T-Mobile confirmed Wednesday that former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich will continue his preparations for the season's blue riband event at the Tour of Italy which starts on Saturday.
But the 1997 Tour winner will not be his team's leader and will actually be a domestique, working for Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar instead.
Honchar finished second in the Giro in 2004 and then came a disappointing sixth last year but his German team have decided he is the most likely man to bring home the overall victory.
Ullrich, 32, is only just finding his feet on the pedals after a knee injury in March following a crash in training that delayed his start to the season.
His first race was last week at the six-day Tour of Romandie in Switzerland where he finished 115th out of 120 finishers at 50 minutes off winner Cadel Evans of Australia.
"The knee held up well and I felt like I made progress," said a satisfied Ullrich after his Romandie workout. "Just finishing the course was a small victory for me."
With Honchar challenging for overall victory, Australian Michael Rogers, the world time-trial champion, and German Matthias Kessler will be charged with attempting to claim stage victories.
T-Mobile team
Serhiy Honchar (UKR), Jan Ullrich, Matthias Kessler, Andre Korff, Jorg Ludewig, Olaf Pollack (GER), Scott Davis, Michael Rogers (AUS), Frantisek Rabon (CZE)
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