2006 Tour de France
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| 2006 final standings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Overall | Floyd Landis (contested) | 89h 39´30" |
| Second | Óscar Pereiro Sio | +57" |
| Third | Andreas Klöden | +1'29" |
| Points | Robbie McEwen | 288 |
| Second | Erik Zabel | 199 |
| Third | Thor Hushovd | 195 |
| Climber | Michael Rasmussen | 166 |
| Second | Floyd Landis (contested) | 131 |
| Third | David De La Fuente | 113 |
| Youth | Damiano Cunego | 89h 58'49" |
| Second | Markus Fothen | +38" |
| Third | Matthieu Sprick | +1h 29'12" |
| Teams | T-Mobile Team | 269h 08'46" |
| Second | Team CSC | +17'04" |
| Third | Rabobank | +23'26" |
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006.
The Tour began with a prologue in Strasbourg, on the French-German border, and ended Sunday July 23 in Paris. The distance of the course (run counterclockwise around France) was 3657 km (2272 miles). The race was the third fastest in average speed. Along the way, the cyclists passed through six different countries including France, The Netherlands (a stop at Valkenburg in Stage 3), Belgium (at Huy, Stages 3 and 4), Luxembourg (at Esch-sur-Alzette, Stages 2 and 3), Germany (though not stopping there, Stage 1) and Spain (Pla-de-Beret, Stage 11). The presentation of the course was made by the new director of Le Tour, Christian Prudhomme. For the first time since the 1999 edition, there was no team time trial.
The event, as with some of the Tours of the late 1990s, was marred by doping scandals. Prior to the tour, numerous riders - including the two favourites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso - were expelled from the tour due to their link with the Operación Puerto doping case. After the tour, the winner Floyd Landis was found to have failed a drugs test after stage 17; runner up Óscar Pereiro Sio currently also claims the title. As of October 2006, Landis is still officially considered the winner, whilst he appeals against the failed test.
Contents |
[edit] Drugs controversy before the tour
In the most controversial scandal since the 1998 tour, thirteen riders were expelled from the tour on the eve of Strasbourg prologue to the 93rd edition stemming from a Spanish doping scandal. Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, two favourites to win the race, were among those excluded from the Tour along with podium candidate Francisco Mancebo. Alexandre Vinokourov, another race favourite, was not linked to the doping scandal, but was forced to withdraw when the eligible riders on his Astana-Würth Team fell below the minimum starting requirement of six. Because of this and the retirement of seven-time consecutive winner Lance Armstrong, this year's Tour started without the top five riders from the 2005 edition. It was also the first Tour since 1999 that did not contain a past champion.
[edit] Results
The tour was won by American Floyd Landis in the closest three-way finish in the race's history.
While Landis was a leading favorite even before the Spanish doping scandal came to light[1], in an epic eight minute loss of performance in Stage 16, it appeared he had lost all hope to finish on the podium, much less win.
But the following day, during Stage 17, Landis set a very high pace on the first climb of the day that no other rider could match. He then caught a breakaway group that had escaped earlier, passed them, and continued to the finish line solo, making up almost all of his deficit, ending up 30 seconds behind yellow jersey wearer Óscar Pereiro Sio, which he made up with an extra minute in the final Stage 19 time trial.
However, a urine sample taken from Landis immediately after his Stage 17 win has twice tested positive for banned synthetic testosterone as well as a ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone nearly three times the limit allowed by World Anti-Doping Agency rules.<ref>"Backup Sample on Landis Is Positive", New York Times, 2006-08-05.</ref> Landis has indicated that he will appeal the test results with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.<ref>http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyID=2006-07-27T143058Z_01_L27899000_RTRUKOC_0_US-DOPING-LANDIS.xml</ref>
It is widely expected that Landis will be disqualified as 2006 Tour de France winner due to the positive test results. If this happens, second place finisher Óscar Pereiro Sio will be declared the official winner. The only previous Tour de France winner to be disqualified (along with the next three top finishers) was 1904 Tour de France winner Maurice Garin.
[edit] Stages
| Stage | Route | Distance | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Strasbourg | 7 km | Individual time trial | Saturday, July 1 |
| 1 | Strasbourg - Strasbourg | 183 km | Flat stage | Sunday, July 2 |
| 2 | Obernai - Esch-sur-Alzette | 223 km | Flat stage | Monday, July 3 |
| 3 | Esch-sur-Alzette - Valkenburg | 216 km | Intermediate stage | Tuesday, July 4 |
| 4 | Huy - Saint-Quentin | 207 km | Flat stage | Wednesday, July 5 |
| 5 | Beauvais - Caen | 219 km | Flat stage | Thursday, July 6 |
| 6 | Lisieux - Vitré | 184 km | Flat stage | Friday, July 7 |
| 7 | Saint Grégoire - Rennes | 52 km | Individual time trial | Saturday, July 8 |
| 8 | Saint-Méen-le-Grand - Lorient | 177 km | Flat stage | Sunday, July 9 |
| Rest day | Monday, July 10 | |||
| 9 | Bordeaux - Dax | 170 km | Flat stage | Tuesday, July 11 |
| 10 | Cambo-les-Bains - Pau | 193 km | Mountain stage | Wednesday, July 12 |
| 11 | Tarbes - Val d'Aran-Pla-de-Beret | 208 km | Mountain stage | Thursday, July 13 |
| 12 | Luchon - Carcassonne | 211 km | Intermediate stage | Friday, July 14 |
| 13 | Béziers - Montélimar | 231 km | Flat stage | Saturday, July 15 |
| 14 | Montélimar - Gap | 181 km | Intermediate stage | Sunday, July 16 |
| Rest day | Monday, July 17 | |||
| 15 | Gap - L'Alpe d'Huez | 187 km | Mountain stage | Tuesday, July 18 |
| 16 | Bourg d'Oisans - La Toussuire | 182 km | Mountain stage | Wednesday, July 19 |
| 17 | Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - Morzine | 199 km | Mountain stage | Thursday, July 20 |
| 18 | Morzine - Mâcon | 193 km | Intermediate stage | Friday, July 21 |
| 19 | Le Creusot - Montceau-les-Mines | 56 km | Individual time trial | Saturday, July 22 |
| 20 | Antony-Parc de Sceaux - Paris Champs-Élysées | 152 km | Flat stage | Sunday, July 23 |
| Total | 3,639 km | |||
[edit] Stage recaps
See:
[edit] Jersey progress
- Notes
- (1) = In Stage 1, Thor Hushovd (the winner of the Prologue) wore the yellow jersey, and George Hincapie wore the green jersey.
- (2) = In Stage 4, Tom Boonen (GC leader) wore the yellow jersey, and Daniele Bennati (second in overall points) wore the green jersey.
- (3) = In Stage 11, Cyril Dessel (GC leader) wore the yellow jersey, and Juan Miguel Mercado the polka-dot jersey.
- Combativity award is given after every stage, except for time trials. After the last time trial, the super-combativity award, for the most combative rider of the tour as a whole, was handed out to David de la Fuente.
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NOTE: All results for Floyd Landis are subject to official redaction from the record, pending appeals for a positive epitestosterone test.<ref>http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/outdoors/bal-sp.landis06aug06,0,7398925.story?coll=bal-sports-outdoors</ref>
[edit] Overall standings
[edit] General Classification
(* - Contested; pending appeal)
[edit] Points Classification
(* - Contested; pending appeal)
[edit] King of the Mountains classification
(* - Contested; pending appeal)
[edit] Young Riders' Classification
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Image:Flag of Italy.svg Damiano Cunego | Lampre-Fondital | 89h 58'49" |
| 2 | Image:Flag of Germany.svg Markus Fothen | Gerolsteiner | 38" |
| 3 | Image:Flag of France.svg Matthieu Sprick | Bouygues Télécom | 1h 29'12" |
| 4 | Image:Flag of Spain.svg David De La Fuente | Saunier Duval-Prodir | 1h 36'00" |
| 5 | Image:Flag of Spain.svg Moises Duenas Nevado | Agritubel | 1h 48'40" |
| 6 | Image:Flag of Sweden.svg Thomas Lövkvist | Française des Jeux | 1h 52'54" |
| 7 | Image:Flag of Spain.svg Francisco Ventoso | Saunier Duval-Prodir | 2h 22'03" |
| 8 | Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Joost Posthuma | Rabobank | 2h 32'41" |
| 9 | Image:Flag of France.svg Benoît Vaugrenard | Française des Jeux | 2h 33'12" |
| 10 | Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Pieter Weening | Rabobank | 2h 36'44" |
[edit] Teams Classification
| Rank | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Image:Flag of Germany.svg T-Mobile Team | 269h 08'46" |
| 2 | Image:Flag of Denmark.svg Team CSC | 17'04" |
| 3 | Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Rabobank | 23'26" |
| 4 | Image:Flag of France.svg Ag2r Prévoyance | 33'19" |
| 5 | Image:Flag of Spain.svg Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears | 56'53" |
| 6 | Image:Flag of Italy.svg Lampre-Fondital | 57'37" |
| 7 | Image:Flag of Germany.svg Gerolsteiner | 1h 45'25" |
| 8 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | 2h 19'17" |
| 9 | Image:Flag of Spain.svg Euskaltel-Euskadi | 2h 26'38" |
| 10 | Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg Phonak Hearing Systems* | 2h 49'06"* |
(* - Contested, pending Floyd Landis appeal)
[edit] Teams and riders
[edit] Pre-race favourites
After the retirement of seven-time winner Lance Armstrong, the main contenders for the overall win were expected to be Ivan Basso from Team CSC, the 2005 runner-up; and Jan Ullrich from T-Mobile Team, the third man on the podium in 2005, winner in 1997, and the only previous winner still racing. However, both Ullrich and Basso were suspended by their teams on 30 June after UCI told T-Mobile and Team CSC that the riders were involved in the anti-doping investigation in Spain.<ref>Ullrich and Basso out of Le Tour, from BBC, retrieved 30 June 2006</ref>
Francisco Mancebo of the French team AG2R Prévoyance, who finished fourth last year and sixth the year before, was also suspended by his team, and subsequently announced his retirement. Alexander Vinokourov would have been the only returning rider with a top-five finish from last year's race. However, his team, Astana-Würth Team, was forced to pull out of the race because they would not be able to start with the minimum of six riders.
As a result of the drug scandal, many believed Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Épargne), or the Americans Floyd Landis (Phonak), Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner), or Australian Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto) would probably win the race.<ref>Bookies react quickly to Tour scandal. velonews (2006). Retrieved on 2006-06-30. .</ref>
The main contenders for the podium were those who placed well on GC last year, especially if they have had notable results since:
The 2006 Tour also saw the return of former yellow jersey holder and three-time stage winner David Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodir) after serving a two year ban for admissions of the use of the drug EPO, which was discovered in a police search of his house before the 2004 Olympics, in June 2004.
[edit] Withdrawals
- Vinokourov, Bazayev, Kaschechkin, and León Sanchez are not themselves implicated in the doping case, but five of the nine riders of Astana-Würth were suspended and could not be replaced, leaving the team without the minimum of six starters.
- Not one team has managed to finish with nine riders. Both AG2R Prévoyance and T-Mobile have all the men who started the race still present but they began the 93rd Tour with eight and seven riders respectively.
