Jan Ullrich Quotations

I'm in pain but I'm confident I'll feel better tomorrow,

I'm feeling better than expected.

Whoever still can't put one and one together about what happened in cycling is beyond my help.

I have seen many lean riders in the peloton, but very few Tour winners

To me there's no doubt I will be fighting for victory.

Of course I would have liked to beat him but unfortunately I couldn't. It's not really relief because the Tour's going to change. There won't be a team like his who will control the race.

I would prefer not to go and have to do all the preparations for Madrid, ... The thing is, if I prepare for the World's, I prepare for the road race. I have twice been World Champion in the time trial, so now the road race is my focus.

I am disappointed today, of course. It was actually going well until the rain. But I have a good team and we are not giving up.

I have a lot to catch up. I've never started the season so late. It was fun to ride after so long. I didn't go all out on this very technical course.

I have always said that a Tour victory is more valuable if Lance Armstrong is participating. I will do everything I can to beat him in his last appearance on the Tour.

If it's true, I would of course be disappointed. Lance is the greatest of our time and maybe somebody's trying to put him down. I don't know what it's about, so all of this is very speculative.

Today, I had trouble because it was slippery and dangerous,

It is a good Tour to start with as it is not too demanding.

I want to wear yellow in Paris in July and I reckon I am on the right track,

I went to hospital for x-rays this morning because I was afraid something was broken but I'm glad it's not. My legs feel very good and I know I can compete as long as my body is in shape. The fact I'm still the race means I can stand the pain.

At the moment I just can't sit on the saddle.

There's no point complaining. I want to put this knee trouble behind me and get on with a structured build-up to the Tour (de France).

You start to feel that the power missing. The season has been long, and the legs start to get heavy.

It's a good race to start with as it's not too demanding. The terrain isn't too difficult, very good to find the rhythm again.

It's not really a relief that he quit,

It's a lot more open without Armstrong. I really have to be careful that I have everything in hand. Basso is always getting better, Heras has to bring his Vuelta performance to the Tour, and Vino has already announced his intentions.

It was a bad day and I knew it from the first climb in Aspin, ... I'm going to keep fighting because the Tour is not over.

The knee held up well and I felt like I made progress. Just finishing the course was a small victory for me.

I'm going to try every day to reduce this 55-second split. I could go to my room, get into bed, pull the sheet over my head and cry, but I won't.

I'm not looking at the general classification but I will be keen to test my legs on a few key stages.

I have the motivation, but not the legs. I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm confident in myself.

In the Tour, it's important to use every opportunity to distance or eliminate adversaries and if there's a chance, I won't hesitate to attack.

The distribution of power! Jan has the absolute power in the team - like Lance Armstrong...in the years of his Tour victories.