End of the road for Jan?

With Lance Armstrong now in retirement, this was to be the year the German would finally emerge from the shadows of the dominant Texan, after three second place finishes, and one third-place finish behind his great nemesis.

Despite his notoriety for allowing himself to get out of shape in the off-season, Ullrich always maintained he raced himself back into shape in time for the big races, and Armstrong always considered him the main threat.

A win in the Tour of Switzerland shortly before La Grande Boucle confirmed the T-Mobile leader was in form. Just a day before the race began though, Ullrich was one of nine cyclists suspended from the Tour as news of the drugs scandal in Spain broke.

Now 32, time is ticking against Ullrich, who will learn his fate once charges are formally brought against all those implicated in the affair. T-Mobile were not prepared to wait for the case to finish though, and informed Ullrich by fax on Thursday that he had been fired from the team along with Spanish rider Oscar Sevilla and sporting director Rudy Pevenage.

Although he may have been ditched by team manager Olaf Ludwig, Ullrich still commands respect among his former team-mates, in particular Andreas Klöden, who after his podium finish, declared:

"We fought till the end for Jan, so he can be proud of us. With Jan here, we would have won the Tour this year. Jan was innocent. I know him. He's a good friend of mine."

In the wake of Floyd Landis' victory on Sunday, Tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc suggested Ullrich's Tour de France days had come to an end. Questioned on whether Landis would be able to repeat his feat, Leblanc said:

"Yes, because in the current context there is no more Armstrong, there won't be anymore Ullrich. There will still be Klöden, Basso I don't have a clue, there will be Valverde."

Even if Ullrich is cleared, he faces the task of finding a new team and getting his career back on track. Whether he has the motivation to do this remains to be seen, and with Floyd Landis winning the Tour in such sensational fashion this year, retirement may beckon for one of cycling's most charismatic figures.