Jan Ullrich wins legal pay out

Jan Ullrich won himself a big pay day yesterday when a German court found in his favour in a dispute over back pay dating back to his time with Team Coast in 2003.

The amount is thought to add up to about €350,000 and is money Ullrich said was owed to him when the team went bust. However, it is unlikely he will get any money.

Team owner Günhter Dahms was attempting to withhold the money on the grounds that Ullrich had broken his contract by using doping products. Dahms could produce no evidence to back up this assertion and Ullrich has always vehemently denied the accusations - in court he did so again, under oath and after the judge had clearly explained the penalties for perjury – in Germany lying to a court under oath carries a minimum sentence of a year in jail.

Under questioning Ullrich denied that there was anything untoward in his association with Italian doctor Luigi Cecchini or that he had any contact with the Spanish doctor Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes (the man at the centre of the Operation Puerto scandla that led to Ullrich's downfall as a pro rider).

The court found in the rider's favour but since Coast went bust Ullrich doesn't expect to get any money as a result. If he does he has said he will donate it to a children's charity.