Germany's only Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich hopes to make peace with organizers of the famous race where like Lance Armstrong he is not welcome owing to his doping past.
Ullrich, 50, told dpa in an interview ahead of Saturday's start of the 111th Tour he believes the time for reconciliation has now come after he has finally also admitted to have used illegal substances.
"I think the time is ripe for us to say: Now we can draw a line under it - in recognition of the mistakes I have made. I'm a Tour de France winner and I'm part of Tour history. I have acknowledged my mistakes - which were not just mine," he said.
"I think it's important to be open to a dialogue. So much time has passed that you can sit down at a table and talk about how to shape the future."
Ullrich will work as a pundit for Eurosport at several stages of the race which starts in Florence and ends on July 21 in Nice, and can see himself in a similar role in the future.
"I'm even on site in Italy for the first few days because I have some appointments there. The Tour de France is always a highlight," he said.
Ullrich won the Tour in 1997 but his career ended nine years later over links to Spanish doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
What followed were personal crises including alcohol and drug addictions, and the breakdown of his family.
Ullrich only really admitted to having doped last autumn - previously saying only that he never betrayed anyone, a reference to widespread doping at the time.
He has also come clean in a book published on Tuesday in Germany, saying the title "Heaven, hell, and back into life" pretty much summed up his life.