Klöden: Podium for Ullrich

The German cemented a Magenta one-two with Serhiy Honchar in Stage 19 to move onto the podium one day before the arrival in Paris and one day after his former team leader was dismissed.

"We won today for Jan Ullrich, he can be proud of us," Klöden said.

The former Tour runner-up finished second 41 seconds behind Honchar in the 57-km time trial from Le Creusot to Montceau-les-Mines. Honchar also won the Tour's first time trial in Rennes.

The 1997 Tour winner Ullrich was suspended from racing on the eve of the Grande Boucle after being implicated in a doping probe in Spain along with team-mate Oscar Sevilla and sporting director Rudy Pevenage, who have also been sacked.

"With Jan, we would have won the Tour this year," Klöden said.

Honchar was pleased with his victory, but left the dedications to his German team-mate.

"I was sick in the Alps and did not know what to expect from today," the Ukrainian told reporters.

"I started the first time trial (in Rennes) with the objective of claiming the yellow jersey. Today I did not have any personal ambition but we had to give everything for the team."