le Tour de France, 2006 -
a new era starts

23.07.06 floyd landis wins
what it takes to get to the top - landis

tour blasted wide open as main contenders are accused of doping

Accused are Basso [CSC], Ullrich [T-Mobile], Mancebo [Ag2r] who finished second, third and fourth last year, also Vinokorov and several others. Denials are also flying.

Meanwhile, the fossil media London Times is found guilty of libel after accusing Armstrong of drug taking.

and we’re off on the trek of
3,657.1 kilometres, or 2,272 miles

Use this link at the France de Tour site for live updates as each stage progresses. There are side-bar links to other useful pages.

Today’s results for the traditional short individual prologue against-the-clock:

1. Thor Hushovd (NOR) C.A - 7.1km in 8’17" [Yellow jersey]
2. George Hincapie (USA) DSC at 01"
3. Dave Zabriskie (USA) CSC at 04"
4. Sebastian Lang (Ger) GST at 05"
5. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) CEI at 05"

Last year, George Hincapie was a main wing-man to Lance Armstrong in the Discovery Channel team, coming in 14th place overall. He must now be regarded as a major contender. The others in the first five are either sprinters, or dropped out during the Tour last year.

the 2006 Tour de France

The ninety-third edition of the Tour de France starts on Saturday 1st July, and after doing an arduous round tour of France and a bit of the Spanish Pyrenees, finishes at the Champs-Élysées, Paris on Sunday 23th July.

After a record seven Tour victories, the great Armstrong has retired - though I can hardly believe it. I keep expecting him to join on the start line. A Tour without Armstrong, next it’ll be a Tour without the bikes.

This year the race is open and looking for a new master of the drama.

There are 20 stages, of which five are mountain stages [Pyrenees 2, Alps 3] and two are individual against-the-clock [contre-le-montre] time trials. The first day - the prologue - is a short time trial. The total distance ridden will be 3,657.1 kilometres, or 2,272 miles.

This year, there are 22 teams, with nine participating riders in each. The number for the lead rider in each team ends in -1, that is 1, 11, 21, 31 etc. [Note that the Würth Team has withdrawn as they no longer have sufficient team members after excluded cyclists implicated in doping. So now there are 21 teams participating.]

The teams are:

There will be 110 hours of live broadcasting on France 2 and France 3. This Tour de France page lists broadcasters world-wide who will be following the Tour.

the prizes

• The winner of a day’s stage wins 8,000 euro
• The yellow jersey winner - fastest time overall in the general time classification: 450,000 euro
• The green jersey winner - winning the most points. Points are given to winners of intermediate and final sprint on each stage: 25,000 euro
• The spotted jersey winner - best mountain climber, winning mountain points when going over summits and intermediate difficulties: 25,000 euro
• The white jersey winner - best under 25 y.o. in the general time classification: 20,000 euro.
• Combativity prize - chosen by a specialist cycling jury: 20,000 euro
• Best team by time - lowest time after adding together the times of the three best members of each team at each stage: 50,000 euro

last year (2005): the first thirty riders

The overall time taken was 88h 15' 02", average speed 41.654 km/h, over 3,608 km.

Click here for the full 2005 Tour de France results list.

Some history

The first Tour de France took place in 1903, with a first stage from Montgeron to Lyon, lasting an overwhelming 467 kilometres. There were six stages. The first Tour was 2,428 kilometers long and the prize was 6,075 francs.

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