Germany’s Jan Ullrich is facing the prospect of emerging from the Tour de France finale on Sunday without a victory from this year’s race, which has once again been dominated by Lance Armstrong.
Ullrich, the 1997 winner and five-time runner-up, came to the Tour all guns blazing in a bid to unseat the Texan and his mighty Discovery Channel team, but has had to bow to the reality that Armstrong is simply too strong.
Since Armstrong is retiring right after the race finish on the Champs Elysees on Sunday, the 31-year-old T-Mobile team leader will be determined to bounce back next year — when Italy’s Ivan Basso is likely to be his main rival.
There’s unfinished business, however, and Ullrich will before then hope that this Saturday’s tough time trial in Saint Etienne will bring him double delight.
Victory is up for grabs for the former world time-trial champion, and so is the chance to push Denmark’s Michael Rasmussen down into fourth and off the final podium.
Rasmussen, who is guaranteed to win the race’s polka-dot jersey for the best climber if he arrives safe and well in Paris, has a 2:12 lead on Ullrich ahead of the 55,5km race against the clock.
After another dominating performance by Armstrong, a podium place is all there is left for Ullrich — and the German is determined.
”I’m hoping I can overcome it [deficit],” Ullrich said after he finished in a four-man group beside Armstrong but 37 seconds ahead of Rasmussen on Thursday’s 18th stage.
”I feel pretty good now and I’ll still be fighting all the way to Paris. For me, the Tour is not over. Rasmussen is strong, but I’m sure I can overtake him.”
The second time-trial of the race will be a much more difficult test of individual ability, as it is raced on hilly and undulating terrain — compared with the flat 19km on the first stage in Noirmoutier where Ullrich lost more than a minute to Armstrong — but is likely to do little to change Armstrong’s lead.
The 33-year-old Texan has a 2:46 advantage on Basso who, although having vastly improved his time-trialling since his disappointing result last year robbed him of a runner-up place, is not expected to oust the American.
He may beat Armstrong, although it would take a major collapse on Armstrong’s part for the CSC team leader to overhaul that 2:46 deficit — and prompt an almost unthinkable upset a day before Sunday’s final stage.
Armstrong came second in the first time-trial of the race, where he finished two seconds behind fellow American David Zabriskie of CS. Zabriskie eventually abandoned following his crash in the team time trial.
It’s not just Ullrich, however, who has something to play for. A place in the Tour’s top 10 after three weeks of hard toil is cherished almost as dearly as a podium place.
And the likes of American duo Levi Leipheimer and Floyd Landis, Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan and Frenchman Christophe Moreau will be hoping to do well to make sure they leave the race with their heads held high.
But come Saturday, all eyes will be on Ullrich, whose last victory on the Tour was on stage 12 of the 2003 Tour, when he beat a dehydrated Armstrong by 1:36.
Last year, Armstrong beat him by just more than a minute in the final 55km time trial in Briancon. He may be bluffing, but this year Armstrong said Ullrich could go out on a high.
”Jan Ullrich is getting stronger and stronger as the race goes on. For me, he’s the favourite for the time trial,” said Armstrong, who fully expects the time that Rasmussen lost to Ullrich on Thursday to prove decisive for the Dane.
”He [Rasmussen] rode bravely the whole Tour, especially in the high mountains,” said Armstrong.
”But I think that the 30 [37] seconds he lost today could be the 30 [37] seconds that knock him off the podium.” — Sapa-AFP