Tour: Fresh start for Jan

To be a past Tour de France champion with four second place finishes should be considered remarkable. But not when it comes to Jan Ullrich. Critics often assert that the reigning Olympic time-trial gold-medallist has yet to fulfill his potential.

Tim Henman may feel the heat during Wimbledon. But what about Ullrich on the Tour. To win it at 23 meant tremendous expectations - and pressure - in his native Germany.

Ullrich hit rock-bottom in 2002. He started the year with a serious knee injury, then was slammed with a six-month doping ban after testing positive for amphetamines. To top it off, Ullrich found himself in court for drinking and driving.

Dumped by his sponsor Adidas, Ullrich's rifts with the law subsequently resulted in a fall-out with his long-time Telekom team.

When he signed with Coast for 2003, Ullrich used the remaining time on his suspension to fight his perennial weight problem.

Many believed 2003 would be a rebuilding year.

Then it happened. A heroic long-distance solo breakaway win in the Tour of Cologne confounded his rivals. Jan was back.

When Coast went under, Italian sponsor Bianchi quickly filled the void, knowing that a team that included Ullrich meant a sure invitation to the Tour.

Ullrich's recent form has given Bianchi reason to believe. A promising fifth place in the Tour of Germany and seventh place in last month's Tour of Switzerland were steps in the right direction.

Even if Ullrich doesn't have the same form or the same team that saw him triumph on the Champs Elysées six years ago, Ullrich's talent is unpredictable, and that's been his propelling force throughout his career.

Known to be a big eater, the tall German (1m83) often began past Tours overweight and gradually reached his ideal race weight over the course of the race.

But not this time.

The 29-year old that eurosport.de's Andreas Schulz saw at the Tour of Switzerland prologue was fit, svelte, and openly aspiring to a podium finish in Paris.

His strong showing in the time trials and in the mountains - where he finished one stage second behind Francesco Casagrande - backed up his claim.

"If Jan said that I have to support him, but it's going to be difficult," personal manager Rudy Pevenage told eurosport.de. "There are other strong riders like [Iban] Mayo, [Gilberto] Simoni, or [Joseba] Beloki. But Jan will ride a good Tour de France and in the end we'll see."

Eurosport TV will bring you exclusive live coverage of the Tour de France teams presentation outside the Paris City Hall Friday evening from 19:00 cet as well as complete start-to-finish coverage of every stage beginning with Saturday's prologue below the Eiffel Tower starting at 15:30 cet.