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Tuesday's EuroFile: Ullrich talks to Discovery, vows to return to Tour
Jan Ullrich has vowed to win the Tour de France before he retires from pro cycling — and he has been in contact with seven-time champion Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team.
''I have always said, 'I will finish with a Tour victory,' '' Ullrich told the Swiss daily Blick. ''Unfortunately, this year I was prevented from doing so. That's why I will try to add another year.''
While he has been in contact with Discovery Channel, Ullrich said that no concrete agreement had been reached. The team is said to have hired Gerolsteiner rider Levi Leipheimer for the 2007 season.
Ullrich, who won the 1997 Tour and was runner-up five times - three times behind Armstrong - was considered a leading contender for this year's Tour. He was forced out on the eve of the race because of his links to a Spanish doping investigation.
His T-Mobile team fired him four days ago, saying he had failed to prove his innocence.
In the Swiss newspaper interview, Ullrich insisted he was innocent and criticized the German press for portraying him as ''Germany's biggest loser.''
''Not once in my career have I cheated the other riders,'' he said.
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