Jan Ullrich is ready.
"I'm happy because soon it will be over," he said with three days left in the Tour de France.Ullrich, on the verge of becoming the first German to win the race, has struggled somewhat in the past few stages, falling behind a few seconds, but coming back with the help of his Telekom teammates to maintain a 6-minute, 22-second lead over Richard Virenque.
While losing seconds, he could gain a few more minutes. There is another time trial coming up at Disneyland Paris on Saturday, the day before the Tour ends on the Champs Elysees.
The last time trial, he gained more than three minutes on everyone in St. Etienne to extend the lead he gained in the Pyrenees.
He remembers when he took the lead after the 10th stage.
"I will never forget Andorra because that's the first time I wore the yellow jersey," he said. "I often think of that moment."
The Festina team, winning its second straight stage, worked hard to detach themselves from Ullrich, who weakened slightly in the rolling hills of eastern France.
Ullrich retained his commanding advantage despite a 1-2 finish by Festina riders Didier Rous of France and Pascal Herve.
Utah cyclist Marty Jemison finished the 18th stage in 125th place, dropping to 94th overall.
"We tried everything to make Ullrich crack, but he didn't fold when he was 30 seconds behind," Herve said.
"I thought we were about to shake up the Tour," Rous said. "Ullrich wasn't well. We had 45 seconds on him before the last climb, but no one wanted to collaborate."
Rous had an advantage of more than five minutes over the rest of the field as he broke away from a small group halfway through the 18th stage from Colmar to Montbeliard.
Ullrich, Virenque and the other leaders came in 5:28 behind Rous, who started the day more than two hours behind Ullrich.
American Bobby Julich, who rides for the French team Cofidis, finished third.