Tinkoff eye Ullrich

The 1997 Tour de France winner is currently without a team, or a licence, after withdrawing from the Swiss Cycling Federation, though the Russian-Italian outfit, headed by former cyclist Oleg Tinkoff raised the possibility of recruiting Ullrich, offering him a salary of 3.8 million euros per year.

"But the team is only interested when Ullrich's situation is resolved and he can compete in races again," commented sporting director Omar Piscina.

Ullrich's manager Wolfgang Strohband refused to comment on the speculation.

Tinkoff has already recruited German Danilo Hondo, who twice tested positive for banned substances, as well as Olympic time-trial champion Tyler Hamilton, who returned from a two-year ban in September after being convicted of blood doping offences.

Meanwhile, the signs are that Ullrich is preparing to move away from Switzerland, where he lives in Scherzingen with wife Sara. He has reportedly put his car up for sale, while he has reportedly already sold his old property in Merdingen.

The German and Austrian cycling federations have both stated they will refuse him a licence to ride professionally, though he could turn to Italy, where Ivan Basso was acquitted of any wrong doing by the Italian Olympic Committee.