Ullrich's weight regulated by contract?

[Keith A]

Interesting rumor's posted on CyclingNews today about Ullrich's weight issue. Here's the text of the article....

Ullrich's weight regulated by contract?

The ups and downs of Jan Ullrich's weight have long been a source of discussion by fans and a subject of worry for the German's T-Mobile team. Ullrich has this year once again sworn to watch his weight and to eat sensibly throughout the off-season. However, according to Hamburger Abendblatt, T-Mobile will not just rely on his promises. The German newspaper claims that Ullrich's contract has been amended to include a clause requiring him not to weigh more than 79 kilograms at the start of the season in March. If Ullrich (ideal weight: 72 kg) comes in overweight, he is reported to lose financial bonuses.

"Of course we try to get Jan at specific weight at specific times in the season," said T-Mobile's team manager Olaf Ludwig, who denied the contract clause.

The newspaper further prepared the following table, listing the dates of Ullrich's season start, his weight at that first race, and his subsequent placing in the Tour de France:

Year__First Race______________Weight__TdF placement
1997 March 22, Milan-San Remo.....75 kg 1
1998 April 6, Basque Country.........80 kg 2
1999 March 17, Volta a Portugal.....80 kg DNP
2000 March 10, Tirenno-Adriatico...79 kg 2
2001 April 16, Rund um Köln...........77 kg 2
2002 May 22, Bayern Tour.............74 kg DNP
2003 April 11, Sarthe....................73 kg 2
2004 Feb. 29, Clasica Almeria.........82 kg 4
2005 April 5, Sarthe.....................79 kg 3


BTW, this post is not intended to be a "let's make fun of Ullrich"!!!

The most interesting change is from 2003 to 2004 when he started 20 lbs heavier than the previous year. That's a pretty big change and I wonder how much of a strain it is on his body to go through the signficant changes in body mass.

[zank]

Talk about airing dirty laundry...

[Keith A]

And this is from a German newspaper :confused: and I thought all the German's loved Ullrich.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . it's from a newspaper named "HAMBURGER Abendblatt!" Talk about adding insult--and fries and a side of sauerkrautt--to injury! ;)

BTW . . . What do those kilogram figures translate into as pounds? 5 kilograms is more than that in opounds, or less? :confused:

BBDave

[Keith A]

On the extreme ends of his weight, he was at 160 lbs on the low side and 180 lbs on the high side. Check out http://www.onlineconversion.com/weight_common.htm to get the details of any other weights in lbs.

1 kilogram = 2.2046226 lbs

[Bill Bove]

What do those kilogram figures translate into as pounds?:confused:
BBDave

Ah, Dave. 1kg=2.2lbs but why do they call it a dime bag if it costs close to 50 bucks?

[Dr. Doofus]

Talk about airing dirty laundry...


the tire tracks are probably bigger when he's in that 80kg range

[Grant McLean]

Interesting rumor's posted on CyclingNews today about Ullrich's weight issue. Here's the text of the article....

Year__First Race______________Weight__TdF placement
1997 March 22, Milan-San Remo.....75 kg 1
1998 April 6, Basque Country.........80 kg 2
1999 March 17, Volta a Portugal.....80 kg DNP
2000 March 10, Tirenno-Adriatico...79 kg 2
2001 April 16, Rund um Köln...........77 kg 2
2002 May 22, Bayern Tour.............74 kg DNP
2003 April 11, Sarthe....................73 kg 2
2004 Feb. 29, Clasica Almeria.........82 kg 4
2005 April 5, Sarthe.....................79 kg 3



well, lets see:

The heaviest of 82 kg was weighed in February.
The lightest, 73 kg was weighed in April.
I don't think you need to be Columbo to unravel that mystery.

He finished 2nd in the Tour, his best finish while Lance was there,
at a 1st race of the season weight of 80, 79, 77, and 73 kg's

I don't see a connection.

-G

[Keith A]

Grant -- I thought the exact same thing when I saw their table. There is no coorelation between his weight at the beginning of the season and his TdF results.

[shaq-d]

IP
2003 April 11, Sarthe....................73 kg 2
2004 Feb. 29, Clasica Almeria.........82 kg 4
2005 April 5, Sarthe.....................79 kg 3

BTW, this post is not intended to be a "let's make fun of Ullrich"!!!

The most interesting change is from 2003 to 2004 when he started 20 lbs heavier than the previous year. That's a pretty big change and I wonder how much of a strain it is on his body to go through the signficant changes in body mass.

i agree. it all speaks to ullrich's mental strength (or mental makeup, if you prefer). in 2003 he really wanted to win and take away lance's chance at #5. lance still won. then in 2004, when ullrich was the favourite, he started the season out of shape. simply not the mental makeup of a killer/shark.

[OldDog]

Anyone care to offer me a contract to get my fat ars to 79kg?

Anyone?

[NicaDog]

A simple analysis shows that there's a fairly high correlatin (0.7) between Ullrich's early season weight and placement in the TDF.

Also, a simple statistical analysis of weight, and year on his TDF finishes indicated that both his weight and the year of his competition may infact influence his TDF results.


Correlation results :

TDF Weight
TDF 1
Weight 0.699302558 1

Simple statistical analysis (linear regression) - acknowledged very little data -




SUMMARY OUTPUT

Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.967523119
R Square 0.936100985
Adjusted R Square 0.904151478
Standard Error 0.294482753
Observations 7

ANOVA
df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 2 5.081691062 2.540845531 29.29938708 0.004083084
Residual 4 0.346880366 0.086720092
Total 6 5.428571429

Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95% Lower 95.0% Upper 95.0%
Intercept -12.3663423 3.070240974 -4.027808372 0.015762134 -20.89071548 -3.84196912 -20.89071548 -3.84196912
Weight 0.174012593 0.039855513 4.366085921 0.012004786 0.063355721 0.284669465 0.063355721 0.284669465
Year 0.214653692 0.040575542 5.290223718 0.006127558 0.101997695 0.327309689 0.101997695 0.327309689



SUMMARY OUTPUT

Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.968
R Square 0.936
Adjusted R Square 0.904
Standard Error 0.294
Observations 7

ANOVA df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 2 5.082 2.541 29.299 0.004
Residual 4 0.347 0.087
Total 6 5.429

Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95% Lower 95.0% Upper 95.0%
Intercept -12.37 3.07 -4.03 0.02 -20.89 -3.84 -20.89 -3.84
Weight 0.17 0.04 4.37 0.01 0.06 0.28 0.06 0.28
Year 0.21 0.04 5.29 0.01 0.10 0.33 0.10 0.33

TDF Weight
TDF 1
Weight 0.699302558 1

[NicaDog]

Sorry, that got sent before I got it formatted, here's the simple summary:

Coefficients Standard Error t Stat
Intercept -12.37 3.07 -4.03
Weight 0.17 0.04 4.37
Year 0.21 0.04 5.29

[Grant McLean]

Nica Dog,

Wow, that's impressive.

I did a similar numbers model,
and I found out that the years in which I
ate chocolate ice cream during the tour
Jan did better in the tour than the years
in which I ate vanilla.

Jan got 4th in 04 because Kloden was better
than him when Jan got a fever in the Pyrenees,
not because of what he weighed 4 months
earlier.

G

[NicaDog]

I fully agree with your point. Clearly, the statistics are only correlations, not causality.

The statistics are only an indication that there might be something to the relationship worth investigating.
Too little data and too few variables to clearly show that Jan's early season weight has caused his TDF results.

One of course could argue that his "excess" weight early in the season requires him to train harder with less rest to get in shape for the TDF which then affects his ability to recover and stresses his immune system, making him more prone to viruses.

[Ozz]

...why do they call it a dime bag if it costs close to 50 bucks?
inflation?