The

2006 Tour de France The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of Floyd Landis. Due to the Unite ...

was the 93rd edition of Tour de France, one of cycling's

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

. The Tour began in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

with a prologue

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also track-b ...

on 1 July and Stage 11 occurred on 13 July with a mountainous stage to

Val d'Aran Aran (; ; ) (previously officially called in Occitan Val d'Aran, Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca) in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, consisting of the Aran Valley, in ar ...

in Spain. The race finished on the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is lo ...

in Paris, on 23 July.

Prologue

1 July 2006 —

, ( ITT) The prologue is a short (7.1 km/4.4 mile), completely flat, time trial, as is customary. It took place in the French city of Strasbourg.

Thor Hushovd Thor Hushovd (born 18 January 1978) is a Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer. He is known for sprinting and time trialing; Hushovd is a three-time Norwegian national road race champion (2004, 2010, 2013), and was the winner of th ...

, the 2004 and 2005 Norwegian National Time Trial Cycling Champion, captured a third stage win and second yellow jersey in his career. ''Note:'' George Hincapie got to wear the green jersey, as a rider cannot wear two leading jerseys at the same time.

Stage 1

2 July 2006 —

Stage 1 was a largely flat sprinter stage with a category 4 climb up the small Côte de Heiligenstein about halfway through the stage at the mark, and three intermediate sprints throughout the length of the course. The sprints were in

Saverne Saverne (french: Saverne, ; Alsatian: ; german: Zabern ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km (27& ...

(at 53.0 km/32.9 mile),

Plobsheim Plobsheim ( or ; gsw-als, Plobse) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. List of mayors Twin town * Port-Sainte-Foy-et-Ponchapt, France See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following ...

(137.0 km/85.1 mile), and

Kehl Kehl (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic, Kaal) is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg, with which it shares some munic ...

(175.5 km/109.0 mile). The stage was a long loop, starting and finishing in Strasbourg. An early breakaway consisting of Stéphane Augé (Cofidis),

Walter Bénéteau Walter Bénéteau (28 July 1972 – 10 December 2022) was a French professional cyclist. He raced in every Tour de France from 2000 until 2006. Career Stage 1 of the 2006 Tour de France started with a seven-man break-away with Bénéteau being ...

(Bouygues Télécom),

Unai Etxebarria Unai Etxebarria Arana (born November 21, 1972) is a Venezuelan retired road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2007, entirely for the team. He is of Basque heritage, hence his ability to ride for Euskaltel. He is not rel ...

(Euskaltel–Euskadi),

Nicolas Portal Nicolas Portal (23 April 1979 – 3 March 2020) was a French directeur sportif and professional road bicycle racer. He was born in Auch, France. He missed much of the 2009 season because of problems with cardiac arrhythmia and retired as a prof ...

(Caisse d'Epargne), Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Télécom),

Benoît Vaugrenard Benoît Vaugrenard (; born 5 January 1982) is a French former road racing cyclist, who competed professionally for and its successors between 2003 and 2019. He competed in 11 Grand Tours: six times in the Tour de France, three times in the Giro ...

(Française des Jeux), and

Fabian Wegmann Fabian Wegmann (born 20 June 1980) is a German former professional road racing cyclist. Born in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Wegmann currently resides in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Major results ''Sources:'' ;19 ...

(Team Gerolsteiner) formed by the mark and gained a lead of 4:35 over the main peloton before being caught in the last . That allowed Wegmann to take the

polka dot jersey Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The term ...

for winning the race up the lone climb. A fast

George Hincapie George Anthony Hincapie (born June 29, 1973) is an American former racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 1994 and 2012. Hincapie was a key domestique of Lance Armstrong. Hincapie was also a domestique for Alberto Contador in 2007 an ...

won two bonus seconds and with them the

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

at the last sprint, despite a quick damage control operation by

Sébastien Hinault Sébastien Hinault (born 11 February 1974) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 1997 and 2014, competing in seventeen Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. He now works as a directeur sportif for UC ...

who took the four second bonus to protect his captain,

. At the very end of the stage, Thor Hushovd (who was wearing the yellow jersey) made contact with a cardboard sign from green-jersey sponsor PMU held by a spectator. Hushovd cut his right arm badly, but was able to stay in the race.

Stage 2

3 July 2006 —

Obernai Obernai ( Alsatian: ''Owernah''; german: Oberehnheim) commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It lies on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains. Obernai is a rapidly growing city, its number of inhabitants havin ...

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (; lb, Esch-Uelzecht ; german: Esch an der Alzette or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is the second city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the country's second-most populous commune, with a population of 35,040 inhabitants, . It lies ...

(

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

), Stage 2 started in the small French town of Obernai and ended in Luxembourg and is the second longest of the Tour. This stage is 228.5 km/141.9 miles long with rolling terrain. It has five categorized climbs (two Category 3 and three Category 4): * Col des Pandours (Category 3 at 35.5 km/22.0 miles) * Col de Valsberg (Category 3 at 50.0 km/31.1 miles) * Côte de Kedange-sur-Canner (Category 4 at 187.5 km/116.5 miles) * Côte de Kanfen (Category 4 at 212.5 km/132.0 miles) * Côte de Volmerange-les-Mines (Category 4 at 215.0 km/133.5 miles) There were three intermediate sprints in

Marimont-lès-Bénestroff Marimont-lès-Bénestroff () is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Moselle department The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Moselle department of France. The c ...

(at 107.0 km/66.5 miles), Holling (169.5 km/105.3 miles), and

Yutz Yutz (; german: Jeutz; Lorraine Franconian: ''Jäiz'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, close to the borders with both Luxembourg and Germany. It was created in 1971 by merging the former communes of ' ...

(198.5 km/123.3 miles). The stage was primarily dominated by a two-man breakaway almost at the start by David de la Fuente and

Aitor Hernández Aitor Hernández Gutiérrez (born 24 January 1982) is a Spanish road and cyclo-cross cyclist. Major results Cyclo-cross ;1997–1998 : 3rd National Junior Championships ;2001–2002 : 3rd National Under-23 Championships ;2010–2011 : 2nd I ...

. They were caught in the late climbs, and De La Fuente took over the

. A crash in the last slowed the peloton considerably, although they were all credited with the same time as the leaders.

reclaimed the

due to sprint bonuses.

Stage 3

4 July 2006 —

to Valkenburg (Netherlands), Like stage 2, stage 3 (216.5 km/134.5 miles long) has a rolling profile with six categorized climbs and three intermediate sprints. Starting in Luxembourg the stage passes through Belgium before finishing in Valkenburg in the Netherlands, which is also the traditional site of the finish in the

Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classics r ...

cycling classic The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most ...

. The following are the categorized climbs: * Côte de la Haute-Levée (Category 3 at 131 km/81.4 miles) * Côte d'Oneux (Category 3 at 155 km/96.3 miles) * Côte de Petit-Rechain (Category 4 at 165.5 km/102.8 miles) * Loorberg (Category 4 at 189 km/117.4 miles) * Trintelenberg (Category 4 at 201 km/124.9 miles) *

Cauberg The Cauberg is a hill in Valkenburg aan de Geul, a town in the South Limburg region of the Netherlands. The hill played an important role in the early development of tourism in Valkenburg. Today, several major tourist attractions are situated on or ...

(Category 3 at 215.5 km/133.9 miles) There were also three intermediate sprints in

Mersch Mersch ( ) is a commune and town in central Luxembourg, capital of the canton of Mersch. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Alzette, Mamer and Eisch. , the town of Mersch, which lies in the centre of the commune, has a population o ...

(at 35 km/21.7 miles),

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

(144 km/89.5 miles), and

Aubel Aubel (; wa, Åbe) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 4,082 inhabitants. The total area is 18.83 km², giving a population density of 217 inhabitants per km². ...

(176.5 km/109.7 miles). In this stage, the breakaway featured the following five riders: *

José Luis Arrieta José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (born 15 June 1971, in San Sebastián) is a retired Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He last rode for UCI ProTour team . He is now a sporting director for , the same franchise for which he rode earlier in his ...

, , *

Unai Extebarria Unai Etxebarria Arana (born November 21, 1972) is a Venezuelan retired road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2007, entirely for the team. He is of Basque heritage, hence his ability to ride for Euskaltel. He is not rel ...

, , * Christophe Laurent, ,

Agritubel Agritubel Pro Cycling Team () was a French professional road race cycling team. The team's title sponsorAgritubel is a manufacturer and supplier of tubular metal products for cattle, livestock and farming. Agritubel mostly competed for wins at t ...

Jérôme Pineau Jérôme Pineau (born 2 January 1980) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2015 for the , and squads. Born in Mont-Saint-Aignan, Pineau now works as the general manager for UCI ProSeries te ...

, , *

Jens Voigt Jens Voigt (; born 17 September 1971) is a German former professional road bicycle racer and, upon retirement, became a cycling sports broadcast commentator. During his cycling career, Voigt raced for several teams, the last one being UCI ProTe ...

, , Jérôme Pineau concentrated mainly on finishing first in the climbs, which won him the

. Towards the end, most riders were expecting Jens Voigt to try to get away on his own, but he never did. Instead, Christophe Laurent twice got away, but was caught by the chasing four. Then, José Luis Arrieta got away from the others, but during the last climb of the day, the Cauberg, the peloton passed by him. The most important event of this stage was the loss of

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . Valverde's biggest wins have been the Vuelta a España in 2009, Critérium du Dauphiné in 2008 and 2009 ...

, the leader in the

ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, ea ...

, who broke his collarbone. Erik Dekker and

Fred Rodriguez Fred "Freddie" Rodriguez (born September 3, 1973) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. His nickname, ''Fast Freddie'', is due to his reputation as a sprint specialist. Rodriguez won the United States National Road Race Champi ...

also crashed, and both suffered serious injuries. The

, with its top just before the red banner from the finish line, was the ideal point for

Matthias Kessler Matthias Kessler (born 16 May 1979 in Nuremberg) is a German former professional road racing cyclist who competed from 2000 to 2007 for and . Biography Kessler debuted as a pro during the 2000 season after becoming German under 23 champion in 19 ...

to get away from the peloton and take the victory. Sprinters

and

Robbie McEwen Robbie McEwen (born 24 June 1972) is an Australian former professional road cyclist. McEwen is a three-time winner of the Tour de France points classification and, at the peak of his career, was considered the world's fastest sprinter. He las ...

did not get over the Cauberg in the first part of the peloton. Therefore,

Tom Boonen Tom Boonen (; born 15 October 1980) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the and teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in ...

took the leads in both the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

and the

points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

, even though he finished fourth. ''Note:'' Daniele Bennati will be in the green jersey, as a rider cannot wear two leading jerseys at the same time.

Stage 4

5 July 2006 —

Huy Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...

(Belgium) to Saint-Quentin, Stage 4 was another sprinter's stage. The long stage had only two categorized climbs, both in the first . It started in Huy, Belgium and ended in Saint-Quentin in the northern part of France. The two categorized climbs were Cote de Peu d'Eau (Category 3 at 13.0 km/8.1 miles) and C ote de Falaen (Category 4, 57.5 km/35.7 miles). There were also three intermediate sprints in

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex ** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * ...

(at 103.0 km/64.0 miles), Sains-du-Nord (135.5 km/84.2 miles) and Bernot (188.0 km/116.8 miles). In this stage, the breakaway took place about into the stage and featured the following five riders: * Cedric Coutouly, , *

Laurent Lefèvre Laurent Lefèvre (born 2 July 1976 in Maubeuge, Nord) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, last for UCI Professional Continental team . He is one of only three Festina team riders who was named as being clean in the Festina dop ...

, , *

Egoi Martínez Egoi Martínez de Esteban (born 15 May 1978 in Etxarri-Aranatz, Navarre) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2001 and 2013. In his first Tour de France, Martínez finished 41st overall at ...

, , *

Christophe Mengin Christophe Mengin (born 3 September 1968 in Cornimont) is a retired French racing cyclist and a former cyclo-cross racer. He became professional in 1995, signing to the Chazal team, and retired after the 2008 season. His height is 1.73 m, and we ...

, , *

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...

, , The peloton slowly caught them in the late going, with the lead group breaking up at about to the finish, and finally being caught within of the finish line.

won his second stage in a quick sprint. Just before the finish line,

Julian Dean Julian Dean (born 28 January 1975) is a former professional road racing cyclist from New Zealand who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. He last rode for UCI World Tour team , where he now works as an assistant sporting director a ...

crashed in the middle of the peloton but did not take anyone else down.

, who finished fourth, was disqualified for irregularities during sprinting and set back to last position of the group he finished in, which was position 148. This cost him 26 points for the

green jersey In road bicycle racing (e.g. Grand Tour stage races) the green jersey is a distinctive racing jersey worn by the most consistent highest finisher in the competition. While the overall race leader in the Tour de France will wear the yellow jer ...

which could prove vital in the end. In the top 10 of the general classification, two new names appear, Robbie McEwen because of the 20-second bonus he received for finishing first, and Egoi Martínez, who won all three intermediate sprints and so moved up 18 seconds and into fifth position.

Stage 5

6 July 2006 —

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000, Stage 5 is a long (225.0 km/139.8 mile) sprinters stage with four categorized climbs (all Category 4) and the usual three intermediate sprints. The stage started in Beauvais and ended in Caen in northern France (in the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

region). The following were the categorized climbs: * Mont des Fourches (Category 4 at 10.5 km/6.5 miles) * Côte du Buquet (Category 4 at 109.0 km/67.7 miles) * Côte de Saint-Grégoire-du-Vièvre (Category 4 at 134.5 km/83.5 miles) * Côte du Boulay (Category 4 at 159.0 km/98.8 miles). The three intermediate sprints were located in

Les Andelys Les Andelys (; Norman: ''Les Aundelys'') is a commune in the northern French department of Eure, in Normandy. Geography It lies on the Seine, about northeast of Évreux. The commune is divided into two parts, Grand-Andely (located about from ...

(at 66.5 km/41.3 miles),

Saint-Georges-du-Vièvre Saint-Georges-du-Vièvre () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Eure department The following is a list of the 585 communes of the Eure department of France. The commune ...

(at 140.5 km/87.3 miles) and Pont-L'Evêque (at 175.0 km/108.7 miles). Early in this stage, eight riders tried to get away from the peloton: * Stéphane Augé, , *

Bram de Groot Bram de Groot (born on 18 December 1974, in Alkmaar) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI ProTour team . Major results * Uniqa Classic - Overall (2005) * Delta Ronde van Midden-Zeeland (2005) * Volta a Catalun ...

, , *

Samuel Dumoulin Samuel Dumoulin (born 20 August 1980) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2019 for the , and teams. He now works as a directeur sportif for UCI ProTeam . Career Dumoulin rode as an amate ...

, , * Sebastian Lang, , *

Manuel Quinziato Manuel Quinziato (born 30 October 1979 in Bolzano) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2017 for the , , and squads. Major results ;1997 : 3rd Team pursuit, UCI Junior Track Cycling World Cham ...

, , *

Daniele Righi Daniele Righi (born 28 March 1976, in Colle Val d'Elsa) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular p ...

, , *

Björn Schröder Björn Schröder (born 27 October 1980 in Berlin) is a German professional road bicycle racer, who currently competes for Team Stölting. Career achievements Major results Cyclo-cross ;1995–1996 :2nd National Under-17 Championships ;1996– ...

, ,

Team Milram A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

Bram Tankink Bram Tankink (born 3 December 1978) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer, who competed between 2000 and 2018 for the Löwik Meubelen–Tegeltoko, , and squads. Born in Haaksbergen, Tankink started his career as a mountain biker, bu ...

, , but the peloton did not let them get away very far until Dumoulin and Schröder broke away from the group. The other six were caught and Dumoulin and Schröder were allowed to take a lead of up to 12'50" over the peloton. Meanwhile, the sprinters in the peloton did not want to sprint for the 2 points left at the three intermediate sprints, so every time

Johan Van Summeren Johan Vansummeren (born 4 February 1981) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2016 for the , , and teams. Biography Vansummeren was born, raised, and resides in Lommel, Flanders, Belgiu ...

attacked just a few kilometers before every sprint to take the points.

also was very active today, as he did the same thing as Van Summeren but then on the climbs, taking points to maintain his lead in the standings for the

. In the end, Dumoulin and Schröder were caught about 2 kilometres from the finish line as , and had driven hard to close the gap. In the sprint, surprisingly

Óscar Freire Óscar Freire Gómez (born 15 February 1976) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbe ...

popped up out of nowhere to take the stage win.

finished second, took 12 bonus seconds and thereby insured that he was going to be wearing the

at least one more day.

Stage 6

7 July 2006 —

Lisieux Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. Name The name of the town derives from the l ...

to Vitré, This somewhat shorter stage (189.0 km/117.4 miles) was also a sprinters' stage, with only one categorized climb: the Côte de la Hunière (Category 3 at 27.5 km/17.1 miles). The three intermediate sprints were located in

Villedieu-lès-Bailleul Villedieu-lès-Bailleul (, literally ''Villedieu near Bailleul'') is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. See also *Communes of the Orne department The following is a list of the 385 communes of the Orne department of Fr ...

(at 46.0 km/28.6 miles), Chantrigné (at 116.5 km/72.3 miles) and Juvigné (162.5 km/101.0 miles). In the beginning of the stage, many riders were trying to break away from the peloton to be part of the daily group of leaders, but in contrast to most earlier stages, it took a long time before finally a group got away from the peloton and was allowed to gain some time and distance. After the only categorized climb of the day, it's

Giuseppe Guerini Giuseppe Guerini (born 14 February 1970) is a retired Italy, Italian professional road bicycle racer. He was known throughout his career as a climbing specialist and had pronounced success in cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour events. He ...

and David López who are just riding a few seconds in front of the peloton, followed by

, the holder of the

who successfully tried to enhance his lead in the king of the mountains classification. But the two leaders don't get away and at the first intermediate sprint in

, new names pass the line first. Most important to remember is

winning the sprint and therefore taking 6 bonus seconds which move him past

Markus Fothen Markus Fothen (born 9 September 1981 in Kaarst) is a retired German road racing cyclist, who rode as a professional between 2004 and 2013. In 2003 Fothen won the under-23 World Championship time trial in Hamilton, Canada. He completed the 30.8&n ...

in the classification for best young rider. After that a very large group of 17 riders forms who manage to ride away almost 2 minutes in front of the peloton, the most important riders in this group are —

, wearing the yellow jersey,

Pavel Padrnos Pavel Padrnos (born 17 December 1970) is a Czech Republic, Czech former professional Road bicycle racer, road racing cyclist, most recently with whom he was with between 2002 and 2007. His major individual success is the win in Peace Race in 19 ...

, Antonio Flecha,

Axel Merckx Axel Eddy Lucien Jonkheer Merckx (born 8 August 1972) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer and the son of five-time Tour de France champion Eddy Merckx. He is team director of UCI Continental team . In his professional career (1 ...

Patrick Sinkewitz Patrik Sinkewitz (born 20 October 1980) is a German professional road racing cyclist, who is currently suspended from the sport until 2024 for doping and ineligibility offences. He was a climbing specialist who can ride well over a stage race, as ...

and

Philippe Gilbert Philippe Gilbert (born 5 July 1982) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships in 2012, and for being one of two riders, along with Davide Rebellin, to have won the three ...

. However, the peloton does not want to let them go, mainly influenced by the teams and . Three less important riders manage to break away from the leading group and when the peloton catches the other 14, they decide to let the three go. Those three are

Anthony Geslin Anthony Geslin (born 9 June 1980) is a French retired professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2015, for the and teams. Born in Alençon, Geslin won a bronze medal in the road race at the 2005 UCI Road World Cha ...

Florent Brard Florent Brard (born 7 February 1976, in Chambray-lès-Tours, France) is a retired French road bicycle racer. He won three national championships, including the professional road race. He became a professional in 1999 and stopped racing in Novem ...

the current French national champion, and

Magnus Bäckstedt Magnus Bäckstedt (born 30 January 1975)L'Équipe, France, 12 April 2004. is a Swedish former professional road bicycle racer. His most notable achievement in cycling is winning Paris–Roubaix in 2004. Early life Born in Linköping, Östergöt ...

. They get caught just four kilometers before the finish line and so the sprinters can have another go at the stage victory.

wins the sprint by a big margin after excellent work by his teammate

Gert Steegmans Gert Steegmans (born 30 September 1980 in Hasselt) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was noted for a strong finishing sprint and could compete in the sprint with fellow Belgian cyclist, and ...

. Robbie takes his third stage win in this tour and his eleventh overall. In the standings, Tom Boonen remains in yellow but is expected to lose it the next day when there is an individual time trial, Robbie McEwen enlarges the gap between him and the other sprinters in the standings for the green jersey. He will probably be wearing that jersey for another two days, just like Jérôme Pineau is not likely to lose the polka dot jersey any day soon since not many hills or mountains are to be overcome the next few days. Benoît Vaugrenard is now leader of the

young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for ride ...

, but will have to be faster than Markus Fothen and the other youngsters in the time trial as he only has a small time advantage over most opponents. Anthony Geslin wins the combativity-trophy for the day and remains in the lead of the team classification.

Stage 7

8 July 2006 — Saint-Grégoire to

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

, ( ITT) The first

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

took place in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. It was a flat stage with no major climbs. The stage was long. Due to the doping scandal a number of riders did not start in the tour, among those riders were the biggest favorites to win the tour,

Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crow ...

Ivan Basso Ivan Basso (born 26 November 1977) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1999 and 2015 for seven different teams. Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, was considered among the best mountain riders in ...

and

Alexander Vinokourov Alexander Nikolayevich Vinokourov ( Kazakh and russian: Александр Николаевич Винокуров; born 16 September 1973) is a Kazakhstani former professional road bicycle racer and the current general manager of UCI WorldTeam ...

. With those riders not starting, the

did not have real favorites and opinions were hugely divided over who was going to win the tour. Stage 7, an individual time trial, was going to be the first real test to see who was up to the task and who wasn't. Positive results came from , who were all very strong in the time trial with 6 riders in the top 16 and

Serhiy Honchar Serhiy Gonchar ( uk, Сергій Гончар; born 3 July 1970) is a Ukrainian former professional road racing cyclist. He won the World Time Trial Championship in 2000. Due to a temporary spelling error in his passport, he is often incorrect ...

, a Ukrainian time trial specialist topping it off to take first place in the stage and also the yellow jersey. Other positive results came from

Floyd Landis Floyd Landis (born October 14, 1975) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He finished first at the 2006 Tour de France, and would have been the third non-European winner in the event's history, but was disqualified after test ...

, who finished second and

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along wi ...

the Australian climber who manages to put himself into ninth position in the general standings. Disappointing results came from big time-trial favorite

David Zabriskie David Zabriskie (born January 12, 1979) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from the United States, who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stage ...

, finishing out of the top 10 in 13th, The whole Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team underachieved, with

Paolo Savoldelli Paolo Savoldelli (born 7 May 1973 in Clusone, province of Bergamo) is a former Italian road racing cyclist and winner of the 2002 and 2005 Giro d'Italia. Savoldelli was a climber but known for his fast downhill riding. He is nicknamed ''Il F ...

Yaroslav Popovych Yaroslav Popovych ( uk, Ярослав Попович; born 4 January 1980) is a Ukrainian former professional cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2016. The winner of the under-23 road race at the 2001 UCI Road World Championships, ...

and

José Azevedo José Bento Azevedo Carvalho (born 19 September 1973) is a Portuguese retired road racing cyclist, and most recently, general manager of UCI WorldTeam . During his racing career, Azevedo rode for between 2001 and 2003 and for between 2004 an ...

all setting moderate to bad results for their being. But the biggest surprises came from

Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He was twice US national champion, winning the time trial title in 1999 and the road race in 2007, and is an Olympic medalist. Leipheimer was born a ...

, who finished more than 6 minutes behind

and

Bobby Julich Robert Julich ( ), popularly called Bobby Julich, (born on November 18, 1971, in Corpus Christi, Texas) is an American former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for Team CSC in the UCI ProTour racing series. He got his international b ...

who crashed badly and injured his wrist and thigh severely before being driven away in an ambulance which means they can both forget about winning the tour this year. Leipheimer failed, but nevertheless there is still good news for as both Sebastian Lang and youngster

set good times and managed to finish in the top 10. Fothen now takes back the leading position in the

and has a considerable lead over his opponents. Other names worth mentioning are

Gustav Larsson Gustav Erik Larsson (born 20 September 1980) is a Swedish former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2016 for nine different teams. Larsson specialised as a time trialist, winning the Swedish National Time ...

the Swede and

Joost Posthuma Joost Posthuma (born 8 March 1981) is a Dutch retired professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2004 and 2012. Born in Hengelo, Posthuma was known for his time-trialling and he wore the white jersey for the best youn ...

the Dutchman who can be very happy with their top 10 place in the time trial. Looking at the general classification after stage 7, has 4 riders in the top 10 which looks promising going into the mountains. However the other major contenders for the victory in this tour seem to be

and

Denis Menchov Denis Nikolayevich Menchov (russian: Денис Николаевич Меньшов; born 25 January 1978) is a former professional Russian road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 2000 and 2013. He was best known as a general clas ...

. It is unsure what to expect exactly from

Vladimir Karpets Vladimir Alexandrovich Karpets (russian: Владимир Александрович Карпец) (born 20 September 1980 in Leningrad) is a Russian road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI ProTeam . Karpets is most notable for winning the white ...

and

but they have possibilities left too.

and

are not out of it yet also, being behind respectively 2'10" and 2'30", with a few other possible contenders between them in the standings as there are

Carlos Sastre Carlos Sastre Candil (; born 22 April 1975) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer and winner of the 2008 Tour de France. He consistently achieved outstanding results in the Vuelta a España and in the Tour de France. Sastre establi ...

Eddy Mazzoleni Eddy Mazzoleni (born 29 July 1973) is a former Italian professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for UCI ProTour Astana Team. Biography He currently lives in Almenno San Bartolomeo, Italy. Mazzoleni is a talented climber and was a h ...

and French favorite

Christophe Moreau Christophe Moreau (born 12 April 1971 in Vervins) is a French former professional road racing cyclist. For many years Moreau was the primary French contender for the general classification in the Tour de France: he finished in the top 12 in the G ...

. In conclusion, the tour is still wide open since not many people expect

to hold on to the jersey until Paris. The

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

and

stay with

and

respectively, while the best team is now clearly .

Stage 8

9 July 2006 —

Saint-Méen-le-Grand Saint-Méen-le-Grand (; ; Gallo: ''Saent-Men'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is located west of Rennes between Montauban-de-Bretagne and Gaël. At the 2006 Tour de France, Saint-Méen-l ...

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, Stage 8 (181.0 km/112.5 miles in length) had a somewhat rolling profile, with four categorized climbs and three intermediate sprints. The weather was also a factor with the ocean winds blowing. The four climbs were as follows: * Côte de Mûr-de-Bretagne (Category 3 at 75.0 km/46.6 miles) * Côte de Saint-Mayeux (Category 4 at 78.5 km/48.8 miles) * Côte de Gouarec (Category 4 at 94.0 km/58.4 miles) * Côte de Ty Marrec (Category 4 at 138.5 km/86.0 miles) The three intermediate sprints were located in

Plessala Plessala (; ) is a former commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Le Mené.Locmalo (112.5 km/69.9 miles) and

Plouay Plouay (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. Plouay hosts the GP Ouest-France and the GP de Plouay, annual cycling races (a men's and women's race, respectively). It was also the location of the UCI ...

(142.0 km/88.2 miles). In Stage 8, a group of five riders formed after about , consisting of the following riders: *

Mario Aerts Mario Aerts (born 31 December 1974 in Herentals, Belgium) is a former professional road bicycle racer, who competed between 1996 and 2011. He competed for three teams; Vlaanderen 2002, and the Lotto team through various sponsorships, competing ...

, , * Sylvain Calzati, , *

Kjell Carlström Kjell Carlström (born 18 October 1976) is a Finnish former professional road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2011. He won the Finnish national road race title in 2000, 2004 and 2011. He raced in the Tour de Fran ...

, , *

, , with

Patrice Halgand Patrice Halgand (born 2 March 1974, in St-Nazaire) is a French former professional road racing cyclist. He was one of only three Festina team riders who were named as clean during the Festina doping scandal during the 1998 Tour de France. Halgand ...

, , making the jump from the peloton to the leading group on his own before the gap became too big which made the final number of escapees in the breakaway group of this stage six. The peloton, mainly under influence of , did not let the lead grow too much, since Zabriskie and Kessler were both standing 2'03" behind the leader, or just 1'03 behind Phonak's leader,

. As the race progressed and the lead of the leaders was brought back from its maximum of 7'30 to about 3'30, the riders from the Phonak team stopped chasing as it was the sprinter's teams to start chasing and close the final gap. However, most teams were probably afraid of 's

as he had impressively won three sprinters' stages in this tour already, so there were no chasing riders from (for

), no riders from (for

Daniele Bennati Daniele Bennati (born 24 September 1980) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2019 for the , , , , , , and squads. Specialising in fast sprint finishes, Bennati turned professional in 2002, when ...

) and no riders also for as they already had

in the lead. The only team that kept chasing was , because they were the least successful French team so far in the tour and the lead group featured two riders from other French teams. Meanwhile, in the lead group, Sylvain Calzati had stormed away from the other five escapees with about to go, only to be chased after somewhat later by

and

. The other three riders mainly looked at each other and did not believe they could stay out of the peloton's grip. However, the peloton would catch up with those three non-believers, but the other three were not to be caught before the finish line. Sylvain Calzati proved to be too strong for the other two as they coöperated to get back to him but never saw him again before Lorient, instead the gap only became bigger. In the end Sylvain Calzati scored his most beautiful professional victory of his career as he came over the finish line more than two minutes ahead of Carlström and Halgand, who both just ended a few seconds before the peloton. In the peloton,

again won the sprint, enlarging his lead in the standings for the

over the other sprinters. In the top 10 of the general standings and best young rider classification, nothing changed as all the main contenders finished together in the peloton. The

also remained with

. The intermediate sprints of this stage did not have any major influence on the classification for the best sprinter, but

, who was part of the breakaway group, took 10 bonus seconds and so moved into ninth position overall and reduced his deficit to 1'53" from the leader

. Sylvain Calzati did not only win the stage, he also came through first on top of all classified climbs of the day. He scored 4 points for de Mûr-de-Bretagne and 3 points for the three other côtes which made him end with 13 points and this moved him into fourth position in the

standings.

Rest Day

10 July 2006 —

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

All the riders had flown from

on the evening of July 9 and now spent their rest day in Bordeaux or some place nearby. Important news on this day came from

, as he announced that he seriously injured his hip, during training in 2003, which still hinders him while riding due to a bad position on the bike and also causes sleeping problems. He has decided to undergo surgery to receive an artificial hip after the

Tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

which would hopefully relieve him of these problems. However this also means that it is very well possible that he will never be able to ride at a professional level again. As a conclusion he mentions this is an extra motivation for him to try to win this Tour. Floyd's teammate

on this day signed a new contract with for one extra season. Merckx, who is now 33 years old, announced that the 2007 season will be his last season, as he wants to spend a lot more time with his family thereafter. The Phonak team will be called ''iShares'' next season.

Stage 9

11 July 2006 —

Dax Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...

, The peloton got a completely flat stage today, which was also relatively short (169.5 km/105.3 miles in length). This stage looked to be one of the last chances for the sprinters as the next day they were moving into the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

. The peloton did not have to pass by any categorized climbs during this stage but instead there were three intermediate sprints which were located at

Le Barp Le Barp (; oc-gsc, Lo Barp) is a municipality in the Southwest of France that has 5410 inhabitants (April 2018). It is located in the Department of Gironde in the Region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is also located in the Landes Forest, on the terri ...

(at 25.5 km/15.8 miles),

Parentis-en-Born Parentis-en-Born (; oc, Parentís) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has one of the biggest oil reserves of continental western Europe. The Biscarrosse – Parentis Airport is located in the c ...

(72 km/44.7 miles) and Saint-Girons (128.0 km/79.5 miles). Like many of the preceding stages, an early break away was allowed to escape, but kept within reach of the sprinter teams. In this stage, the break away consisted of

Christian Knees Christian Knees (born 5 March 1981) is a German former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2020, for the Wiesenhof, and teams. He won the German National Road Race Championship in 2010. In 2011 he was orig ...

(

) who initiated the break away, and

() and Stéphane Augé () who joined soon after. The break away was eliminated with four kilometers to go, and so was an attack from

Stuart O'Grady Stuart O'Grady (born 6 August 1973) is a retired Australian professional road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 1995 and 2013. A former track cyclist, O'Grady and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in the Men's Madison at the 2004 S ...

() two kilometers later. The final sprint was won by

(), after an impressive manoeuvre by

(). Important detail at the finish line was that many riders lost a few seconds because the peloton broke into groups during the sprint. Important riders who lost 13" —

and

Stage 10

12 July 2006 —

Cambo-les-Bains Cambo-les-Bains (; eu, Kanbo) is a town in the traditional Basque province of Labourd, now in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It lies on the south-western bank of the river Nive. Cambo-les-Bains station has rail c ...

to Pau, Stage 10 (190.5 km/118.3 miles) enters the

and is the first mountain stage. It is considered an in-between stage, as it features two major mountains, but the finish line lies more than 40 kilometres beyond the last climb of the day. Expected is that the winner of the stage will not be a climber, maybe even a sprinter. It has three categorized climbs: * Col d'Osquich (Category 3 at 50 km/31.1 miles) * Col du Soudet (''

Hors catégorie ''Hors catégorie'' (HC) is a French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization". The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass. The HC climb is the ...

'' (highest level) at 101.5 km/63.0 miles) * Col de Marie Blanque (Category 1 at 148 km/91.9 miles) Being a mountain stage, it has only two intermediate sprints instead of the regular three: at Larceveau (at 37.5 km/23.3 miles) and Laguinge (at 74.5 km/46.3 miles) During the first 40 kilometres, no riders managed to get away from the peloton. At the sprint in Larceveau a few riders sprinted for the points and that group grew to 15 riders who were allowed to break away from the peloton: *

, , *

Carlos Da Cruz Carlos Da Cruz (born 20 December 1974 in Paris) is a French former professional road bicycle racer. In his 11-year career, he rode for BigMat-Auber93 between 1997 and 2000, Festina in 2001 and then for UCI ProTeam Française des Jeux between 2 ...

, , *

Cyril Dessel Cyril Dessel (born 29 November 1974 in Rive-de-Gier, Loire) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2000 to 2011. In 2006, he won the Tour Méditerranéen on the UCI Europe Tour. Then in the 20 ...

, , *

Iñaki Isasi Iñaki Isasi Flores (born April 20, 1977, in Respaldiza, in Álava) is a former Spanish racing cyclist who competed professionally for the team throughout his career. Isasi turned professional in 2001 and did not record a major result of note a ...

, , *

Iñigo Landaluze Iñigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (born May 9, 1977 in Getxo, Basque Country) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2009, entirely for the team. During the 2009 season, Landaluze tested posit ...

, , *

Juan Miguel Mercado Juan Miguel Mercado Martínez (born 8 July 1978 in Armilla, Granada) is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer who turned professional with Vitalicio Seguros in 1998. At the Tour de France, Mercado won Stage 18 at the 2004 Tour and captured a ...

, ,

Cristian Moreni Cristian Moreni (born 21 November 1972 in Asola) is an Italian former road racing cyclist who rode for Cofidis, le Crédit par Téléphone in the UCI ProTour. Doping Moreni tested positive for testosterone at the end of the 11th stage of the ...

, , *

Christophe Rinero Christophe Rinero (born 29 December 1973 in Moissac) is a former French professional road racing cyclist. His sporting career began with CA Castelsarrazin. Rinero's greatest achievements have been to win the Tour de l'Avenir in 1998 and the Kin ...

, , * Mathieu Sprick, , *

, , *

Cédric Vasseur Cédric Vasseur (born 18 August 1970) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, and current general manager of UCI WorldTeam . As a rider, Vasseur competed between 1993 and 2007 for the Novemail–Histor, , , and squads. Vasseur was c ...

, , *

, , Hushovd and Steegmans dropped on the Col d'Osquich, then the rest of the group got split into lots of different smaller groups during the climb of the Col de Soudet with Cyril Dessel and Juan Miguel Mercado passing the top of the climb first. During the descent Landaluze, Rinero, Isasi, Vasseur and Moreni managed to return. The peloton was about 10 minutes behind at that time, as had decided they were not going to defend their yellow jersey and leave the work for the next stages for some other team. During the climb of the Col de Marie-Blanque, Dessel and Mercado again proved to be the strongest with Dessel coming through first as he had done on the two earlier climbs already: the

was his. Landaluze came closest to coming back as he was about 50 meters behind at some point during the descent, but the two leaders worked together not to let that happen. However, about 15 kilometres before the finish line, Mercado was hoping to make a deal with Dessel: since Dessel was going to be winning the

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

and

, he was hoping to be getting the stage win from Dessel in return for helping him. However Dessel wanted it all, so Mercado stopped helping and Dessel had to maintain the lead by himself to prevent Landaluze from coming back. In the end, Mercado sprinted past Dessel about 300 metres from the finish and won the stage. Landaluze finished third about a minute behind. Moreni, Rinero, Isasi and Vasseur also managed to stay in front of the pelont, the others were caught. Sprinters

Erik Zabel Erik Zabel (; born 7 July 1970) is a German former professional road bicycle racer who raced most of his career with Telekom. With 152 professional wins and 211 wins in his career, he is considered by some to be one of the greatest German cycl ...

and

were able to stay in the peloton and therefore they took points in the competition for the

as they sprinted for the eighth place behind the seven of fifteen escaped riders that were not caught. Bennati won the sprint and finished 7'23" behind Mercado and Dessel. As a result of this stage,

is now holding the yellow and polka dot jersey,

is still in green and

is still in white. The best team is now . Other important facts: *

Iban Mayo Iban Mayo Diez (born 19 August 1977 in Igorre, Basque Country, Spain) is a former professional road bicycle racer. Biography Renowned as a climber, Mayo turned pro with in 2000, and became one of the Basque Country's prospects for glory. He ...

, the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

climber, one of the riders expected to show something in the mountain stages, was one of the first to drop from the peloton and it is unsure what he is still capable of this tour. * Michael Rasmussen is an odds-on favorite to be showing something during the next stage as he demonstrated his interest for the polka dot jersey by sprinting away from the peloton to get the last remaining points on the Col de Marie-Blanque. * The tour lost two riders today,

Laurent Brochard Laurent Brochard (born 26 March 1968 in Le Mans, France) is a retired professional road racing cyclist from France. In 1997 he won a stage of the Tour de France and became world road champion in San Sebastián, Spain. Brochard was a runner and s ...

did not start and

Jimmy Engoulvent Jimmy Engoulvent (born 7 December 1979) is a French former road racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2015 for the , , and teams. Since retiring, Engoulvent has worked as a directeur sportif for the team, before moving t ...

gave up during the race. ''Note:'' Juan Miguel Mercado got to wear the polka dot jersey, as a rider cannot wear two leading jerseys at the same time.

Stage 11

13 July 2006 —

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba'' ...

Pla-de-Beret Aran (; ; ) (previously officially called in Occitan Val d'Aran, Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca) in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, consisting of the Aran Valley, in ar ...

(Spain),

Dessel celebrates, Tarbes in the 2006 Tour de France

Stage 11 is a mountain stage with five categorized climbs: the

Col du Tourmalet Col du Tourmalet (; elevation ) is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie two-thirds of th ...

(

) with an ascent of 7.7% over 18.4 km, the

Col d'Aspin Col d'Aspin ( oc, Còth d'Aspin) (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the French Pyrenees in the department of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It connects Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, in the upper Adour valley, with Arreau, on the River Neste. Details of the c ...

(Category 1) with an ascent of 5.2% over 12.3 km, the

Col de Peyresourde The Col de Peyresourde ( oc, Còth de Pèira Sorda) (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees on the border of the department of Haute-Garonne and Hautes-Pyrénées in France. It is situated on the D618 road between Bagnères-de-L ...

(Category 1) with an ascent of 7.1% over 9.5 km, the

Col du Portillon The Col du Portillon () (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the border between France and Spain. It connects Bagnères-de-Luchon in France with Bossòst in the Val d'Aran, Spain. Details of climb Starting from Bossòst, the climb i ...

(Category 1) with an ascent of 8.4% over 7.9 km, and the

(Category 1 in Spain) with an ascent of 5.4% over 13.5 km. It begins at

at 325 m and ends at

at 1830 m. In contrast to the previous stage, many fewer riders were interested in joining an early breakaway group as the stage featured over 60 kilometers of climbing. 17.5 kilometres into the stage, at the first sprint, there were still no riders who had escaped and so

saw the possibility of going for it. He succeeded, but mainly because the other sprinters did not even challenge him; this means that they have probably given up for the

. It seems now that McEwen just needs to make it to Paris to win that green jersey. Not much later, four riders did get away from the peloton. They included three

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance peoples, Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of National and regional identity in Spain, national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex Hist ...

: *

Iker Camaño Iker Camaño Ortuzar (born March 14, 1979 in Santurce-Santurtzi, Spain) is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI Professional Continental . He was part of from 2010 to 2012. Camaño turned professional in 2002 w ...

from , * David de la Fuente from and *

Juan Antonio Flecha Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (born 17 September 1977) is an Argentine-born Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2000 and 2013. Flecha had a reputation of being a Classics specialist and to ride ...

from . They left, together with

, the German from . All this happened before the first climb of the day, the

. On the Tourmalet, Wegmann and de la Fuente looked to be somewhat stronger than their two companions as they both sprinted to finish first on the top. De la Fuente won the sprint and so took the most points for the

, but also he won the ''Souvenir Jacques Goddet'' for coming through first on the top of the highest climb in the

of this

which rendered him 5000

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s. In the peloton, the team of maintained the tempo to keep the leaders within reasonable distance and thus protect their yellow jersey.

Thomas Voeckler Thomas Voeckler (; born 22 June 1979) is a French former road racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2017, for the team and its previous iterations. One of the most prominent French riders of his generation, Voeckler has b ...

won the sprint against Michael Rasmussen for the remaining points on top of the Tourmalet and he kept going. Although the leaders were about 4 minutes ahead at that time, he thought it would be useful to go after them on his own. At first, his plan appeared to be correct, as he closed the gap during the descent and managed to climb faster than the leaders on the Col d'Aspin. Halfway up the Aspin he was only 2'30" behind, on top of the Aspin only 1'30". The four leaders stayed together on the Aspin, with now Wegmann sprinting faster than de la Fuente at the top. In the peloton, Rasmussen again took the points, but nothing more happened. Stage 11 preparations at the 2006 Tour de France

Stage 11 preparations at the 2006 Tour de France

During the climb of the Col de Peyresourde, Wegmann suddenly attacked and de la Fuente easily followed and beat him at the top for the points. Flecha had tried to follow them but came through more than 2 minutes behind at the top. Camano and Voeckler, whose plan had not been so smart after all, had used up most of their strengths and had been overtaken by the peloton before the top, who were 3 minutes behind at the top with yet again Rasmussen taking the points. Flecha was caught in the descent and on the Col du Portillon Wegmann was also caught; he had not been able to counter an attack from de la Fuente. On the Portillon something happened in the peloton also, because now suddenly it were the riders from who took over from the guys from AG2R Prévoyance and pumped up the pace. As a result, the peloton grew thinner and thinner, until only 19 riders remained: *

David Arroyo David Arroyo Durán (born 7 January 1980) is a Spanish cyclist, who currently competes in mountain biking for the Primaflor–Mondraker–XSauce team. He is also a former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and ...

, , , *

Michael Boogerd Michael Boogerd (born 28 May 1972) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the leaders of a generation of Dutch cyclists in the late 1990s and early 2000s, together with teammate Erik Dekker and female cyclist Leontien v ...

, , , *

Damiano Cunego Damiano Cunego (born 19 September 1981) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2018 for the , and teams. Cunego's biggest wins were the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, a ...

, , , *

Andreas Klöden Andreas Klöden (born 22 June 1975) is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1998 and 2013. His major achievements include a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and finishing second in the ge ...

, , , *

Iván Parra Iván Ramiro Parra Pinto (born 14 October 1975 in Sogamoso) is a Colombian former road bicycle racer, who competed professionally for Petróleos de Colombia, , , , Cafes Baque, , , and . Parra comes from a Colombian cycling family. His father, ...

, , , * Michael Rasmussen, , , * Michael Rogers, , , *

, , , *

Fränk Schleck Fränk René Schleck (born 15 April 1980) is a Luxembourgish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2016, for and . Schleck is the older brother of Andy, winner of the 2010 Tour de France. Their father, ...

, , , *

Gilberto Simoni Gilberto Simoni (born 25 August 1971 in Palù di Giovo, Trentino) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, most recently for . Simoni is twice winner of the Giro d'Italia cycling race (2001 and 2003 editions). Simoni might have wo ...

, , , *

Georg Totschnig Georg Totschnig (born 25 May 1971) is an Austrian former road bicycle racer who raced professionally between 1993 and 2006. He won the Austrian National Road Race Championships in 1997 and 2003. He also rode at three Olympic Games. Career In 19 ...

, , and *

Haimar Zubeldia Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (born 1 April 1977) is a Spanish former road racing cyclist from the Basque Country, who competed professionally between 1998 and 2017 for the , , and teams. During his career, Zubeldia recorded five top-ten finishes in ...

, , .

, the holder of the yellow jersey, was already about 2 minutes behind at that time. In the valley that came between the Col du Portillon and Pla-de-Beret, Arroyo and Cunego broke away from that elite group and closed the gap to de la Fuente, but they were all caught even before the climb towards Pla-de-Beret. On the last climb it was due to some extraordinary work by Michael Boogerd that the group kept getting smaller and smaller, with only five riders remaining in the end: *

, , , *

, , and *

, , . Evans and Sastre had to give in at the end and finished only 17 seconds behind the other three who sprinted for the victory at the top. Menchov outsprinted both Americans and won the stage, the third stage victory already for during this Tour. In the

General Classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

, Floyd Landis became the leader and thus holder of the yellow jersey, as Cyril Dessel finished 4'45" behind, the exact time he was in front of Landis before the stage—but since Landis finished third, he won 8 bonus seconds and so he moved into the lead with an eight-second advantage. Looking at the "lesser climbers", 37 riders just managed to avoid being disqualified for finishing late, as a group of 36 came in 44'20" behind Denis Menchov and Christophe Mengin even managed to finish 46'13" behind. The time limit was about 46'30". Amongst this group were sprinters

and

would have been delighted to see them finish late as he was in an earlier group. Being on time however, Robbie McEwen remains the leader of the

. Cyril Dessel not only lost his yellow jersey; he also lost the

, which went to David de la Fuente—who also got the combativity award for the day. Of the youngsters, only

was able to keep up with the pace during the day, he now has a big lead of exactly twelve minutes over the number two in the

and almost half an hour or more over all the other youngsters in this tour. Other news in this stage: * completely broke down today, with their four best riders completely failing.

was behind 4'10",

6'25",

21'23" and

23'04". * A lot was expected from

as his took the lead and determined the pace during the Col du Portillon. However he did not compete for the stage win and had to give in 1'31", a bit disappointing. This loss is small and leaves him sixth in the general classification, still with possibilities. T-Mobile also takes back the lead in the team classification and has led of 46 seconds over . *

, struggling the day before already, had trouble getting up the climbs from the first few meters yet again. He was also extremely annoyed by the cameraman following him and filming his struggle, as that cameraman knew Mayo was probably going to give up and was waiting for him to do so. In the end Mayo was fined for 200 Swiss Francs for incorrect behaviour in front of the camera. He abandoned when the cameraman stopped following him. * Other quitters on this day were Giovanni Lombardi and

Wilfried Cretskens Wilfried Cretskens (born 10 July 1976) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer. He rode most of his career for the team, where he was a domestique for the team leaders in the classic races, among others Tom Boonen. His most notable career win w ...

. *

Sébastien Joly Sébastien Joly (born 25 June 1979 in Tournon-sur-Rhône) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 2000 and 2011. In 2006, he joined the on the UCI ProTour. He was diagnosed with testicular canc ...

, who had been the last man in the standings for a while before this stage, managed to pass Wim Vansevenant who is now the new

lanterne rouge The ''lanterne rouge'' is the competitor in last place in the Tour de France. The phrase comes from the French for "Red Lantern" and refers to the red lantern hung on the rear vehicle of a passenger railway train or the brake van of a freight tr ...

References

{{Cycling stage recaps, 2006 Tour de France, P, 11, 12, 20 , Prologue To Stage 11, 2006 Tour De France Tour de France stages