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Ullrich Polishing for the Tour

By Jessica | Permalink | No Comments | June 20th, 2006 | Trackback

Jan Ullrich is in the “last polishing” stages of his Tour preparation after his win in the Tour de Suisse.

“I didn’t come here aiming for the general classification, at first,” Ullrich said in a press conference in Bern, where the Tour de Suisse finished on Sunday. “But I felt in very good condition, not tired at all, and then decided to try for the top three. As the Tour de Suisse isn’t my top objective, I decided to take it day by day. But it was true that the time trial was a good test for me.”

Earlier this year, former teammate and current CSC Team Director Bjarne Riis had some dismissive words for Ullrich, saying, “”It’s clear that he doesn’t like to ride a bike, which is why I can’t understand why he wants to be a cyclist. It’s a waste of talent. He has to wake up soon. I believe in him less and less.”

Ullrich hasn’t always looked like he wants to win, getting tremendously overweight in many an off season. In Bern, he said, “Everybody always says that I am never at my top form in the Tour de France. But I am certainly at 90 percent of my top form now and I can work on the final ten percent before the Tour.” If he has any second thoughts about his career at this point, they’re not evident. He might not have the fighter’s instinct that Lance Armstrong displayed during each of his seven Tour victories, but Ullrich’s main challenger (and Riis’ charge), Ivan Basso, doesn’t seem to have it either. Both Basso and Ullrich seem like, well, like nice guys.

So, no matter what else happens in July, I hope one of them wins the Tour. At least then we’ll have proof that nice guys sometimes do finish first.

You can read an extended report of Ullrich’s Bern press conference here.

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