Ullrich optimistic

"The infection is my right knee isn't so bad," said T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich on his personal website, explaining to his fans that there was no reason to worry. "I worked good over the winter, so that it's just my season start that's being delayed. The ground conditioning is there."

The 1997 Tour de France winner, who initially wanted to return to racing at the Circuit de la Sarthe this week, has started training again. "Since yesterday (Tuesday, April 4) I am riding on the road again," he continued. "I just don't pedal putting on too much pressure. In the afternoons I work with my physical therapist Birgit Krohme to speed up the healing process. Next week I will slowly increase the power and do some tests. Then I will know when I can ride my first race. I am optimistic that I will participate in the Tour de Romandie the end of the month," added Ullrich, whose biggest goal is to win the Tour de France once again.

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