Jan Ullrich is beginning to hint at retirement at the ripe old age of 32. In an interview with German television over the weekend he said, “Maybe I can ride for another one or two years if I am still motivated.” As we all know, his motivation has been called into question essentially his entire racing career (case in point, the picture at the left as an example of when he’d get so amazingly heavy in the off-season as to be unrecognizable), so I’m not sure his motivation is what’s going to get him back on the bike.

Ullrich also said that “anything over than a victory [in this year’s Tour de France] will be a huge disappointment.” This coming from a guy who’s never finished lower than 4th in a race that countless riders never even finish. Standards are really different when you’re as naturally gifted as Ullrich is.

Update: Ullrich is backtracking everso slightly now on his website, saying the host of the TV show “caught me off-guard. I’ve never really thought much about [when I would stop riding].” He went on to say, “Besides the Tour, there are several other races I would like to win. If I do start to think about ending my career, then I think the end will be near. But I still want to sit in the saddle for one or two more years.”