Tour Leader Struggling With Success

Germany’s Jan Ullrich has encountered road hazards on his trip around France this summer. He’s being hindered by German tourists cheering his wearing of the yellow jersey as the Tour de France’s leader.

Ullrich took Thursday’s rest day to prepare for an important time trial today.

“I didn’t understand the implications of wearing the yellow jersey,” Ullrich said. “There are a lot of Germans on vacations. A lot of them are encouraging. A lot want to take photos and sometimes get in the way.

“I nearly fell a few times. Now I have to have a teammate in front of me to warn me of any dangers,” he said.

He won’t have any teammates in front of him today. As the leader he will go off last in the 34.2-mile loop around St. Etienne.

Ullrich has a 2 minute, 38-second lead over France’s Richard Virenque and 4:46 over Spain’s Abraham Olano.

After four days in the Alps, there will be another time trial around Disneyland Paris on July 26.