Determined to beat rival Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France after so many years of coming close, Jan Ullrich has re-arranged his life and says he is better prepared for the race he won in 1997 than ever before. Report: Erik Kirschbaum
Defeating Armstrong in the 33-year-old American's final Tour would make up for the agony of finishing behind him in four of the last six years, Ullrich says.
"I'd love to beat him," Ullrich, 31, said ahead of Saturday's start of the world's greatest cycling race where Armstrong will be seeking his seventh consecutive victory.
"He's dominated the race for the last six years and broken the records of the century. I want to beat the best to be the best of the best. That's my motivation - this is the last chance."
The German, who came close to defeating Armstrong in a thrilling duel two years ago before crashing in a time trial on the penultimate stage, has tantalised his legions of fans in recent years with pre-race vows to conquer Armstrong.
Self-induced setbacks, from illness or lack of fitness to injuries, have left millions of new German cycling fans disappointed each year, however.
Ullrich, whose win in 1997 sparked a boom in the sport's popularity, was second in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003. He was fourth last year.
Even though Ullrich has long been seen as Armstrong's greatest challenger, the red-haired eastern German has been erratic and often seemed to be his own worst enemy in the past.
He over-exerted himself to win the Tour of Switzerland before last year's Tour de France and caught a cold. In previous years, Ullrich - who always gains a lot of weight in the off-season - was overweight until just a few weeks before the Tour.
Crash June diets and heavy training hardly helped his form in July.
This year, Ullrich had slimmed down by the early spring and used the mid-June Switzerland race strictly as a training exercise for France.
"A change of guard is long overdue," Ullrich said when asked about the odds of beating Armstrong.
"If I look at the past, I think I could have often had a better result than I ended up having. I can't afford to squander any more chances. I don't want to look back in 10 years and see that I beat myself in the Tour de France in my best years because I did something wrong."
A gifted climber and talented in time trials, Ullrich had memorable battles with Armstrong.
His T-Mobile team-mates Andreas Kloeden, who was second last year, and Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan, third in 2003, are also among the handful of men seen as capable of winning the race.
While some believe Ullrich, who lives in Switzerland, may be past his prime, Armstrong has said he views the German as a danger this time, in part due to Ullrich's better fitness.
T-Mobile have tailored their team this year to the singular aim of winning the yellow jersey and have loaded up with good climbers to help Ullrich - dropping their top sprinter Erik Zabel, who won the green jersey in six of the last 11 Tours.