Austrian Federation distances itself from Ullrich

The Austrian cycling federation, Österreicher Radsport-Verband (ÖSV), is perhaps not so eager to welcome Jan Ullrich to its ranks after all. In a statement published Wednesday, ÖSV said that it "wants to explicitly state that General Secretary Rudolf Massak had simply and only commented on the legalities of issuing a license. We further want to state that there has been no invitation or offer from the ÖRV to Mr. Ullrich that he should move to Austria and request a license."

Österreichische Radsport-Verband said it is more interested "in concentrating on its main obligations, namely the support of youth and junior sport, and does not need the additional challenges or duties in connection with the Ullrich case."

Earlier this week, Jan Ullrich's manager Wolfgang Strohband had inquired about the possibility of his client receiving an Austrian license. Massak said to the APA that Ullrich would be treated like any other rider. On the application form are not only questions as to the rider's address and team, but also questions about whether there are any proceedings underway against him. "We'll have to see what there is that speaks against him receiving a license. If Swiss Olympic opens a proceeding against Ullrich, then we'll have to wait on that," Massak said.

Strohband at first denied his inquiry about an Austrian license for Ullrich. "That's total nonsense, I haven't done that," he told Netzeitung. "Jan would first have to live in Austria for that." However, Wednesday evening, he told the German press agency Sid, "I don't want to comment right now. You can interpret that as you will."