Cycling: Ullrich accepts deal over drugs

Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich defiantly maintained his innocence yesterday after German prosecutors dropped a fraud investigation in exchange for a "six-figure" payment to the state and charity.

The deal ends a 21-month-old investigation into whether the now retired rider defrauded his T-Mobile team by taking performance-enhancing drugs, thus increasing his income by illegal means.

Ullrich said he accepted the deal to "free my family from the public pressure" and to save money.