Although Jan Ullrich maintains that he is right on target
for his Tour de France plans, there are concerns that he is
taking things a little too easy at this time of year. In
today's Rund um Köln, Ullrich could only manage 64th place
at 5'41 down from the winner, a far cry from his 52 km solo
effort to win last year.
Ullrich joked afterwards that, "In 2003 I was an outsider
and I was only able to win because the others didn't
recognise me in my Coast jersey. However, it's a long time
to the Tour and I'm on the right track."
Five time Tour winner Eddy Merckx, who is never afraid to
speak his mind, told DPA, "It seems that Jan has again not
worked hard enough in his previous preparation and is
still too much overweight. Sure, he has still over two
months, but to beat Lance Armstrong in the Tour will be
harder than 2003."
Ullrich will ride in Wednesday week's Flèche Wallonne (April
21), followed by Liege-Bastogne-Liege (April 25) and the
Rund um den Henninger Turm (May
1).