What's Jan Ullrich Thinking?
Clash of the TitansJan Ullrich has been a formidable opponent to Lance Armstrong in past Tours de France and has won the Tour de France twice, his last victory coming in 1997 while Armstrong was dealing with cancer and its after effects. Ullrich's German T-Mobile team is determined to displace Armstrong as the king of cycling in 2005 and install Ullrich as the race's champ. In a surprising move, T-Mobile dropped six time green jersey (best Tour sprinter) winner Erik Zabel in order to add a climber and strengthen Ullrich's bid for the Tour de France 2005 title.
"We are concentrating 100 percent on the yellow jersey (of the overall winner)," Ullrich told International Cycling News. "I can't wait for the Tour to start. I am well prepared and my team is very strong. We want to beat Armstrong."
Indeed, Ullrich's wish to beat Armstrong has seemed to exist in equal proportion with his desire to win the Tour de France in recent years. "I'm going to fight like a lion. I want to beat the best of the best. Our priority is to win the Tour," Ullrich said of Armstrong and the Tour de France 2005.
Armstrong threw down the gauntlet when he told Eurosport, "Jan is the big threat. He's the one who wakes me up early every morning. He says he wants to beat me in the Tour de France. Well, this is his last chance."
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Ullrich Versus Armstrong
Ullrich's pedaling style seems deceptively slow and ponderous when seen side by side with Armstrong's steady cadence. His tendency to gain weight in the off season puts his body's appearance in direct contrast to Armstrong's lean and lithe physique. Nonetheless, Ullrich has been the Tour de France runner-up five times and the winner twice. When all is said and done, however, the smart money is on American hero Lance Armstrong to ride into Paris wearing the yellow jersey as the Tour de France 2005 winner and all time Tour de France superstar."...for reasons of my own, I think (the Tour de France) may be the most gallant athletic endeavor in the world. To me, of course, it's about living."
--Lance Armstrong
