Before yesterday's time trial, Jan Ullrich's closest challenger for the yellow jersey, the Frenchman Richard Virenque, was asked how much time he expected to lose to the German. "Three minutes would be logical," was his reply, and three minutes was indeed the German's winning margin, plus a handful of seconds.
Yesterday the riders started in reverse order of overall classification, at three minute intervals which means that, "logically", the curly haired Frenchman expected to see the young German fly past him at some point in the 34mile stage having wiped out his handicap. This happened with 12 miles remaining and perfectly summed up Ullrich's superiority over the whole field.
Virenque was to finish second, with all the other riders who might have hoped to challenge the 23-year old from Rostock over three minutes adrift. The time gaps which he opened were similar to those which Miguel Indurain used to produce in his heyday.
Ullrich, however, is no Indurain Mark Two, even if he is as tight-lipped as the phlegmatic Basque. His shoulder are those of a mountain climber and he has a less assured riding style, preferring to pedal a smaller gear at a higher speed. He shows signs of nerves - he did so before the start yesterday - which the impassive Indurain would have regarded as a sign of weakness, but, given his 23 years, are probably a sign of youth. As was expected and feared, Ullrich's victory of yesterday leaves him in a virtually impregnable position as the race enters the Alps.
Virenque is over five and a half minutes back, Abraham Olano of Spain and last year's winner Bjarne Riis are at eight minutes. The climber Marco Pantani is over nine minutes behind. These are not margins that can be regained by attrition day by day.
Their only hope is that Ullrich may suffer the infamous jour sans, which roughly translates as a very bad off-day. This is more likely to happen to a rider of such tender years than to a rider in his prime. Indeed, Ullrich effectively lost the Tour of Switzerland in late June when, for some inexplicable reason, he was unable to follow the pace on a mountain stage.
Virenque's premise is that l'Alpe d'Huez, where the race finishes today after 125 miles of relatively flat roads, is a far steeper ascent than the climb to Arcalis, where Ullrich made mincemeat of the Frenchman and everyone else.
"Arcalis suited a rider who is just strong, l'Alpe d'Huez is for the pure climbers," said Virenque, before adding: "Ullrich is not a pure climber." This is somewhat provocative, in view of the fact that the German has matched his every move so far in the mountains. He is not the only one who has been reduced to making optimistic noises.
Riis was delighted with his time trial and commented: "If Ullrich's legs go in the Alps, I won't be the last to attack. If the yellow jersey falls I'll be number one." He has also pointed out that, as Ullrich only knows one of the seven major climbs to be tackled in the next three days, he will need all the advice he can get.
Pantani has made no secret of the fact that he wants to repeat his victory of 1995 at l'Alpe d'Huez, although he seems to feel that, after missing last year with a broken leg, he is unlikely to challenge Ullrich for the yellow jersey. He will start the climb in the knowledge that his parents and 20 families from his home near Rimini have been camping out near the top for 48 hours merely so that they can cheer him on.
At least Pantani, Riis and Virenque have an active interest in the race, unlike Britain's Chris Boardman, who is still suffering from pain after his crash which he likened to "having a cigarette stubbed out in my back for an hour and a quarter". He finished 23rd in a stage he had targeted.
