Tour de France Nears the Finish

Jan Ullrich moved to the verge of becoming the first German to win the Tour de France by finishing second in the final time trial of the 20th stage Saturday.

He has been wearing the leader’s yellow jersey since the 10th stage of the 21-stage race that began July 5.

“The essential thing was just to hold onto the yellow jersey,” Ullrich said. “I am a bit tired. Not only from the Tour, but also the demands outside it.”

The Tour ends today with a largely ceremonial ride of 99.4 miles from Disneyland to Paris, ending with 10 rides up and down the Champs Elysees.

Abraham Olano of Spain won Saturday’s 39.1-mile loop around Disneyland Paris. He was timed in 1 hour 15 minutes 57 seconds, beating Ullrich by 45 seconds.

In the overall standings, Ullrich took a lead of more than nine minutes over Richard Virenque of France.

Marco Pantani of Italy was third, more than 14 minutes behind. Olano moved into fourth, 15:55 back.

Ullrich, 23, has been the most consistent rider in this year’s Tour that has been marked by falls, controversial finishes and withdrawals because of injuries.

He was among the favorites when the Tour started. Although he was second on his team Telekom to Bjarne Riis, last year’s overall winner, there were many who favored Ullrich.