FRANKFURT, 7 December 2003 — Germany’s Jan Ullrich fired a warning shot to Lance Armstrong that he intends to stake his claim for Tour de France glory over the next three years before he gets off the saddle for good.
Ullrich, 30, won the world’s biggest race in 1997 and has already come runner-up five times.
After coming close to upstaging Armstrong’s victory bid this year, the East Germany-born Olympic champion said the next three years would be “his time” to taste some race glory.
“I know how many years I can still challenge for the Tour de France crown,” insisted Ullrich, who switched from the Bianchi team to his old Telekom team (now T-Mobile) a few months ago.
“I can do it for the next three years.
“I am convinced that is my time,” added Ullrich, indicating that he would retire when he turns 33.
Cancer survivor Armstrong, who in the last few days lost influential US Postal teammate Roberto Heras to the Liberty team, is the formidable barrier standing in Ullrich’s way.
And Ullrich believes the American will be psyching himself up to bid for an unprecedented sixth straight victory in the July race.
“I think he will be very motivated,” confessed Ullrich, who finished only 1min 01sec behind the American this year.
“Just like in the Rocky films. He will be hanging pictures of his opponents on the walls every day and saying: ‘I can beat you’.”
Ullrich came runner-up in 1996, the year he bowed to the victory aspirations of teammate Bjarne Riis, while in 1998 Italian Marco Pantani beat him to the yellow jersey.
The German did not compete in the Tour in 1999, the year he won the Tour of Spain, or in 2002. Armstrong has beat Ullrich into runners-up spot three times — in 2000, 2001 and 2003.
