Note to top contenders in the 2006 Tour de France bike race: Der Kaiser is back.
German cyclist Jan Ullrich is this year's Tour de Suisse champion, winning on the strength of his individual time trial ride on Sunday after staying near the top of the standings through the mountain stages in recent days.
The team leader for T-Mobile won the 19-mile time trial from Kerzers to Bern by 22 seconds over second place finisher, Cadel Evans of Davitamon Lotto. Saunier Duval's Koldo Gil was the overall leader going into Sunday's stage but fell 1 minute and 14 seconds behind in the final stage, finishing second overall.
Ullrich, who had been out of bicycling competition much of the spring due to a sore knee, was in third place overall for Sunday's stage. He gained that position by pushing the pace through the mountainous stages in the Swiss race, an indicator that he was back to his old cycling form. That left him within striking distance in the time trial, which is his best race. (More at CyclingNews. OLN TV will televise from 5-7 p.m. (ET) Sunday and 3-5 p.m. (ET) Monday.)
Ullrich's Tour de Suisse win repeats his victory there in 2004. Now he's ready to repeat a victory he last achieved in 1997, the Tour de France. Since then, he finished in 2nd in 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003; he finished 3rd in 2005.
With Lance Armstrong out of the picture this year, Ullrich had been named as a top contender for the Tour de France title this year. In fact, when Ullrich arrived at camp in the spring, Armstrong touted him as the Tour's next champion.
Then Ullrich hurt his knee and training and didn't compete during most of the spring. In the meantime, American Floyd Landis rolled up victories in three one-week cycling races — the Tour of California, the Tour de Georgia, and the Paris-Nice.
Ullrich did start the Giro d'Italia in May, where he faced his chief Tour rival, Ivan Basso. But Basso attacked early and retained the lead through the second half of the Giro, and Ullrich dropped out on the severe climbs as the three-week classic drew to a close. But Ullrich brought this out of the Giro — he won the 31-mile time trial, beating Basso by 28 seconds.
Last week, another American Tour contender announced he was ready. Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) won the Dauphiné Libéré without winning a stage in the week-long race, yet finished among the top four in the time trial then stayed near the front in all the mountain stages.
Another contender, George Hincapie of Discovery, won two stages of the Tour of California and finishing 4th overall in that race; also finished 3rd in Tour of Flanders and 5th in Three Days of Panne.
The Tour de France starts in just two weeks, July 1. Ullrich has certainly earned himself a place among those who could win the race.
Recent Comments