Bonn (Germany), July 29:Team Telekom has returned to a hero's welcome in Bonn, the company's home town, after the riders completed the gruelling Tour de France. The riders were greeted at Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile headquarters by hundreds of adoring fans and employees on Monday (July 28), barely 18 hours after crossing the Tour finishing line in Paris. The team members, including captain Erik Zabel and Alexander Vinokourov, who was third overall in the Tour, looked weary after completing the 3,000 kilometer race lasting three weeks. Vinokourov said it had been his dream to stand on the podium and it was a highlight of his career. Zabel was third in the points table on what was his 10th Tour, after six years of winning the green sprint jersey. He praised the performance of his former team mate, Jan Ullrich, who was runner-up for the fifth time, riding now for Bianchi.

"Jan Ullrich's placement was phenomenal and in the end he reached the position I had said he would," said Zabel.

Team Telekom's finest hour came in 1997 when Ullrich handed Germany their first Tour de France triumph.

Deutsche Telekom announced that the team's name is changing to Team T-Mobile from 2004.

Telekom also said that their sponsoring contract with the team, which ran until 2005, had been extended to 2006.

Bureau Report