People in sports | Ullrich wants to return professional cycling

BERLIN — Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner, insists he can make a successful return to professional cycling.

The 33-year-old German, who doesn't have a team or a license, faces three investigations because of alleged links to the Spanish doping scandal that has engulfed his sport. No charges have been filed against Ullrich, and he has maintained his innocence.

"I know that the return to pro sport is a rocky road, but I am determined to fight and make it happen," Ullrich said Friday on his Web site.

Ullrich was fired by T-Mobile on the eve of this year's Tour de France. The decision by his team followed a Spanish police investigation that led to suspicions that Eufemiano Fuentes and other physicians provided top riders with performance-enhancing drugs from a Madrid clinic.

The Associated Press