Jan Ullrich Wins His First Stage Ever in Il Giro

When you're talking about time-trials in cycling, two names pop into your head: Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich. The first one retired, after leaving behind a great legacy for the young generation - 7 consecutive victories in the Tour de France. The second is still in shape, and wants to prove everybody that he still "has it". After recovering from a knee injury that kept him out of cycling for 3 months, the German wants to let everyone know that he means business.

The confirmation couldn't have come in a better day for Ullrich. Stage 12 of Il Giro brought everyone together after the day off they had on Thursday. It was a great chance for Ullrich to win his first stage in the Tour of Italy. And he did it in style. After finishing with a total time of 58 minutes and 48 seconds, the German cyclist won the individual time-trial stage between Pontedera and Pisa.

"I'm very happy with my ride. I was second fastest at the intermediate time check and so I decided to go 100 percent to try and win. I'm riding the Giro as training for the Tour de France. There are stages where I'll give 100 percent but there are other stages where I'll save myself for the Tour", said Ullrich after winning the stage.

The Red Jersey is still a Spanish business, since Ivan Basso kept it for the 7th day in a row. Proving that he had worked a lot on his time-trial abilities during the winter period, Basso succeeded in finishing second, after the German. Going for the record of winning both Italy and France tours in the same season - Marco Pantani was the last man to do it in 1998 - the Spaniard keeps his mind focused on Il Giro.

"Everything has gone well so far but I'm keeping my feet on ground. I'm not trying to be modest but when you lose an hour on one stage like I did last year, you are always ready for the worst. I'm going to the race one stage at a time and will say I've won when we reach Milan on May 28", said Basso.