Bill C said:
Carl Sundquist said:"Bill C" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
Quoted message said:
Bob, I think a large part of this is that Zabel is the number one
man
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:in Germany and he's always competitive. Erik is the "common man"
working his ass off for results and people relate to that. Jan is
the
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:pampered former East German prodigy who is a partier, headcase and
doesn't work hard enough.
I'm pretty sure Zabel was East German, too.
The difference is in how they act and perform. Zabel has always pretty
much been "Joe Average" who shows up everyday and does his work without
a fuss. Jan was the "Wunderkind" with the entourage and odd behavior.
You know how the Eastern system used to work, Jan was project #1 and
everybody else was pretty far down the list. Where Zabel has done
everything he could with his talent and not gotten a lot of special
treatment, Jan has had to be babysat and he still couldn't come into
the year in shape and just isn't seen as dedicated.
The only relevance the E German thing had was that he was the star in
that system and you know how much special treatment they got compared
to the average guy in the same system.
Bill C
While I agree with your overall assessment of the two riders in question,
I believe that the influence of the GDR system on how they behaved as
professionals is a bit overrated. Ullrich was only 16 and Zabel 20 when
Germany reunited. While Zabel became pro in 1992 (two years after
Reunification), Ullrich went pro in 1995. Yes, they were built as
junior riders in the GDR system, both were probably heavily influenced in
the following years as well.
The main difference between the two riders, regardless of the GDR system,
is that Zabel, while appearing to be laid back and having a likable
character (as can be witnessed in interviews and the excellent documentary
"Hoellentour", Tour from Hell), is a very motivated and ambitious person
with a hunger to win. Ullrich in contrast, while super-talented, doesn't
seem to have that uberdrive that is necessary to compete with riders of
equal talent. In interviews I have seen with him, he expresses that he
really does want to win the Tour and is convinced that he can do so, but
also realizes that there seems to be more to life than cycling. He would
have gotten away with this attitude if there hadn't been Lance Armstrong
with superior determination and Bruyneel with superior tactics.
I don't think that Ullrich stands a chance against Armstrong and
the Discovery team with the questionable tactics of T-Mobile's Godefroot
and Kummer. While a moot point now, he should have accepted any offer from
Riis. He would have had better chances with the better team preparation at
CSC, but might not have had full saying about how to live his life.
BTW, Zabel is looking for a contract renewal and it has been hinted that
he will indeed start in this year's Tour. I don't think he will be a
contender for the points jersey, but he is still capable of making the
flat stages interesting.
Cheers
Andy
