BERLIN (AP) _ German Chancellor Angela Merkel has turned down a request to meet with disgraced cyclist Jan Ullrich, who retired from the sport earlier this year after being implicated in the Spanish doping scandal.
One of Ullrich's friends and business partners had sent an e-mail to Merkel's staff suggesting a meeting, her office said Tuesday.
The aim of the meeting would have been to ``rehabilitate'' the reputation of Ullrich and recall his merits and performances.
Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France champion, was excluded from last year's race and was later dismissed by his T-Mobile team because of the doping scandal. He denies any wrongdoing.
Several members of Ullrich's former Telekom team have admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs while riding together in the 1990s. A former masseur on the team has alleged Ullrich took drugs.
