2006 Tour de France

2006
Race details

Tour de France 2006 - Course Outline
Dates	July 1–July 23, 2006
Stages	21
Distance	3,639 km (2,261 mi)
Winning time	89h 40' 27" (40.789 km/h/25.345 mph)
Palmarès
Winner	Óscar Pereiro	(Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears)
Second	Andreas Klöden	(T-Mobile Team)
Third	Carlos Sastre	(Team CSC)

Points	Robbie McEwen	(Davitamon-Lotto)
Mountains	Michael Rasmussen	(Rabobank)
Youth	Damiano Cunego	(Lampre-Fondital)
Team	T-Mobile Team

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.^[1] Landis appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which upheld the ban.

1 Drugs controversy before the Tour
2 Initial results
3 Stages
- 3.1 Stage recaps
- 3.2 Jersey progress
4 Overall standings
5 Teams and riders
- 5.1 Pre-race favourites
- 5.2 Withdrawals
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

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.

The 2006 Tour de France

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^[2], 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.

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.^[3] Landis has indicated that he will appeal the test results with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.^[4]

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. ^[5] The only previous Tour de France winners to be disqualified were 1904 Tour de France winner Maurice Garin.

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

Stage recaps

See:

2006 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11
2006 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 20

Jersey progress

Stage	Winner	General classification Maillot jaune	Mountains classification Maillot à pois rouges	Points classification Maillot vert	Young rider classification Maillot blanc	Team Classification	Combativity award Prix de combativité
P (ITT)	Thor Hushovd	Thor Hushovd	N/A	Thor Hushovd	Joost Posthuma	Discovery Channel	N/A
1	Jimmy Casper	George Hincapie	Fabian Wegmann	Jimmy Casper	Benoît Vaugrenard		Walter Beneteau
2	Robbie McEwen	Thor Hushovd	David de la Fuente	Robbie McEwen	Benoît Vaugrenard		David de la Fuente
3	Matthias Kessler	Tom Boonen	Jérôme Pineau	Tom Boonen	Markus Fothen		José Luis Arrieta
4	Robbie McEwen			Robbie McEwen			Egoi Martinez
5	Óscar Freire						Samuel Dumoulin
6	Robbie McEwen				Benoît Vaugrenard		Anthony Geslin
7 (ITT)	Serhiy Honchar	Serhiy Honchar			Markus Fothen	T-Mobile Team	N/A
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	Floyd Landis				T-Mobile Team	Daniele Bennati
13	Jens Voigt	Óscar Pereiro				Team CSC	Jens Voigt
14	Pierrick Fédrigo	Óscar Pereiro					Salvatore Commesso
15	Fränk Schleck	Floyd Landis					Stefano Garzelli
16	Michael Rasmussen	Óscar Pereiro	Michael Rasmussen				Michael Rasmussen
17	Carlos Sastre				Damiano Cunego	T-Mobile Team	Floyd Landis
18	Matteo Tosatto						Levi Leipheimer
19 (ITT)	Serhiy Honchar	Floyd Landis					N/A
20	Thor Hushovd	Floyd Landis					Aitor Hernandez
Final		Óscar Pereiro	Michael Rasmussen	Robbie McEwen	Damiano Cunego	T-Mobile Team	David de la Fuente

Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions

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

Overall standings

The light blue background indicates the wearer of the white jersey.

General Classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Óscar Pereiro	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	89h 40' 27"
2	Andreas Klöden	T-Mobile Team	+ 32"
3	Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	+ 2' 16"
4	Cadel Evans	Davitamon-Lotto	+ 4' 11"
5	Denis Menchov	Rabobank	+ 6' 09"
6	Cyril Dessel	AG2R Prévoyance	+ 7' 44"
7	Christophe Moreau	AG2R Prévoyance	+ 8' 40"
8	Haimar Zubeldia	Euskaltel-Euskadi	+ 11' 08"
9	Michael Rogers	T-Mobile Team	+ 14' 10"
10	Fränk Schleck	Team CSC	+ 16' 49"

General Classification (11–138)
11	Damiano Cunego	Lampre-Fondital	19' 19"
12	Levi Leipheimer	Team Gerolsteiner	19' 22"
13	Michael Boogerd	Rabobank	19' 46"
14	Marcus Fothen	Team Gerolsteiner	19' 57"
15	Pietro Caucchioli	Crédit Agricole	21'12"
16	Tadej Valjavec	Lampre-Fondital	26' 25"
17	Michael Rasmussen	Rabobank	28' 33"
18	José Azevedo	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	38' 08"
19	Marzio Bruseghin	Lampre-Fondital	43' 05"
20	David Arroyo	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	44' 00"
21	Patxi Vila Errandonea	Lampre-Fondital	44' 28"
22	Patrik Sinkewitz	T-Mobile Team	49' 01"
23	Christian Vandevelde	Team CSC	50' 19"
24	Yaroslav Popovych	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	52' 02"
25	Giuseppe Guerini	T-Mobile Team	57' 59"
26	Eddy Mazzoleni	T-Mobile Team	1h 02' 40"
27	José Luis Arrieta	AG2R Prévoyance	1h 03' 00"
28	Pierrick Fedrigo	Bouygues Télécom	1h 05' 27"
29	Vladimir Karpets	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	1h 07' 18"
30	Axel Merckx	Phonak Hearing Systems	1h 09' 28"
31	George Hincapie	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	1h 11' 14"
32	Xabier Zandio	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	1h 16' 47"
33	Sylvain Calzati	AG2R Prévoyance	1h 20' 26"
34	Iker Camaño	Euskaltel-Euskadi	1h 21' 34"
35	Mikel Astarloza	AG2R Prévoyance	1h 24' 26"
36	Stephane Goubert	AG2R Prévoyance	1h 28' 33"
37	Laurent Lefevre	Bouygues Télécom	1h 30' 24"
38	Benoît Salmon	Agritubel	1h 30' 55"
39	Christophe Brandt	Davitamon-Lotto	1h 34' 24"
40	Christophe Rinero	Saunier Duval-Prodir	1h 34' 59"
41	Egoi Martínez	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	1h 35' 12"
42	Iván Parra	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	1h 37' 09"
43	Cristian Moreni	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	1h 38' 07"
44	Sylvain Chavanel	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	1h 40' 05"
45	Rubén Lobato	Saunier Duval-Prodir	1h 40' 52"
46	Georg Totschnig	Team Gerolsteiner	1h 42' 55"
47	Patrice Halgand	Crédit Agricole	1h 43' 03"
48	Alexandre Botcharov	Crédit Agricole	1h 44' 46"
49	Iñigo Landaluze	Euskaltel-Euskadi	1h 48' 22"
50	Matthieu Sprick	Bouygues Télécom	1h 48' 31"
51	Serhiy Honchar	T-Mobile Team	1h 49' 22"
52	Jens Voigt	Team CSC	1h 50' 41"
53	Matthias Kessler	T-Mobile Team	1h 52' 03"
54	Stefano Garzelli	Liquigas	1h 53' 55"
55	David De La Fuente	Saunier Duval-Prodir	1h 55' 19"
56	Salvatore Commesso	Lampre-Fondital	1h 56' 55"
57	David Moncoutié	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	2h 03' 10"
58	David Millar	Saunier Duval-Prodir	2h 04' 10"
59	Gilberto Simoni	Saunier Duval-Prodir	2h 07' 18"
60	Moisés Dueñas	Agritubel	2h 07' 59"
61	Koos Moerenhout	Phonak Hearing Systems	2h 09' 03"
62	Thomas Lövkvist	Française des Jeux	2h 12' 13"
63	Christopher Horner	Davitamon-Lotto	2h 12' 25"
64	Pavel Padrnos	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	2h 16' 45"
65	Sebastian Lang	Team Gerolsteiner	2h 25' 15"
66	Alessandro Ballan	Lampre-Fondital	2h 26' 34"
67	Fabian Wegmann	Team Gerolsteiner	2h 27' 17"
68	Sandy Casar	Française des Jeux	2h 28' 34"
69	Paolo Tiralongo	Lampre-Fondital	2h 32' 08"
70	Iñaki Isasi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	2h 32' 36"
71	Juan Manuel Gárate	Quick Step-Innergetic	2h 32' 47"
72	Didier Rous	Bouygues Télécom	2h 32' 54"
73	David Zabriskie	Team CSC	2h 33' 46"
74	Gorka Verdugo	Euskaltel-Euskadi	2h 33' 52"
75	Christophe Le Mével	Crédit Agricole	2h 34' 24"
76	Carlos Da Cruz	Française des Jeux	2h 40' 01"
77	Francisco Ventoso	Saunier Duval-Prodir	2h 41' 22"
78	Simon Gerrans	AG2R Prévoyance	2h 46' 33"
79	Manuel Quinziato	Liquigas	2h 47' 33"
80	Björn Schröder	Team Milram	2h 47' 48"
81	Juan Antonio Flecha	Rabobank	2h 49' 53"
82	Jérôme Pineau	Bouygues Télécom	2h 51' 22"
83	Viatcheslav Ekimov	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	2h 51' 33"
84	Joost Posthuma	Rabobank	2h 52' 00"
85	Erik Zabel	Team Milram	2h 52' 13"
86	Benoît Vaugrenard	Française des Jeux	2h 52' 31"
87	Anthony Geslin	Bouygues Télécom	2h 52' 31"
88	Thomas Voeckler	Bouygues Télécom	2h 52' 57"
89	Manuel Calvente	Agritubel	2h 53' 27"
90	Stuart O'Grady	Team CSC	2h 55' 25"
91	José Luis Rubiera	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	2h 55' 44"
92	Pieter Weening	Rabobank	2h 56' 03"
93	Bram Tankink	Quick Step-Innergetic	2h 57' 02"
94	Cédric Vasseur	Quick Step-Innergetic	2h 58' 55"
95	Ronny Scholz	Team Gerolsteiner	3h 00' 48"
96	Alexandre Moos	Phonak Hearing Systems	3h 01' 34"
97	Riccardo Ricco	Saunier Duval-Prodir	3h 01' 37"
98	Marco Velo	Team Milram	3h 02' 09"
99	Nicolas Portal	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	3h 02' 20"
100	Luca Paolini	Liquigas	3h 04' 18"
101	Ralf Grabsch	Team Milram	3h 04' 21"
102	Nicolas Jalabert	Phonak Hearing Systems	3h 05' 05"
103	Christian Knees	Team Milram	3h 05' 58"
104	Gustav Larsson	Française des Jeux	3h 06' 14"
105	Mario Aerts	Davitamon-Lotto	3h 06' 26"
106	Bert Grabsch	Phonak Hearing Systems	3h 08' 23"
107	Bernhard Eisel	Française des Jeux	3h 08' 59"
108	Daniele Righi	Lampre-Fondital	3h 12' 51"
109	Philippe Gilbert	Française des Jeux	3h 13' 03"
110	Walter Bénéteau	Bouygues Télécom	3h 15' 41"
111	Johan Vansummeren	Davitamon-Lotto	3h 18' 44"
112	Sébastien Hinault	Crédit Agricole	3h 19' 15"
113	Anthony Charteau	Crédit Agricole	3h 20' 29"
114	Vicente Garcia Acosta	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	3h 20' 32"
115	Robbie McEwen	Davitamon-Lotto	3h 21' 01"
116	Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez	Agritubel	3h 21' 27"
117	Michael Albasini	Liquigas	3h 21' 34"
118	Matej Mugerli	Liquigas	3h 21' 48"
119	Samuel Dumoulin	AG2R Prévoyance	3h 22' 15"
120	Thor Hushovd	Crédit Agricole	3h 23' 52"
121	Víctor Hugo Peña	Phonak Hearing Systems	3h 24' 36"
122	Stéphane Augé	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	3h 25' 19"
123	Bradley Wiggins	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	3h 25' 32"
124	Matteo Tosatto	Quick Step-Innergetic	3h 25' 54"
125	Christophe Laurent	Agritubel	3h 26' 23"
126	Unai Extebarria	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3h 30' 12"
127	Julian Dean	Crédit Agricole	3h 30' 33"
128	Patrick Calcagni	Liquigas	3h 33' 28"
129	Arnaud Coyot	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	3h 35' 34"
130	Christophe Mengin	Française des Jeux	3h 35' 52"
131	Kjell Carlström	Liquigas	3h 35' 53"
132	Filippo Pozzato	Quick Step-Innergetic	3h 37' 06"
133	Cédric Coutouly	Agritubel	3h 39' 00"
134	Peter Wrolich	Team Gerolsteiner	3h 39' 20"
135	Aitor Hernandez	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3h 50' 16"
136	Gert Steegmans	Davitamon-Lotto	3h 59' 16"
137	Jimmy Casper	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	4h 00' 05"
138	Wim Vansevenant	Davitamon-Lotto	4h 02' 01"

Points Classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Robbie McEwen	Davitamon-Lotto	288
2	Erik Zabel	Team Milram	199
3	Thor Hushovd	Crédit Agricole	195
4	Bernhard Eisel	Française des Jeux	176
5	Luca Paolini	Liquigas	174
6	Iñaki Isasi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	130
7	Francisco Ventoso	Saunier Duval-Prodir	128
8	Cristian Moreni	Cofidis, le Crédit par Téléphone	116
9	Jimmy Casper	Cofidis, le Crédit par Téléphone	98
10	Óscar Pereiro	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	88

King of the Mountains classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Michael Rasmussen	Rabobank	166
2	David De La Fuente	Saunier Duval-Prodir	113
3	Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	99
4	Fränk Schleck	Team CSC	96
5	Michael Boogerd	Rabobank	93
6	Damiano Cunego	Lampre-Fondital	80
7	Cyril Dessel	AG2R Prévoyance	72
8	Levi Leipheimer	Team Gerolsteiner	66
9	Andreas Klöden	T-Mobile Team	64
10	Óscar Pereiro	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	63

Young Riders' Classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Damiano Cunego	Lampre-Fondital	89h 58' 49"
2	Markus Fothen	Team Gerolsteiner	+ 38"
3	Matthieu Sprick	Bouygues Télécom	+ 1h 29' 12"
4	David De La Fuente	Saunier Duval-Prodir	+ 1h 36' 00"
5	Moisés Dueñas	Agritubel	+ 1h 48' 40"
6	Thomas Lövkvist	Française des Jeux	+ 1h 52' 54"
7	Francisco Ventoso	Saunier Duval-Prodir	+ 2h 22' 03"
8	Joost Posthuma	Rabobank	+ 2h 32' 41"
9	Benoît Vaugrenard	Française des Jeux	+ 2h 33' 12"
10	Pieter Weening	Rabobank	+ 2h 36' 44"

Teams Classification

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 Pro Cycling Team	+ 2h 19' 17"
9	Euskaltel-Euskadi	+ 2h 26' 38"
10	Phonak Hearing Systems	+ 2h 49' 06"*

Teams and riders

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 2006 Tour de France

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 June 30 after UCI told T-Mobile and Team CSC that the riders were involved in the anti-doping investigation in Spain.^[6]

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.^[7]

The main contenders for the podium were those who placed well on GC last year, especially if they have had notable results since:

Team	Rider	Notes
AG2R Prévoyance	Christophe Moreau	11th 2005, 4th 2000; 2nd 2006 Dauphiné Libéré
Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	Óscar Pereiro	10th 2005, "Most combative" 2005;^[8] 14th 2006 Dauphiné Libéré
Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	Alejandro Valverde	DNF 2005; 3rd 2003 Vuelta a España; 1st 2006 Liège-Bastogne-Liège; 1st 2006 La Flèche Wallonne
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	José Azevedo	5th 2004; 6th 2002; 4th 2006 Dauphiné Libéré; 5th 2001 Giro d'Italia
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	George Hincapie	14th 2005; 33rd 2004; 10th 2006 Dauphiné Libéré; only teammate to join Armstrong in all seven victories.
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	Yaroslav Popovych	12th 2005, 2005 maillot blanc; 40th 2006 Dauphiné Libéré
Euskaltel-Euskadi	Iban Mayo	60th 2005; 6th 2003; 15th 2006 Dauphiné Libéré; 1st 2004 Dauphiné Libéré
Team Gerolsteiner	Levi Leipheimer	6th 2005; 1st 2006 Dauphiné Libéré; 1st 2005 Tour of Germany
Lampre-Fondital	Damiano Cunego	4th 2006 Giro d'Italia; 1st 2004 Giro d'Italia
Phonak Hearing Systems	Floyd Landis	9th 2005; 1st 2006 Paris-Nice; 1st 2006 Tour de Georgia; 1st 2006 Amgen Tour of California; 60th 2006 Dauphiné Libéré
Davitamon-Lotto	Cadel Evans	8th 2005; 1st 2006 Tour de Romandie; 10th 2006 Tour of Switzerland
Rabobank	Denis Menchov	85th 2005; 1st 2005 Vuelta a España
Rabobank	Michael Rasmussen	7th 2005, 2005 King of the Mountains
Saunier Duval-Prodir	Gilberto Simoni	3rd 2006 Giro d'Italia; 1st 2001 and 2003 Giro d'Italia.

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.

Withdrawals

	Stage	Rider	Team	Reason
DNS	P	Ivan Basso	Team CSC	Operación Puerto doping case
DNS	P	Jan Ullrich	T-Mobile Team	Operación Puerto doping case
DNS	P	Oscar Sevilla	T-Mobile Team	Operación Puerto doping case
DNS	P	Francisco Mancebo	AG2R Prévoyance	Operación Puerto doping case
DNS	P	Alexander Vinokourov	Astana-Würth	Withdrawn by team
DNS	P	Assan Bazayev	Astana-Würth	Withdrawn by team
DNS	P	Joseba Beloki	Astana-Würth	Operación Puerto doping case
DNS	P	Alberto Contador	Astana-Würth	Operación Puerto doping case
DNS	P	Allan Davis	Astana-Würth	Operación Puerto doping case
DNS	P	Jörg Jaksche	Astana-Würth	Operación Puerto doping case
DNS	P	Andrey Kashechkin	Astana-Würth	Withdrawn by team
DNS	P	Isidro Nozal	Astana-Würth	Operación Puerto doping case
DNS	P	Luis León Sanchez	Astana-Würth	Withdrawn by team
DNS	2	Danilo Di Luca	Liquigas	Urinary infection
DNF	3	Fred Rodriguez	Davitamon-Lotto	Concussion
DNF	3	Erik Dekker	Rabobank	Facial injuries
DNF	3	Alejandro Valverde	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	Fractured collarbone
DNS	6	Fabio Sacchi	Team Milram	Bronchitis
DNF	7	Bobby Julich	Team CSC	Wrist and Thigh Injury
DNS	10	Laurent Brochard	Bouygues Télécom	Back pain
DNF	10	Jimmy Engoulvent	Crédit Agricole	Back pain
DNF	11	Giovanni Lombardi	Team CSC	Stomach problems
DNF	11	Iban Mayo	Euskaltel-Euskadi	Throat infection
DNF	11	Wilfried Cretskens	Quick Step-Innergetic	Family loss (death of grandmother)
DNF	12	Isaac Gálvez	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	Back pain
DNF	12	Jose Alberto Martinez	Agritubel	Back pain
DNF	12	Paolo Savoldelli	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	Off-course accident (crashed into spectator while riding to hotel after stage 11; required stitches to his head)
DNF	12	Benjamín Noval	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	Muscle pain
DNF	12	Samuel Plouhinec	Agritubel	Back pain
DNF	14	Mirko Celestino	Team Milram	Unknown
DNF	14	Magnus Bäckstedt	Liquigas-Bianchi	Cold
DNF	14	David Cañada	Saunier Duval-Prodir	Fractured collarbone
DNF	14	Rik Verbrugghe	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	Broken left leg
DNF	15	Bram de Groot	Rabobank	Knee injury
DNF	15	Tom Boonen	Quick Step-Innergetic	Breathing problems and bacterial infection
DNF	15	Beat Zberg	Team Gerolsteiner	Bronchitis
DNF	15	Andriy Grivko	Team Milram	Unknown
DNF	16	Sebastien Joly	Française des Jeux	Lower back pain
DNF	16	Maxim Iglinskiy	Team Milram	Abrasions and contusions after fall in stage 15
DNF	16	Daniele Bennati	Lampre-Fondital	Thigh injury
DNF	16	Steven de Jongh	Quick Step-Innergetic	Shoulder pain after fall in stage 15
DNF	16	David Kopp	Team Gerolsteiner	Exhaustion
DNS	17	José Rujano	Quick Step-Innergetic	Unknown
DNF	17	Miguel Ángel Martín Perdiguero	Phonak Hearing Systems	Unknown
DNF	17	Juan Miguel Mercado	Agritubel	Exhaustion
DNF	17	José Ángel Gómez Marchante	Saunier Duval-Prodir	Unknown
DNS	18	Óscar Freire	Rabobank	Unknown
DNF	18	David Lopez Garcia	Euskaltel-Euskadi	Unknown
DSQ	19	Robert Hunter	Phonak Hearing Systems	Outside time limit (developed saddle sore which caused him to ride the entire time trial stage out of the saddle)
DNS	20	Florent Brard	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	Broken hand in stage 19

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.

References

↑ "'I am innocent,' Landis says after losing verdict", MSNBC (2007-09-20).
↑ Tour de France 2006: Floyd Landis | Outside Online
↑ "Backup Sample on Landis Is Positive", New York Times (2006-08-05).
↑ [1]
↑ "Backup Sample on Landis Is Positive", Velonews (2007-09-20).
↑ Ullrich and Basso out of Le Tour, from BBC, retrieved June 30, 2006
↑ "Bookies react quickly to Tour scandal". velonews (2006). Retrieved on 2006-06-30. .
↑ cyclingnews.com 2005 Tour final results

External links

(English) Official page
(English) Official Tour de France press releases on Strasbourg
(English) 2006 Tour de France coverage on RoadCycling.com
(French) Press release
http://www.cycling.tv for the live TdF news show everyday.
Tour de France race news from Bicycling Magazine

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