Zulle had taken a gamble starting the Tour just 13 days after having his collarbone screwed up after a fall in the Tour of Switzerland. He retired after four stages. An expensive ultra high-tech bike displayed in a shop window has become one of the most visited monuments in Bonn. Every day, dozens of people stand outside the town's largest bicycle shop to admire the white and pink machine, identical to the one on which Jan Ullrich is expected to ride to victory on Sunday in the Tour de France. Like every other place in Germany, the quiet seat of government has fallen in love with Ullrich, a star even before his more than likely triumph on the Champs-Elysees.
Most people already have bikes anyway.
There are an estimated 60 million bicycles in Germany, a remarkable figure for a country with a population of some 80 million. Germans cycle to work or to go shopping. At weekends, they tour on cycle paths, some wearing the jersey of Ullrich's Deutsche Telekom team. The Tour de France has always been a popular event here but this year interest is intense. About 4.98 million people watched Tuesday's stage compared to 4.34 million viewers for a soccer match between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe.