Farewell to Scharping as a bike president

Scharping took over the chief post at the Bund of German Cyclists in 2005. Shortly afterwards, the long -time politician was confronted with the greatest crisis in German cycling after the many doping scandals. As a result, many race stables and bike races disappeared from the scene.

Approach to Jan Ullrich

The connection to cycling had already existed to his political career at Scharping. At the weddings of the team Telekom, he also showed himself alongside ex-tour winner Jan Ullrich and sprint star Erik Zabel. Later the hobby cyclist went at a distance from Ullrich; It was only last year as part of the German Championships to approach the former bike star.

At the BDR, which renamed German Cycling at the end of the year, Scharping was always unchallenged. Dieter Berkmann (2009) and ex-President Sylvia Schenk (2013) had tried in combat votes to dispute the presidency. In the end, the former SPD boss prevailed. In addition to his speaking talent, he also benefited the contacts in the economy, which gave the BDR one or the other sponsor.