2006 Tour de France

Infobox Cycling race report
name = 2006

---

image_caption = Tour de France 2006 - Course Outline
date = July 1–July 23, 2006
stages = 21
distance = 3639
unit = km
time = 89h 40' 27"
speed = 40.789
first = Óscar Pereiro
first_nat = Spain
first_team = Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
second = Andreas Klöden
second_nat = Germany
second_team = T-Mobile Team
third = Carlos Sastre
third_nat = Spain
third_team = Team CSC
points = Robbie McEwen
points_nat = Australia
points_team = Davitamon-Lotto
mountains = Michael Rasmussen
mountains_nat = Denmark
mountains_team = Rabobank
youth = Damiano Cunego
youth_nat = Italy
youth_team = Lampre-Fondital
team = T-Mobile Team
team_nat = Germany

The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis.

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 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. [cite news |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20889737|title='I am innocent,' Landis says after losing verdict|publisher=MSNBC|date=2007-09-20] Landis appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which upheld the ban.

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 and 2007 champion Alberto Contador. 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.

The initial doping controversy foreshadowed the contested outcome of the 2006 Tour involving the race leader Floyd Landis who was found guilty of doping.

Initial results

American Floyd Landis was initially awarded the victory in the closest three-way finish in the race's history until then.

While Landis was a leading favorite even before the Spanish doping scandal came to light [ [http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200607/tour-de-france-2006-floyd-landis-1.html Tour de France 2006: Floyd Landis | Outside Online ] ] , in an epic eight minute loss of performance in , it appeared he had lost all hope to finish on the podium, much less win.

But the following day, during , 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 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. [cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/sports/05cnd-landis.ready.html|title=Backup Sample on Landis Is Positive|publisher=New York Times|date=2006-08-05] Landis has indicated that he will appeal the test results with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. [ [http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyID=2006-07-27T143058Z_01_L27899000_RTRUKOC_0_US-DOPING-LANDIS.xml] Dead link|date=March 2008]

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, International Cycling Union has formally stripped him of his 2006 Tour de France title. Second place finisher Óscar Pereiro has been officially declared the winner. [cite news |url=http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13354.0.html|title=Backup Sample on Landis Is Positive|publisher=Velonews|date=2007-09-20] The only previous Tour de France winners to be disqualified were 1904 Tour de France winner Maurice Garin.

tages

Points Classification

Teams Classification

* 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.
* No team managed to finish with nine riders. Both AG2R Prévoyance and T-Mobile Team finished intact, however, they began the 93rd Tour with eight and seven riders respectively.

ee also

* List of doping cases in cycling

References

External links

*en icon [http://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/presentation/us/index.html Official page]
*en icon [http://www.letour.fr/2006/presentationus/index.html Official Tour de France press releases on Strasbourg]
*en icon [http://www.roadcycling.com/events/tdf2006/ 2006 Tour de France coverage on RoadCycling.com]
*fr icon [http://www.sport.be/fr/cyclisme/article.html?Article_ID=105602 Press release]
* http://www.cycling.tv for the live TdF news show everyday.
* [http://www.bicycling.com/tourdefrance Tour de France race news from Bicycling Magazine]