Ullrich to ride Tour de Romandie

Having recovered from a recent knee injury, T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich will start the Tour de Romandie, beginning in Geneva on April 25. Currently training in Tuscany, Ullrich recently increased the intensity of his training and team manager Olaf Ludwig has said he's pleased with Ullrich’s recovery.

"Jan is pain-free now and will progressively intensify the training load in the coming days in order to be prepared for the Tour de Romandie," said Ludwig, adding that the Swiss race is "no easy entry" into the season. After saying he would start his season at the Circuit de la Sarthe in France, the 32-year-old German was forced to pull out of last week's race when the irritation to his right knee flared up.

Ullrich then had tests at Freiburg’s Uni-Clinic where team doctor, Dr. Andreas Schmid, prescribed him a reduced training workload as well as intensive physiotherapy before T-Mobile's big hope for July resumed training in his Swiss home town of Scherzingen. Ullrich is now joined in Tuscany by sporting director Rudy Pevenage and physiotherapist Birgit Krohme, something team boss Ludwig is pleased about. "Jan is going to be perfectly taken care of in Italy and the weather conditions are ideal, too," he said.

The aim for Ullrich will now be making it to Lausanne injury-free when the Tour de Romandie finishes on April 30 before his attention shifts to preparations for the Tour de France, where he'll start as one of the favourites for the overall crown.