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July 18, 2005
Ullrich: "Won't be easy overtaking Rasmussen"
Yahoo! Sport | Ullrich admits it's all over
Jan Ullrich says he's through chasing a win in this year's Tour de France, and that he'll instead focus on Michael Rasmussen, the Danish Rabobank rider currently holding 3rd place in the overall classification, 3:09 behind Lance Armstrong, and 2:49 ahead of Ullrich.
"There are six stages left in the race and I'll be watching out for any opportunities where I can steal a few seconds here and there," Ullrich said here Monday on the race's second rest day."My aim now has to be the podium. I can't expect to do any better, but even then it won't be easy overtaking Michael Rasmussen. He's been the revelation of the Tour so far."
Ullrich's sense of humor was also on display:
"I've had enough crashes to make a Hollywood movie," he quipped.
Posted by Frank Steele on July 18, 2005 in Jan Ullrich, Michael Rasmussen, Tour news | Permalink
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Comments
Ulrich may not have admitted it, but it felt like his tour was given up before it started. He had a couple of great stages, but it was too little, too late.
And the crashing didn't help matters. I hope he decides to come back, even when Lance is gone, to do battle with Basso.
Posted by: gundog99 at Jul 18, 2005 4:07:09 PM
It's impossible to win the TdF without a solid team backing you up! On the other hand, at least Ullrich and Basso are making it interesting; Saturday's stage 14 was one of the most thrilling I've seen.
Posted by: Freddy at Jul 18, 2005 5:44:27 PM
Ullrich beat Rasmussen by 2:06 in the opening TT, and that was only 19K. Rasmussen finished in 174th place. I think Ullrich has a pretty good shot at putting 3 minutes into him over over 56K.
Posted by: dks at Jul 18, 2005 5:46:18 PM
I agree with DKS...apparently Rasmussen is teh suck at TT...looking forward to seeing that go down!
Posted by: voodoo at Jul 18, 2005 6:14:15 PM
i think rasmussen's first time trial was deceiving. i think his strategy at the first one was to expend as little energy as possible and wait for the hills to take a stage win and the polka dots. finding himself vying for a podium spot is as big of a surprise to him as it is to the rest of us. if he had it all to do over again, there's no way he's 174th.
the first TT was flat, the last TT profile is hilly. i'm not saying he'll make the podium, but he'll go all out this last week including the TT to keep his spot.
Posted by: thejazzguy at Jul 18, 2005 6:49:15 PM
I am not a mature cycling race fan, but in my openion Ullrick is a great competitor, and a great champion (97) and I consider it a provilidge to watch him compete. Yes, Armstrong is my man, but he would have never have done it without Ullrick on his ass every step of the way!
Posted by: marvins at Jul 20, 2005 7:03:56 PM
