2006 Tour de France

2006 Tour de France
2006 UCI ProTour, race 17 of 27
Route of the 2006 Tour de France
Race details
Dates 1–23 July
Stages 21
Distance 3,657 km (2,272 mi)
Winning time 89h 40' 27"
Results
Jersey awarded to the overall winner Winner  Óscar Pereiro (ESP) (Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears)
  Second  Andreas Klöden (GER) (T-Mobile Team)
  Third  Carlos Sastre (ESP) (Team CSC)
Points  Robbie McEwen (AUS) (Davitamon–Lotto)
Mountains  Michael Rasmussen (DEN) (Rabobank)
Youth  Damiano Cunego (ITA) (Lampre–Fondital)
Combativity  David de la Fuente (ESP) (Saunier Duval–Prodir)
Team T-Mobile Team

The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took between 1 July to 23 July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis. Due to United States Anti-Doping Agency announcing in August 2012 that they had disqualified Lance Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from 1999–2005, this is the first Tour to have an overall winner since 1998.

The Tour began with a prologue in Strasbourg, on the French-German border, and ended on Sunday July 23 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 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 apparent winner, Floyd Landis, was found to have failed a drug test after stage 17; Landis contested the result and demanded arbitration. On September 20, 2007, Landis was found guilty and suspended retroactive to January 30, 2007 and stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title making Óscar Pereiro the title holder.[1] Landis appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which upheld the ban.

Teams

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 and Alberto 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 his Astana-Würth Team fell below the minimum starting requirement of six. Because of this and the retirement of then-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.

The teams entering the race were:

Pre-race favourites

After the retirement of then 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 June 30 after UCI told T-Mobile and Team CSC that the riders were involved in the anti-doping investigation in Spain.[2] 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 Tour de France, in June 2004.

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, 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.[3]

Route and stages

Stage characteristics and winners[4][5][6]
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 to Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg) 228.5 km (142 mi) Flat stage  Robbie McEwen (AUS)
3 4 July Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg) to Valkenburg (Netherlands) 216.5 km (135 mi) Hilly stage  Matthias Kessler (GER)
4 5 July Huy (Belgium) to Saint-Quentin 207.0 km (129 mi) Flat stage  Robbie McEwen (AUS)
5 6 July Beauvais to Caen 225.0 km (140 mi) Flat stage  Óscar Freire (ESP)
6 7 July Lisieux to Vitré 189.0 km (117 mi) Flat stage  Robbie McEwen (AUS)
7 8 July Saint Grégoire to Rennes 52.0 km (32 mi) Individual time trial  Serhiy Honchar (UKR)
8 9 July Saint-Méen-le-Grand to Lorient 181.0 km (112 mi) Flat stage  Sylvain Calzati (FRA)
10 July Bordeaux Rest day
9 11 July Bordeaux to Dax 169.5 km (105 mi) Flat stage  Óscar Freire (ESP)
10 12 July Cambo-les-Bains to Pau 190.5 km (118 mi) Mountain stage  Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP)
11 13 July Tarbes to Val d'Aran/Pla-de-Beret 206.5 km (128 mi) Mountain stage  Denis Menchov (RUS)
12 14 July Luchon to Carcassonne 211.5 km (131 mi) Hilly stage  Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)
13 15 July Béziers to Montélimar 230.0 km (143 mi) Flat stage  Jens Voigt (GER)
14 16 July Montélimar to Gap 180.5 km (112 mi) Hilly stage  Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA)
17 July Gap Rest day
15 18 July Gap to Alpe d'Huez 187.0 km (116 mi) Mountain stage  Fränk Schleck (LUX)
16 19 July Le Bourg-d'Oisans to La Toussuire 182.0 km (113 mi) Mountain stage  Michael Rasmussen (DEN)
17 20 July Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Morzine 200.5 km (125 mi) Mountain stage  Carlos Sastre (ESP)
18 21 July Morzine to Mâcon 197.0 km (122 mi) Flat stage  Matteo Tosatto (ITA)
19 22 July Le Creusot to Montceau-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)[7]

Race overview

Riders from Phonak during stage two

Due to the developing doping case known as Operacion Puerto several top tier riders were denied entry to the 2006 Tour including Jan Ullrich, Joseba Beloki, Alberto Contador, Ivan Basso and indirectly, as his team did not have enough eligible riders, Alexander Vinokourov. The Prologue was won by Thor Hushovd and over the first few flat stages Robbie 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 the Yellow Jersey, which he held until the ITT in Stage 7.

The ITT was won handily by Serhiy Gonchar who claimed the Maillot Jaune with Floyd 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 and Andreas Kloden. 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 with Juan Miguel Mercado winning the stage and moving into 2nd place overall and Cyril 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 categorized climbs. It was won by Dennis Menchov with Levi Leipheimer and Floyd 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 and Carlos 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 by Yaroslav Popovych who jumped from outside the top 20 to tenth place overall.

The top GC Contenders wouldn't change places until Stage 13 when Jens Voigt and Oscar Pereiro outlasted Manuel Quinziato and Sylvain Chavanel in four escapee breakaway that finished ahead of the Peloton by about six minutes. 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 to Alpe d'Huez the race blew apart with Frank 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 by Michael 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 100km 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 only Patrik Sinkewitz able to stay with him for any length of time, though without doing any work being as he was teammates with two riders placed higher than Landis in Kloden and Michael 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 over Floyd Landis and :12 over Carlos Sastre. Amazingly at this point in the Tour Kloden, Evans, Menchov and Dessel were all within 5:00 of the Yellow Jersey. Not since the 1987 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 and Matteo 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. [8]

Doping

This was the first TDF since the first retirement of Lance 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 and Domestiques 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 Oscar Pereiro would be declared the winner.

2006 Tour de France winner Oscar 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, as Chris Froome did in Stage 19 of the 2018 Giro, it is referred to as "Doing a Landis”. [9]

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 favorite even before the Spanish doping scandal came to light,[10] 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, which he made up with an extra minute in the final Stage 19 time trial.

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.[11] Landis indicated that he would appeal the test results with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.[12]

On September 20, 2007, Landis' doping accusation was upheld by an arbitration panel deciding between him and USADA and will be banned for two years. In response to this, the UCI formally stripped him of his 2006 Tour de France title. Second place finisher Óscar Pereiro was officially declared the winner.[13] The only previous Tour de France winner to be disqualified was 1904 Tour de France winner Maurice Garin.

Classification leadership

Classification leadership by stage
Stage Winner General classification
Yellow jersey		 Points classification
Green jersey		 Mountains classification
Polkadot jersey		 Young rider classification
White jersey		 Team classification
Jersey with yellow number		 Combativity award
Jersey with red number
P Thor Hushovd Thor Hushovd Thor Hushovd no award Joost Posthuma Discovery Channel no award
1 Jimmy Casper George Hincapie Jimmy Casper Fabian Wegmann Benoît Vaugrenard Walter Bénéteau
2 Robbie McEwen Thor Hushovd Robbie McEwen David de la Fuente David de la Fuente
3 Matthias Kessler Tom Boonen Tom Boonen Jérôme Pineau Markus Fothen José Luis Arrieta
4 Robbie McEwen Robbie McEwen Egoi Martínez
5 Óscar Freire Samuel Dumoulin
6 Robbie McEwen Benoît Vaugrenard Anthony Geslin
7 Serhiy Honchar Serhiy Honchar Markus Fothen T-Mobile Team no award
8 Sylvain Calzati Sylvain Calzati
9 Óscar Freire Christian Knees
10 Juan Miguel Mercado Cyril Dessel Cyril Dessel AG2R Prévoyance Juan Miguel Mercado
11 Denis Menchov Floyd Landis David de la Fuente T-Mobile Team David de la Fuente
12 Yaroslav Popovych Daniele Bennati
13 Jens Voigt Óscar Pereiro Team CSC Jens Voigt
14 Pierrick Fédrigo Salvatore Commesso
15 Fränk Schleck Floyd Landis Stefano Garzelli
16 Michael Rasmussen Óscar Pereiro Michael Rasmussen Michael Rasmussen
17 Floyd Landis Carlos Sastre Damiano Cunego T-Mobile Team Floyd Landis
18 Matteo Tosatto Levi Leipheimer
19 Serhiy Honchar no award
20 Thor Hushovd Aitor Hernández
Final Floyd Landis
Óscar Pereiro		 Robbie McEwen Michael Rasmussen Damiano Cunego T-Mobile Team David de la Fuente

  • In stage 1, George Hincapie wore the green jersey.
  • In stage 4, Daniele Bennati wore the green jersey.
  • In stage 11, Juan Miguel Mercado wore the polka-dot jersey
  • Stage 17 was originally won by Floyd Landis, who also wore the yellow jersey on the 19th and 20th stage. After the court's decision[14] to forfeit all his results in the 2006 Tour de France, Carlos Sastre became the winner of the 17th stage, and Cyril Dessel and Óscar Pereiro should be considered having led the general classification as shown in the table.

Final standings

Legend
A yellow jersey. Denotes the winner of the general classification[15] A green jersey. Denotes the winner of the points classification[15]
A white jersey with red polka dots. Denotes the winner of the mountains classification[15] A white jersey. Denotes the winner of the young rider classification[15]
A white jersey with a yellow number bib. Denotes the winner of the team classification[15] A white jersey with a red number bib. Denotes the winner of the super-combativity award[15]

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)[5]
Rank Rider Team Time
DSQ Floyd Landis (USA)Phonak89h 39' 30"
1 Óscar Pereiro (ESP) A yellow jersey.Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears89h 40' 27"
2 Andreas Klöden (GER) A white jersey with a yellow number bib.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) A white jersey with a yellow number bib.T-Mobile Team+ 14' 10"
10 Fränk Schleck (LUX)Team CSC+ 16' 49"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–10)
RankRiderTeamPoints
1 Robbie McEwen (AUS) A green jersey.Davitamon–Lotto288
2 Erik Zabel (GER)Team Milram199
3 Thor Hushovd (NOR)Crédit Agricole195
4 Bernhard Eisel (AUT)Française des Jeux176
5 Luca Paolini (ITA)Liquigas174
6 Iñaki Isasi (ESP)Euskaltel–Euskadi130
7 Francisco Ventoso (ESP)Saunier Duval–Prodir128
8 Cristian Moreni (ITA)Cofidis116
9 Jimmy Casper (FRA)Cofidis98
10 Óscar Pereiro (ESP) A yellow jersey.Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears88

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)
RankRiderTeamPoints
1 Michael Rasmussen (DEN) A white jersey with red polka dots.Rabobank166
2 David de la Fuente (ESP) A white jersey with a red number bib.Saunier Duval–Prodir113
3 Carlos Sastre (ESP)Team CSC99
4 Fränk Schleck (LUX)Team CSC96
5 Michael Boogerd (NED)Rabobank93
6 Damiano Cunego (ITA) A white jersey.Lampre–Fondital80
7 Cyril Dessel (FRA)AG2R Prévoyance72
DSQ Levi Leipheimer (USA)Team Gerolsteiner66
9 Andreas Klöden (GER)T-Mobile Team64
10 Óscar Pereiro (ESP) A yellow jersey.Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears63

Young rider classification

Final young rider classification (1–10)
RankRiderTeamTime
1 Damiano Cunego (ITA) A white jersey.Lampre–Fondital89h 58' 49"
2 Markus Fothen (GER)Team Gerolsteiner+ 38"
3 Matthieu Sprick (FRA)Bouygues Télécom+ 1h 29' 12"
4 David de la Fuente (ESP) A white jersey with a red number bib.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"

Team classification

Final team classification (1–10)
RankTeamTime
1T-Mobile Team A white jersey with a yellow number bib.269h 08' 46"
2Team CSC+ 17' 04"
3Rabobank+ 23' 26"
4AG2R Prévoyance+ 33' 19"
5Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears+ 56' 53"
6Lampre–Fondital+ 57' 37"
7Team Gerolsteiner+ 1h 45' 25"
8Discovery Channel+ 2h 19' 17"
9Euskaltel–Euskadi+ 2h 26' 38"
10Phonak Hearing Systems+ 2h 49' 06"*

See also

References

  1. ↑ "'I am innocent,' Landis says after losing verdict". MSNBC. 2007-09-20. Archived from the original on 2007-10-05.
  2. ↑ Ullrich and Basso out of Le Tour, from BBC. Retrieved June 30, 2006.
  3. ↑ "Bookies react quickly to Tour scandal". velonews. 2006. Archived from the original on 17 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
  4. ↑ Augendre 2016, p. 97.
  5. 1 2 "93ème Tour de France 2006" (in French). Mémoire du cyclisme. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  6. ↑ Zwegers, Arian. "Tour de France GC Top Ten". CVCCBike.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  7. ↑ Augendre 2016, p. 110.
  8. ↑ http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/tdf/tdf2006.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bennett-defends-his-froome-did-a-landis-comments/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ "Tour de France 2006: Floyd Landis". Outside Online. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  11. ↑ Macur, Juliet (2006-08-05). "Backup Sample on Landis Is Positive". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
  12. ↑ Larry Fine (2008-03-24). "Landis appeal hearing ends, decision expected in June". Reuters.
  13. ↑ "Backup Sample on Landis Is Positive". Velonews. 2007-09-20.
  14. ↑ "United States Anti-Doping Agency vs Floyd Landis" (PDF). UNITED STATES ANTI-DOPING AGENCY. 2007-09-20. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 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.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Race regulations 2006, pp. 5–6.

Sources

  • Augendre, Jacques (2016). Guide historique [Historical guide] (PDF). Tour de France (in French). Paris: Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  • Race regulations (PDF). Tour de France. Paris: Amaury Sport Organisation. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2006. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
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