SPIEGEL Interview with Eddy Merckx

The writer from German magazine SPIEGEL was relentless in asking five-time Tour champion Eddy Merckx to endorse Jan Ullrich as the favorite in this year's Tour. Merckx, though, wouldn't bite. Read the interview and wonder if the writer now is crying in his or her stein of Beck's.

Merckx:

"Ullrich is not capable of doing the right thing. Talent by itself is not enough. If one doesn't work hard, one will never make it to the top of the heap."

"Did he become a bicycle racer because he really likes riding? Or did he become a racer because the East German system forced him into it? His talent as a rider was discovered and so he had to ride for the glory of the state -- there was no way for him to say no. Sports have to be fun for younger people. For me, bicycle racing was always a passion and the best thing in the world. I think that for Ullrich, compulsion played too large of a role. Jan is a nice guy, but he is missing the massive ambition that Armstrong has."

Awwww. Please, somebody give the interviewer a hug.