23.09.2004/ Jan Ullrich demonstrated that he is at the top of his game just
days before the World Championships get underway in Verona (Italy/September
29 until October 3): The T-Mobile captain won the Coppa Sabatini (UCI 1.2)
in Peccioli Italy on Thursday.

The 30 year old former Tour de France champion had the fastest legs in the
three-man sprint that decided the winner of the 197,7 km race, edging out
Italian Franco Pellizotti (Alessio) and Dutchman Michael Boogerd (Rabobank)
to take the spoils.

Ullrich: "A timely boost to my preparations"
"After I made my decision to start the road race and the time trial at the
World's in Verona, these races increased in importance to me. This win is a
timely boost to my preparations", said Ullrich.

Ullrich jumped clear of the peloton on the final lap of the 10 lap race.
Before then his T-Mobile teammates had worked hard at the front to chase,
and eventually reel in a breakaway group that at one stage held an 11 minute
advantage over the peloton. That paved the way for Ullrich to secure his
fifth win of the season.

Two more races on the program
"Jan rode very strongly today and showed that he is back in good form", said
T-Mobile directeur sportif Mario Kummer.

Jan Ullrich is currently fine-tuning his form at a series of three one-day
races in Italy. Next up is the Giro dell'Emilia (UCI 1.1) on Saturday,
followed by the Generalprobe GP Beghelli (UCI 1.2) on Sunday.