| 2006 UCI ProTour, race 17 of 27 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Route of the 2006 Tour de France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | 1–23 July 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 20 + prologue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,657 km (2,272 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 89h 40' 27" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of theTour de France, one of cycling'sGrand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won byÓscar Pereiro following the disqualification ofFloyd Landis. Due to theUnited States Anti-Doping Agency announcing on August 24, 2012, that they had disqualifiedLance Armstrong, a former teammate of Landis, from all of his results since August 1, 1998, including his seven Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005, this is also the first Tour to have an overall winner since 1998. By terms of margin of victory the 2006 Tour was the3rd closest of all time.
The Tour began with a prologue inStrasbourg, on the French-German border, and ended on Sunday 23 July in Paris. The distance of the course (run counterclockwise around France) was 3,657 km (2,272 mi). 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 atValkenburg in Stage 3), Belgium (atHuy, Stages 3 and 4),Luxembourg (atEsch-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 the1999 edition, there was noteam 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 favouritesJan Ullrich andIvan Basso – were expelled from the Tour due to their link with theOperación Puerto doping case.
After the Tour, the apparent winner, Floyd Landis, was found to have failed a drug test after stage 17; Landis contested the result and demanded arbitration. On 20 September 2007, Landis was found guilty and suspended retroactive to 30 January 2007 and stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title making Óscar Pereiro the title holder.[1] Landis appealed the decision to theCourt of Arbitration for Sport which upheld the ban.
Pereiro was also suspected of having taken a forbidden substance during this Tour after failing a drug test. However, his use of the substance in question,salbutamol, was approved by theUCI for medical reasons.[2]
Of the six Americans to complete this Tour, four of them had their results voided. The results ofChris Horner andChristian Vande Velde remain official, although Vande Velde had previous results voided. American SprinterFred Rodriguez did not finish the Tour, but his results remain valid.
In the most controversial scandal since the1998 tour, thirteen riders were expelled from the tour on the eve ofStrasbourg prologue to the 93rd edition stemming from aSpanish doping scandal.Jan Ullrich andIvan Basso, two favourites to win the race, were among those excluded from the Tour along with podium candidateFrancisco Mancebo andAlberto Contador (who would return to win the following year, 2007).Alexander Vinokourov, another race favourite, was not linked to the doping scandal, but was forced to withdraw when the eligible riders on hisAstana-Würth Team fell below the minimum starting requirement of six. Because of this and the retirement of then-seven-time consecutive winnerLance Armstrong, this year's Tour started without the top five riders from the 2005 edition. It was also the first Tour since1999 that did not contain a past champion. All 21 teams were composed of nine cyclists, so 189 riders commenced the 2006 Tour de France.[3]
The teams entering the race were:[4]
After the retirement of then seven-time winnerLance Armstrong, the main contenders for the overall win were expected to beIvan Basso fromTeam CSC, the2005 runner-up; andJan Ullrich fromT-Mobile Team, the third man on the podium in 2005, winner in1997, and the only previous winner still racing. However, both Ullrich and Basso were suspended by their teams on 30 June afterUCI told T-Mobile and Team CSC that the riders were involved in the anti-doping investigation in Spain.[5] The 2006 Tour also saw the return of former yellow jersey holder and three-time stage winnerDavid Millar (Saunier Duval–Prodir) after serving a two-year ban for admissions of the use of the drugEPO, which was discovered in a police search of his house before the2004 Tour de France, in June 2004.
Francisco Mancebo of the French teamAG2R Prévoyance, who finished fourth in 2005 and sixth in 2004, was also suspended by his team due to the Puerto investigation, and subsequently it was reported by the press that he announced his retirement. Mancebo denied this, claiming that he decided to change his focus.[6] He would return to ride for TeamRelax–GAM the following year and while he continued riding for more than another decade; with his change in focus he never entered another grand tour.
Alexander Vinokourov would have been the only returning rider with a top-five finish from last year's race. However, his team,Astana–Würth, 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 SpaniardAlejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Épargne), or the AmericansFloyd Landis (Phonak),Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner), or AustralianCadel Evans (Davitamon–Lotto) would probably win the race.[7]
Thehighest point of elevation in the race was 2,642 m (8,668 ft) at the summit of theCol du Galibier mountain pass on stage 16.[8]
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 1 July | Strasbourg | 7.1 km (4 mi) |  | Individual time trial |  Thor Hushovd (NOR) |
| 1 | 2 July | Strasbourg | 184.5 km (115 mi) |  | Flat stage |  Jimmy Casper (FRA) |
| 2 | 3 July | Obernai toEsch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg) | 228.5 km (142 mi) | | Flat stage |  Robbie McEwen (AUS) |
| 3 | 4 July | Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg) toValkenburg (Netherlands) | 216.5 km (135 mi) |  | Hilly stage |  Matthias Kessler (GER) |
| 4 | 5 July | Huy (Belgium) toSaint-Quentin | 207.0 km (129 mi) | | Flat stage | Robbie McEwen (AUS) |
| 5 | 6 July | Beauvais toCaen | 225.0 km (140 mi) | | Flat stage |  Óscar Freire (ESP) |
| 6 | 7 July | Lisieux toVitré | 189.0 km (117 mi) | | Flat stage | Robbie McEwen (AUS) |
| 7 | 8 July | Saint Grégoire toRennes | 52.0 km (32 mi) | | Individual time trial |  Serhiy Honchar (UKR) |
| 8 | 9 July | Saint-Méen-le-Grand toLorient | 181.0 km (112 mi) | | Flat stage | Sylvain Calzati (FRA) |
| 10 July | Bordeaux | Rest day | ||||
| 9 | 11 July | Bordeaux toDax | 169.5 km (105 mi) | | Flat stage | Óscar Freire (ESP) |
| 10 | 12 July | Cambo-les-Bains toPau | 190.5 km (118 mi) |  | Mountain stage | Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP) |
| 11 | 13 July | Tarbes toVal d'Aran/Pla-de-Beret (Spain) | 206.5 km (128 mi) | | Mountain stage |  Denis Menchov (RUS) |
| 12 | 14 July | Luchon toCarcassonne | 211.5 km (131 mi) | | Hilly stage | Yaroslav Popovych (UKR) |
| 13 | 15 July | Béziers toMontélimar | 230.0 km (143 mi) | | Flat stage | Jens Voigt (GER) |
| 14 | 16 July | Montélimar toGap | 180.5 km (112 mi) | | Hilly stage | Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA) |
| 17 July | Gap | Rest day | ||||
| 15 | 18 July | Gap toAlpe d'Huez | 187.0 km (116 mi) | | Mountain stage |  Fränk Schleck (LUX) |
| 16 | 19 July | Le Bourg-d'Oisans toLa Toussuire | 182.0 km (113 mi) | | Mountain stage |  Michael Rasmussen (DEN) |
| 17 | 20 July | Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne toMorzine | 200.5 km (125 mi) | | Mountain stage | Carlos Sastre (ESP) |
| 18 | 21 July | Morzine toMâcon | 197.0 km (122 mi) | | Flat stage |  Matteo Tosatto (ITA) |
| 19 | 22 July | Le Creusot toMontceau-les-Mines | 57.0 km (35 mi) | | Individual time trial | Serhiy Honchar (UKR) |
| 20 | 23 July | Antony/Parc de Sceaux to Paris (Champs-Élysées) | 154.5 km (96 mi) | | Flat stage | Thor Hushovd (NOR) |
| Total | 3,657 km (2,272 mi)[12] | |||||
_Anduze_edit.jpg)
Due to the developing doping case known asOperacion Puerto several top tier riders were denied entry to the 2006 Tour includingJan Ullrich,Joseba Beloki,Alberto Contador,Ivan Basso and indirectly, as his team did not have enough eligible riders,Alexander Vinokourov. The Prologue was won byThor Hushovd and over the first few flat stagesRobbie McEwen claimed three stage victories, but did not take the overall lead at any point as by Stage 3 another sprinter,Tom Boonen, had claimed theYellow Jersey, which he held until the ITT in Stage 7.
The ITT was won handily bySerhiy Gonchar who claimed the maillot jaune withFloyd Landis finishing in 2nd in the Stage, as well as moving up the standings into 2nd place in the overall. After the ITT Team T-Mobile had four riders in the top 6 overall including Honchar andAndreas Klöden. The top of the GC remained more or less static until Stage 10 when a pair of riders escaped early in the day and stayed away to the finish withJuan Miguel Mercado winning the stage and moving into 2nd place overall andCyril Dessel finishing the stage 2nd with the same time as Mercado, but taking over the Yellow Jersey as the new race leader.
Stage 11 was a brutal mountain stage with five highly categorised climbs. It was won byDennis Menchov withLevi Leipheimer andFloyd Landis staying with him to the finish line. Landis took over the Yellow Jersey as the new race leader :08 ahead of Dessel.Cadel Evans andCarlos Sastre finished 4th and 5th in the stage and at the same time moved into 4th and 5th in the overall standings. Stage 12 was an intermediate stage won byYaroslav Popovych who jumped from outside the top 20 to tenth place overall.
The top GC Contenders wouldn't change places until Stage 13 whenJens Voigt andÓscar Pereiro outlastedManuel Quinziato andSylvain Chavanel in a four-man breakaway that finished about 30 minutes ahead of thePeloton. Pereiro jumped everyone to take the overall lead by about 1:30 over Landis and Dessel and around 2:30 ahead of Menchov and Evans with Sastre over 3:00 back.
The situation remained the same after Stage 14, but in Stage 15 from Col d'Izoard toAlpe d'Huez the race blew apart withFränk Schleck winning the stage and among the GC riders Landis and Kloden winning considerable time on everyone but one another. Landis was back in Yellow by a thread of :10 with the 3rd through 7th place riders of Dessel, Menchov, Sastre, Kloden and Evans each within only three minutes of Landis and Pereiro. Stage 16 was won byMichael Rasmussen as Pereiro took over the race lead with Sastre jumping up to 2nd, Kloden taking over 3rd and Landis coming entirely unhinged and dropping outside the top 10.
In Stage 17 however, Landis made the potentially catastrophic decision to attack off the front of the Peloton entirely on his own over 100 km from the finish in pursuit of the morning Breakaway bunch. Before long he caught the escapees, rode with the break for a while, then attacked off the front with onlyPatrice Halgand andPatrik Sinkewitz able to stay with him for any length of time, though without doing any work being as Halgand was nearly cooked, and Sinkewitz was teammates with two riders placed higher than Landis in Kloden andMichael Rogers. Landis won the stage with Sastre finishing nearly six minutes back and Pereiro finishing over seven minutes back barely hanging onto the maillot jaune by :30 overFloyd Landis and :12 overCarlos Sastre. At this point in the Tour, Kloden, Evans, Menchov and Dessel were all within 5:00 of the Yellow Jersey; not since the1987 Tour de France had even five riders been within 5:00 of the overall lead this late in the race.
Stage 18 there were no serious (Cat-1 or HC) climbs andMatteo Tosatto won the Sprint with no change in the overall situation. The Stage 19 ITT would decide the race and Gonchar would win his second stage of the Tour putting in the fastest ride of the day. Floyd Landis won the 2006 TDF by defeating all of the other GC Contenders except for Kloden taking the Yellow Jersey back for the 3rd and final time. Pereiro finished 2nd overall at 0:59 back, Kloden rounded out the podium at plus 1:29, Sastre was 4th over three minutes behind and Cadel Evans finished 5th just over 5:00 slower than Landis.[13][14]
This was the first TDF since the first retirement ofLance Armstrong and to the majority of American fans doping by contending riders was thought of as a rare occurrence that just didn't happen even though in reality many GC Contenders, Sprinters andDomestiques of the Armstrong Era, as well as previous eras admitted to doping or were implicated in some form of doping incident. Landis would be stripped of his only Tour de France victory soon after winning it following a confirmed failed drug test after Stage 17 and Óscar Pereiro would be declared the winner.
2006 Tour de France winnerÓscar Pereiro was an incredibly talented athlete who finished 10th, 1st, 10th and 10th in the four TDF's that he finished and even scored a goal apiece in the two professional soccer games he played in. He initially failed a drug test in this Tour de France as well, but was cleared after providing sufficient medical evidence that he had a legitimate medical reason for taking the substance he failed for.
Despite Landis having this entire TDF vacated for doping, among some modern riders and fans when a GC rider attacks and finishes a seemingly impossible solo breakaway, asChris Froome did in Stage 19 of the 2018 Giro, it is referred to as "Doing a Landis".[15]
This was initially the closest three-way finish in the race's history to date. Floyd's final time was 89h 39'30". While Landis was a leading favourite even before the Spanish doping scandal came to light,[16] in an epic eight-minute loss of performance inStage 16, it appeared he had lost all hope to finish on the podium, much less win.
But the following day, duringStage 17, Landis set a very high pace on the first climb of the day that no other rider could match. He then caught abreakaway 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 behindyellow jersey wearerÓscar Pereiro, which he made up with an extra minute in the finalStage 19 time trial.
A urine sample taken from Landis immediately after his Stage 17 win has twice tested positive for banned synthetictestosterone as well as a ratio oftestosterone toepitestosterone nearly three times the limit allowed byWorld Anti-Doping Agency rules.[17] Landis indicated that he would appeal the test results with theCourt of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.[18]
On 20 September 2007, Landis' doping accusation was upheld by an arbitration panel deciding between him andUSADA and will be banned for two years. In response to this, theUCI formally stripped him of his 2006 Tour de France title. Second place finisherÓscar Pereiro was officially declared the winner.[19] The only previous Tour de France winner to be disqualified was1904 Tour de France winnerMaurice Garin.
Not long after getting surgery for his hip, while still on crutches, Landis briefly participated in a 2008 documentary film about steroids and performance-enhancing drugs titledBigger, Stronger, Faster*. During his brief interview he showed the homemade altitude chamber he slept in, which by the time of the documentary was kept on the ground outside his garage. He stated that he slept at an altitude of 13,000 feet, felt proud of what he accomplished in the 2006 Tour and at that time, still considered himself the winner.
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There were four main individual classifications contested in the 2006 Tour de France, as well as a team competition. The most important was thegeneral classification, which was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage.[20] There time bonuses given at the end of eachmass start stage.[21] If a crash had happened within the final 3 km (1.9 mi) of a stage, not including time trials and summit finishes, the riders involved would have received the same time as the group they were in when the crash occurred.[22] The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Tour.[20] The rider leading the classification wore a yellow jersey.[23]
The second classification was thepoints classification. Riders received points for finishing in the highest positions in a stage finish, or inintermediate sprints during the stage. The points available for each stage finish were determined by the stage's type.[24] The leader was identified by a green jersey.[23]
The third classification was themountains classification. Most stages of the race included one or more categorised climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first. The climbs were categorised as fourth-, third-, second- or first-category andhors catégorie, with the more difficult climbs rated lower.[25] The leader wore a white jersey with redpolka dots.[23]
The final individual classification was theyoung rider classification. This was calculated the same way as the general classification, but the classification was restricted to riders who were born on or after 1 January 1981.[25] The leader wore a white jersey.[23]
The final classification was ateam classification. This was calculated using the finishing times of the best three riders per team on each stage; the leading team was the team with the lowest cumulative time. The number of stage victories and placings per team determined the outcome of a tie.[26] The riders in the team that lead this classification were for the first time identified with yellow number bibs on the back of their jerseys.[23]
In addition, there was acombativity award given after each mass start stage to the rider considered, by a jury, to have "made the greatest effort and who has demonstrated the best qualities of sportsmanship".[21] The winner wore a red number bib the following stage.[23] At the conclusion of the Tour,David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval–Prodir) was given the overall super-combativity award.[27]
There were also two special awards each with a prize of €5000, theSouvenir Henri Desgrange, given in honour of Tour founder and first race directorHenri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of theCol du Galibier on stage 16, and theSouvenir Jacques Goddet, given in honour of the second directorJacques Goddet to the first rider to pass the summit of theCol du Tourmalet on stage 11.[28] Michael Rasmussen won the Henri Desgrange and de la Fuente won the Jacques Goddet.[29][30]
| Legend | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Denotes the winner of thegeneral classification[23] |  | Denotes the winner of thepoints classification[23] |
 | Denotes the winner of themountains classification[23] |  | Denotes the winner of theyoung rider classification[23] |
 | Denotes the winner of theteam classification[23] |  | Denotes the winner of thesuper-combativity award[23] |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSQ |  Floyd Landis (USA) | ||
| 1 | Óscar Pereiro (ESP) | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | 89h 40' 27" |
| 2 | Andreas Klöden (GER) | T-Mobile Team | + 0' 32" |
| 3 | Carlos Sastre (ESP) | Team CSC | + 2' 16" |
| 4 | Cadel Evans (AUS) | Davitamon–Lotto | + 4' 11" |
| 5 | Denis Menchov (RUS) | Rabobank | + 6' 09" |
| 6 | Cyril Dessel (FRA) | AG2R Prévoyance | + 7' 44" |
| 7 | Christophe Moreau (FRA) | AG2R Prévoyance | + 8' 40" |
| 8 | Haimar Zubeldia (ESP) | Euskaltel–Euskadi | + 11' 08" |
| 9 | Michael Rogers (AUS) | T-Mobile Team | + 14' 10" |
| 10 | Fränk Schleck (LUX) | Team CSC | + 16' 49" |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robbie McEwen (AUS) | Davitamon–Lotto | 288 |
| 2 | Erik Zabel (GER) | Team Milram | 199 |
| 3 | Thor Hushovd (NOR) | Crédit Agricole | 195 |
| 4 |  Bernhard Eisel (AUT) | Française des Jeux | 176 |
| 5 | Luca Paolini (ITA) | Liquigas | 174 |
| 6 | Iñaki Isasi (ESP) | Euskaltel–Euskadi | 130 |
| 7 | Francisco Ventoso (ESP) | Saunier Duval–Prodir | 128 |
| 8 | Cristian Moreni (ITA) | Cofidis | 116 |
| 9 | Jimmy Casper (FRA) | Cofidis | 98 |
| 10 | Óscar Pereiro (ESP) | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | 88 |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Rasmussen (DEN) | Rabobank | 166 |
| 2 | David de la Fuente (ESP) | Saunier Duval–Prodir | 113 |
| 3 | Carlos Sastre (ESP) | Team CSC | 99 |
| 4 | Fränk Schleck (LUX) | Team CSC | 96 |
| DSQ |  | ||
| 6 | Damiano Cunego (ITA) | Lampre–Fondital | 80 |
| 7 | Cyril Dessel (FRA) | AG2R Prévoyance | 72 |
| DSQ | | ||
| 9 | Andreas Klöden (GER) | T-Mobile Team | 64 |
| 10 | Óscar Pereiro (ESP) | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | 63 |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damiano Cunego (ITA) | Lampre–Fondital | 89h 58' 49" |
| 2 | Markus Fothen (GER) | Team Gerolsteiner | + 38" |
| 3 | Matthieu Sprick (FRA) | Bouygues Télécom | + 1h 29' 12" |
| 4 | David de la Fuente (ESP) | Saunier Duval–Prodir | + 1h 36' 00" |
| 5 | Moisés Dueñas (ESP) | Agritubel | + 1h 48' 40" |
| 6 |  Thomas Lövkvist (SWE) | Française des Jeux | + 1h 52' 54" |
| 7 | Francisco Ventoso (ESP) | Saunier Duval–Prodir | + 2h 22' 03" |
| 8 | Joost Posthuma (NED) | Rabobank | + 2h 32' 41" |
| 9 | Benoît Vaugrenard (FRA) | Française des Jeux | + 2h 33' 12" |
| 10 | Pieter Weening (NED) | Rabobank | + 2h 36' 44" |
| Rank | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | T-Mobile Team | 269h 08' 46" |
| 2 | Team CSC | + 17' 04" |
| 3 | Rabobank | + 23' 26" |
| 4 | AG2R Prévoyance | + 33' 19" |
| 5 | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | + 56' 53" |
| 6 | Lampre–Fondital | + 57' 37" |
| 7 | Team Gerolsteiner | + 1h 45' 25" |
| 8 | Discovery Channel | + 2h 19' 17" |
| 9 | Euskaltel–Euskadi | + 2h 26' 38" |
| 10 | Phonak Hearing Systems | + 2h 49' 06"* |
The violation of the UCI Rules having occurred as a result of an In-Competition test will result under UCI Articles 256 and 257.2 in the automatic disqualification of the Athlete's results in the 2006 Tour de France and forfeiture of any medals, points or prizes.
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