BARCELONA Jan Ullrich, overweight and troubled by injury earlier this season, has surprised himself by taking the lead in the Tour of Spain. The 1997 Tour de France champion crashed in the tours of Germany and Switzerland and missed this year's Tour de France because of a knee injury. Ullrich, 25, had finished only two races in seven outings in Spain this year and had not won a race for more than a year before winning the fifth stage of this tour.

He went into Monday's 15th stage with a lead of 49 seconds over second-placed Igor Gonzalez Galdeano of Spain but remains cautious about his chances of winning his second major tour when the race ends in Madrid on Sunday. "Things have gone much better than I expected but it is a surprise that I am there," he said. "I had good preparation for this race but success for me would still be to finish in the first 10. "I started off by saying I was not sure I was in condition to fight for victory here.

"All I wanted to do was win the two time-trials and the stage into Andorra, which has good memories for me because that was where I won in 1997 and it was the first time I pulled on the Tour de France yellow jersey." Ullrich, looking flabby at the start of the season, shed a lot of weight and got very fit in six weeks of training before this race.

He arrived in Spain only two kilograms above his ideal weight of 73 kgs, the weight at which he won the Tour de France two years ago, and any remaining fat has disappeared after more than 2,000 kilometers of racing around northern and eastern Spain. Ullrich said too much attention had been given to his winter eating habits and weight. Ullrich, in common with most of the population of Spain, had rated Spanish riders Fernando Escartin, Abraham Olano and Jose Maria Jimenez favorites on home soil.

Many expected Ullrich to fall by the wayside once again but it has been Escartin and Olano who have been forced to quit after crashes. (Reuter)