ULLRICH WINS TOUR OF SWITZERLAND

Jan Ullrich showed he is on form and ready for the Tour de France by winning the nine-day Tour of Switzerland.

The 32 year-old T-Mobile rider performed consistently well in the mountain stages and then battled through a rain storm to win the final 30-km time trial stage in Bern and so snatched the race lead from Spain?s Koldo Gil.

Ullrich was 50 seconds behind Gil before the stage but used his immense power to beat the Spaniard by 1-14. Australia?s Cadel Evans was an impressive second in the time trial, in a time of 39-08 but had the advantage of racing in dry conditions.

Ullrich finished 24 seconds ahead of Gil in the overall standings, with Jorg Jaksche (Wurth) slipping to third at 1-03.

It is Ullrich?s second victory in the Tour of Switzerland. In 2004 he also won the final time trial to snatch overall success.