1997 Tour winner Ullrich to work at classic race in Cologne

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, who admitted to doping in 2013, says he is returning to cycling as sporting director of the classic Rund um Koeln race in Cologne.

Ullrich tells the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper it's ''a great honor'' to be part of his ''absolute favorite race'' on June 11. Ullrich won the event in 2003.

The 43-year-old Ullrich, who in 1997 became the only German to win the Tour de France, was dogged by doping allegations throughout his career and admitted to German magazine Focus in 2013 that he received blood-doping treatment from Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.

He had been banned for doping for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport the year before. Ullrich retired in 2007.