person, a professional and a very good teammate; (...) it's very sad [that he retired] when you look at his characteristics and his capabilities. It's a pity that he has to say goodbye, but the time has come and you have to applaud to him and respect him".

- Oscar Sevilla


"Jan had already taken this decision months ago, but only announced it only today. (...) It's the witch hunt in the media that made him decide to quit. He also lacked the motivation to work very hard for his sport. I can understand that, as his name was being tarnished time and again. Other riders that were named [in Operación Puerto] are back on their bicycles now. Jan isn't. I think that speaks for itself".

- Rudy Pevenage

Noisponge #1

What if one could absorb noise ?
What if sound was simply agreable ?

Rehersal #1 was not an example. There were good moments (mostly improvising) but the songs were somewhat off. We'll see what happens a week from today... it's #2.