It looks like all the leading Tour de France contenders are having their way with different bicycle races. Floyd Landis, Ivan Basso, and Levi Leipheimer each have dominated at one or more contests this spring.
Now it's Jan Ullrich's turn in the Tour de Suisse, his final tune up for the Tour de France beginning July 1. After struggling toward the end of the Giro d'Italia in May, Ullrich has been pressing on the climbs. He's come up short of stage victories, but he gained third place overall on Thursday and held that on Friday.
The peloton faces another day of climbing Saturday with one hors categorie and two 1st category climbs, then Sunday comes Ullrich's specialty, the individual time trial.
This year, it's a 19-mile bike ride from Kerzers to Bern. If Ullrich holds his position at 54 seconds back on Saturday, he'll have a good chance of winning the Tour de Suisse on Sunday.
(Update — Saturday, June 17: Ullrich sat in 3rd place, 50 seconds back, at the end of Saturday's stage, according to CyclingNews. Another strong time trialist, Jorg Jaksche, said in 2nd place, 30 seconds out of first.)
If he does win the Tour de Suisee, it proves that Ullrich is ready for the Tour de France. He started the spring in good condition, with Lance Armstrong saying he favored Ullrich to win.
But Ullrich injured his knee in the early going and struggled to back in form. At the Giro, Ullrich won the individual time trial, but dropped out by the final climbs. Now at the Tour de Suisse, he's strong in the mountains; time will tell if he can maintain in the time trial.
More results at CyclingNews. Tour de Suisse finale will be televised from 5 to 7 p.m. (ET) Sunday on OLN TV.
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