Who is Jan Ullrich, when was he accused of doping and why has he been arrested?
Ullrich is a former Tour de France and Olympic gold medal winner who finished his career in 2007 after a series of drug allegations
FORMER cyclist Jan Ullrich has been arrested in Germany for allegedly attacking a prostitute.
The 44-year-old had a mixed career with doping allegations following him throughout - here is all you need to know.
Who is Jan Ullrich?
The 44-year-old is a former German road bicycle racer.
Ullrich won the Tour de France in 1997 and gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics.
He started riding a bike at the age of nine and very quickly joined a cycling school in Berlin.
Before the 1997 Tour de France, Ullrich had already secured the Tour de Suisse and national Road Race Championship.
When Lance Armstrong came on the scene, Ullrich struggled to beat him in Tour de France, constantly coming in second.
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When was he accused of doping?
During the 2006 Giro d'Italia, his name came up in a doping scandal called Operacion Puerto, he denied the rumours but one day before the Tour de France, it was announced he was suspended from competing along with Ivan Basso and a few other riders.
The decision caused him to be fired from T-Mobile and after more rumours and "evidence" arose, he announced his retirement in 2007.
Ullrich became an adviser to Team Volksbank.
The IOC investigated whether he should be stripped of his Olympic medals but there was no solid evidence against him so he retained them.
He was found guilty of a doping offence in February 2012 which resulted in a retrospective ban and all he results after May 2005 were scrapped.
He quit the sport in 2013 after admitting to blood doping.
Why has he been arrested?
Ullrich has been arrested for allegedly "choking" a prostitute at a hotel in Germany.
A police spokeman confirmed that he is "in police custody" and "was under the influence of alcohol and drugs" when he was detained.
The alleged attack happened at the Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt and according to Bild the 44-year-old "choked the escort" until her "eyes turned black".
The attack came just a week after it emerged that Ullrich had stormed into the home of Til Schweiger in Palma, Majorca, hurling threats.