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93rd Tour de France - ProT
France, July 1-23, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Live report Next Stage
Prologue - Saturday, July 1: Strasbourg ITT, 7.1 km
The God of Thunder strikes in Strasbourg
By Anthony Tan & Tim Maloney in Strasbourg
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Thankfully, after the dramatic events of yesterday, there was something else to talk about. Flying down Strasbourg's Avenue Herrenschmidt and passing through the arrivée with a time of eight minutes seventeen, Crédit Agricole's Thor Hushovd set a magnificent average speed of 51.429 kilometres per hour, surpassing 176 others and earning the right to wear the first maillot jaune of the 93rd Tour de France.
"In my mind, I did the perfect time trial," stated the 28 year-old Norweigan. "To win a prologue, you have to be in good form, and I've been really confident the last few weeks, the last month, because I knew my form was here. And with the experience from other years, I'm quite sure this is my best form ever.
73 hundredths of a second separated Hushovd from second - but he had to wait until the very last coureur to find out, as it was Discovery Channel rider George Hincapie's time that almost saw the 33 year-old American from South Carolina steal the maillot jaune from under Thor's nose.
Responded Hushovd about beating a host of prologue specialists: "Yeah, I'm surprised, but I knew I could win. In 2004 [Tour de France], in Liège, I was fifth, so that shows when I have good form, I can do well in prologues."
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Providing some indication as to just how tight this Tour will be, four riders - David Zabriskie (Team CSC), Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears) and Stuart O'Grady (Team CSC) - all finished four seconds behind Hushovd.
No doubt, the biggest surprise packet here is Valverde; it appears the versatile sprinter/ climber has added another arrow to his quiver of talents, and his skills against the clock have now improved to such an extent, the 26 year-old Spaniard has become a world-class prologue rider.
Out of this quartet, Lang and O'Grady would be thinking about collecting enough bonus seconds for a bite at yellow, and the following stages provide plenty of opportunity. But Hushovd isn't thinking about letting it go.
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"For the team, and as well for me, it's really important to try and keep this jersey as long as possible, and I'm sure we will try and defend it as many days as we can," he said. "The perfect day for us tomorrow is to let a few guys go away, and then we are going have a few other sprinters' teams help us [chase down the break]... then the big fight between me, Boonen and McEwen starts - and then we see who is fastest."
Other good performances came from world time trial champ Michael Rogers (T-Mobile Team), Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel), Floyd Landis (Phonak) and Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears), seventh to tenth respectively. And Joost Posthuma's 23rd placing was enough to give the 25 year-old the opening maillot blanc as best young rider.
The former winner of a stage in last year's Paris-Nice had the fastest split time, but couldn't maintain his efforts till the end, finishing 16 seconds of the mark. "The motor switched off and there's a really nasty wind blowing out there," said Posthuma to Cyclingnews.
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""I know that I'm a specialist and started off full gas. I'm really dead now, so that's a good sign... I couldn't do it much faster," he said. "With Menchov, Rasmussen and also Freire for the sprints, I think our team might surprise many people in the Tour de France."
Has this set the scene for a clean, interesting, watchable Tour de France?
"I really hope the public will follow us, and the atmosphere in the Tour will be really nice," said Hushovd. "Of course, with what's happened in the last days, it's not easy; it's not nice when something like this happens before the start of the Tour. I think it's very sad for cycling, but I think it's sometimes good to clean things.
"You also have to think about [all of] us still here. We really worked a lot to be selected for the Tour, and cycling is our life... we really like our sport, and I just hope the public will keep on supporting us."
So maybe not totally clean, but certainly cleaner than it was one day ago. Interesting? Yes; instead of two outright favourites, there are now at least eight contenders with a shot at winning overall.
And watchable? Le Tour should never be missed.
How it unfolded
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The 93rd Tour de France opened today with a fast, completely flat and somewhat technical 7.1km rush through the Alsatian capital of Strasbourg. Starting in the Square de Tivoli, the course headed east and then makes a right and left turn to head along the Parc de l'Orangerie, then made another left to head south along the Basssin des Remparts canal with an intermediate time check after 3.7km on the Quai des Belges.
700m later, the prologue made a sharp right after 4km into the city streets, where the course got more technical for a kilometre. With 2km to race, the parcours burst back onto the wide Boulevard d'Anvers and finished on the Avenue Herrenschmidt in front of the Palais de la Musique et des Congres.
On a beautiful sunny afternoon with temps around thirty degrees and a northwest wind 10-15km/h, Frenchman Cederic Coutouly (Agritubel) first of 176 riders off at 1:15 CET, and early fast time was set by Phonak's Ralph Grabsch at 8'31.890" at 1:33. American Chris Horner (Davitamon-Lotto) got within one second of Grabsch, but the Phonak man held on to the lead as the clock passed 2pm. But fifteen minutes later, his German countryman Seb Lang (Gerolsteiner) hammered home 10" faster in 8'21.80, a 51.0km/h average.
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German TT champ Lang stayed in the lead, as O'Grady got within two-hundreths of a second, while best GC rider to that point was Caisse d'Epargne's big Russian Vlad Karpets in 8'27". Wearing dossard #11 as CSC team leader, Paris-Nice prologue winner Bobby Julich, who started fast but finished out of the top 10 up to that point. Discovery Channel's Yaro Popovych finished in 8'37", 10" behind Karpets for a decent time, while next up was French TT champ Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), but the Frenchman slowed in the final.
Lang had held the fastest time for over an hour and as the westerly increased during the course of the afternoon, making the two last kilometres of the Tour prologue became harder and harder. Discovery Channel's Giro d'Italia prologue winner Paolo Savoldelli screamed home to third fastest time, just ahead of Karpets, while Saunier Duval's Mr. Clean David Millar came through the time check 8" behind the best time, showing a little lack of power after his long absence from competition. Millar's average was 50km/h and his time was excellent, just 7" behind Lang.
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After almost two hours in the lead, Seb Lang saw giant Viking Hushovd (Credit Agricole) power home with the new fastest time of 8'17.01", an average speed of 51.4km/h. It would be difficult to best Hushovd's time, but the Tour de France's best riders were still yet to race. ProTour leader Valverde got close with his 8'21.92" but was just twelve hundredths behind Lang for third fastest at that point. Big bad Boonen was next up and the Quick.Step world champ had a strong ride to finish in 8'28".
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Looking like a giant preying mantis with his outré Oakleys, Phonak's Floyd Landis had a clumsy start, losing an estimated 8-10 seconds as his team mechanic changed his cut tire just before the start rather than risk a flat on the road. Crouched his Obree-esque TT position, the American powered to 8'26", showing his great form as the Tour starts, and his mechanical may have cost Landis the maillot jaune. Next up was a compact, focused Leipheimer, who clocked a respectable 8'38.61, just under 50km/h.
Yet another Yank hit the road, as CSC's pre-race favourite David Zabriskie (CSC), winner of the 2005 Tour stage 1 TT was quick out of the start house, and at the intermediate time check on the Quai des Belges, was just 0'01 behind leader Hushovd. '01 Tour Prologue winner and AG2R leader by default Christophe Moreau then came home with a good 8'30, while T-Mobile's World TT champ Mick Rogers crossed the line in his rainbow jersey in 8'23.31, still 0'06 behind Hushovd.
As Zabriskie was streaking towards the finish over the last two kilometres, Discovery Channel's George Hincapie was off to a great start in the prologue. Big George was 1" behind Hushovd and equal with Dave Z at the intermediate time check and tongue akimbo, powering a huge gear, Hincapie was simply flying through the streets of Strasbourg. At the finish line on Avenue Herrenschmidt, Zabriskie missed beating Hushovd by 4.22 seconds and it was now just down to Hincapie to unseat the Norwegian from the lead.
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Under the flamme rouge with 1km to go, Hincapie looked like he could grab the first maillot jaune of the 2006 Tour, but as he threw his bike at the line, the digital chronometer above the finish line revealed that the Discovery Channel rider had lost by just .73 hundredths of a second. Thus, the honour went to Credit Agricole's 28 year-old Norwegian from Grimstad, Thor Hushovd, who had won Gent-Wevelghem and a stage of the Volta a Catalunya this season and took his third Tour de France stage win for the biggest win of his career.
Although the 7.1km Prologue won't make a difference in the final general classification, it's a good indication of which favourites are in good form at the start of the three week Grand Tour. GC riders George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), Floyd Landis (Phonak), Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto), Christophe Moreau (Ag2r), Andreas Kloden (T-Mobile) and Bobby Julich (CSC) all finished in the top 30 within 20" of new maillot jaune Hushovd.
Further back were Discovery Channel's Popovych (32nd @ 20") and Azevedo (49th @ 20"), Gerolsteiner's Levi Leipheimer (36th @ 21"), Rabobank's Denis Menchov (56th @ 26"), while Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) lost 41" to finish 126th. But with 3,650km and three weeks of racing to go, the 2006 Tour de France is still wide open.
Sunday, July 2 - Stage 1: Strasbourg-Strasbourg, 183 km
Sunday's flat sprinters' stage starts and finishes in Strasbourg, with a 30km incursion into Germany at the end of the stage. After heading north for 30km to the rolling hills of Kocherberg, the parcours turns south after the first sprint in Saverne along the narrow, winding Route de Vins, then through Molsheim, the home of Bugatti just before the feed zone.
The Tour heads south for another 15km until the one and only GPM of the day, a Cat 4 climb on the 1.1km Cote de Heiligenstein with 83km to go. Then it's due east, then due north for another sprint in Plobsheim, across the Rhein River into Germany, through Offenbach and yet another sprint in Kehl at the Franco/German border with 9km to go before heading back to France to finish on the Avenue de la Foret Noire.
Sunday should be a tight, tense day with plenty of crashes as always to set-up a big battle between Boonen's Quick.Step, McEwen's Davitamon-Lotto and Zabel's Milram teams to knock off maillot jaune Thor Hushovd and his Credit Agricole squad and win the first en ligne stage at Le Tour '06.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us
- Chris Horner (Davitamon-Lotto) comes through for a respectable 19th place finish, only 15 seconds back.
- David Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodir) was back to ride his first Tour prologue in 2 years.
- Haimar Zubeldia (Eusklatel-Euskadi) comes by looking strong.
- Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) sporting the new German National Champion stripes.
- Christian Vandevelde (CSC) is back to help the team again this year.
- Giuseppe Guerini (T-Mobile) gets the power to the pedals.
- Stuart O'Grady (CSC) had a great ride for 6th place, 4 seconds down.
- Sebastian Joly (Française Des Jeux) tongue out and going fast.
- David Arroyo (Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears) heads into a turn.
- Jens Voigt, CSC powerhouse comes though.
- Robbie Hunter (Phonak) rode well coming in 22 seconds back.
- Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) on his way to 8th place.
- Bobby Julich (CSC) looking very fit.
- Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) off to a good start.
- Floyd Landis (Phonak) coming in at 9 seconds back.
- Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto) has high hopes riding on him for this year's Tour.
- Axel Merckx (Phonak) will be there later for team leader Floyd Landis.
- Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) might just get another shot at a yellow jersey this year.
- Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) comes in with the fastest time of 8:17.
- Christophe Moreau (AG2R), the French hope, had a good ride at 13 seconds back.
- Michael Rogers (T-Mobile) World Time Trial Champion on his way in.
- Dave Zabriskie (CSC) looking focused as usual, wound up in 3rd.
- George Hincapie (Discovery) almost caught Hushovd at 4 seconds back.
- Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) gets to start the Tour with the maillot jaune.
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- Stuart O'Grady (CSC) on the ramp
- Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) with Felice Gimondi
- Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) enjoying his warm up
- Don’t mess with Jose Rujano
- Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) focuses
- Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre-Fondital) pre-start
- David Millar (Saunier Duval) gets the count down
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) on the start ramp
- Erik Zabel (Milram) is anxious to go
- David Millar (Saunier Duval) a little nervous
- David Millar (Saunier Duval)
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) steps up
- Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) trying to keep his helmet in frame
- Denis Menchov (Rabobank) gets ready
- Thor Hushovd (CA) rode a great TT to win in hard conditions
- Thor Hushovd (CA) in action
- George Hincapie (Discovery) gets up to speed
- David Zabriskie (CSC) had a good ride for third
- David Zabriskie (CSC) pushes for the line
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) was a solid fifth
- Floyd Landis (Phonak) missed his start, but recovered well to finish 9th
- Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) struggled a bit today
- Stuart O'Grady (CSC) opened up well
- Jose Rujano (Quick.Step) in his first race in the new colours
- Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) is not a TT specialist
- Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery) slightly off the pace in 32nd
- Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) the French TT champ
- Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) finished just outside the top 50
- Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre-Fondital) was 45th
- Andreas Kloden (T-Mobile) was 24th on the day
- Carlos Sastre (CSC) rides in the prologue
- Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) was a good eighth
- Erik Zabel (Milram) was just inside the top 100
- Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues) looks ahead
- Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) on his way
- David Millar (Saunier Duval) cranks up the volume
- Iban Mayo (Euskaltel) in action
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) was among the top sprinters
- Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) in action
- Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto) gives it gas
- Denis Menchov (Rabobank) winds 'er up
- Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) focuses
- Christophe Moreau (AG2R) gets going
- Michael Rogers (T-Mobile) changes up a gear
- Denis Menchov (Rabobank) breathes deep
- Michael Rogers (T-Mobile) in his element
- Thor Hushovd (CA) stage winner
- Thor Hushovd (CA) salutes from the podium
- Mighty Thor prologue winner
- May I help you with that? Why, thank you.
- Yep, it's real
- Thor Hushovd (CA) with his lion and flowers
- Thor Hushovd (CA) smiles in yellow
- Yellow jersey winner Thor Hushovd
- Thor Hushovd (CA) in his favoured colour, green
Images by Roberto Bettini/www.bettiniphoto.net
- Thor Hushovd (CA) in full flight
- George Hincapie (Discovery) full power
- George Hincapie (Discovery) drives for the line
- David Millar (Saunier Duval) propels the bike forwards
- Italian TT champ Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre-Fondital)
- Who's a happy viking? Thor Hushovd on the podium
Images by AFP Photo
- Thor Hushovd (CA) powers to victory in the opening time trial
- Thor Hushovd (CA) leaves the start gate
- George Hincapie (Discovery) rode well to finish second
- David Millar (Saunier Duval) sets off in his comeback ride
Images by Brecht Decaluwé/Cyclingnews.com
- This place will be more crowded later on.
- In the last corner the German victory over Argentina is celebrated... and some new asphalt is being placed over the tram track.
- Magnus Backstedt enjoying the coolness of the morning.
- Backstedt inspecting his time trial bike.
- Backstedt joking around with the technicians.
- Stefano Garzelli was also having a look at the time trial bikes.
- Luca Paolini wants to test his bike.
- Backstedt testing the position on the bike.
- The time trial bikes of team Liquigas.
- The start ramp being installed.
- Will we see some new faces in this Tour de France?
- Steven De Jongh was warming up together with Pieter Weening.
- Veteran Ekimov talking tactics.
- A Bouygues Telecom rider
- Tour de France is in search of a new winner...there are enough candidates.
- The podium waiting for some action to come.
- A Lampre-Fondital rider
Images by Giorgio Masnikosa/members.chello.se/giorgio.masnikosa
- A sorry sight
- Hot day in Strasbourg
- You don't wanna mess with this guy, Magnus Bäckstedt
- Paolo Savoldelli
- Silent prayer for Eric Zabel
- Bernard Eisel (FDJ) doesn't pay attention to Marc Madiot
- David Canada goes
- So does Pavel Padrnos
- Swedish colours for Gustav Larsson
- José Rujano wears Quick-Step gear
- Magnus Bäckstedt goes
- Underneath McEwen
- Gilberto Simoni gets attention
- Paolo Savoldelli final adjustments
- Danilo Di Luca
- Valverde gets a bike and everything is fine
- The light shines on Tom Boonen
Results
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 8.17.00 (51.43 km/h) 2 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 0.00.73 3 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 0.04.21 4 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.04.80 5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.04.92 6 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 0.04.93 7 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 0.06.30 8 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel 0.08.02 9 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 0.09.26 10 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.10.09 11 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) T-Mobile 0.10.11 12 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.11.21 13 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 0.12.33 14 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.13.24 15 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 0.13.73 16 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis 0.13.88 17 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.14.65 18 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak 0.14.89 19 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 0.15.61 20 Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Phonak 0.16.03 21 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile 0.16.17 22 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.16.22 23 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 0.16.93 24 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 0.17.41 25 Viatsjeslav Ekimov (Rus) Discovery Channel 0.17.58 26 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.18.36 27 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.18.47 28 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 0.18.73 29 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 0.18.84 30 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile 0.19.21 31 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.19.36 32 Jaroslav Popovitsj (Ukr) Discovery Channel 0.20.02 33 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 0.20.93 34 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 0.21.22 35 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 0.21.27 36 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 0.21.60 37 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.22.01 38 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak 0.22.43 39 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 0.22.84 40 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 0.23.00 41 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis 0.23.09 42 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 0.23.47 43 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.23.51 44 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.23.77 45 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.23.94 46 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.23.99 47 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 0.24.67 48 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak 0.24.77 49 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel 0.24.90 50 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.25.34 51 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.25.35 52 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 0.25.50 53 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.25.80 54 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 0.26.11 55 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.26.14 56 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.26.19 57 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.26.53 58 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 0.26.55 59 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 0.26.69 60 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R-Prevoyance 0.26.96 61 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaise Des Jeux 0.26.99 62 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 0.27.09 63 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 0.27.25 64 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak 0.27.80 65 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole 0.28.12 66 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.28.29 67 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.28.33 68 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.28.39 69 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.28.41 70 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.28.63 71 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.29.08 72 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 0.29.53 73 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux 0.29.77 74 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.30.41 75 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 0.30.61 76 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.30.69 77 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.30.79 78 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel 0.30.80 79 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.31.23 80 José Rujano (Ven) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.31.32 81 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.31.85 81 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 83 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas 0.31.99 84 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.32.14 85 Sandy Casar (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.32.87 85 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R-Prevoyance 87 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.32.92 88 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.32.98 89 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.33.39 90 Christian Knees (Ger) Milram 0.33.72 91 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.33.76 92 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.33.85 93 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel 0.33.86 94 Iker Camano (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.34.23 95 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 0.34.52 96 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis 0.34.69 97 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.34.83 98 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram 0.34.93 99 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 0.34.99 100 Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.35.16 101 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile 0.35.56 102 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 0.36.58 103 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram 0.37.08 104 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Milram 0.37.27 105 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.37.28 106 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.37.69 107 Ivan Ramiro Parra (Col) Cofidis 0.37.82 108 Axel Merckx (Bel) Phonak 0.37.86 109 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.38.12 110 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel 0.38.30 111 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak 0.38.33 112 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 0.38.42 113 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank 0.38.64 114 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre-Fondital 0.38.91 115 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.38.97 116 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.39.24 117 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 0.39.41 118 David Canada (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.39.46 119 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2R-Prevoyance 0.39.61 120 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 0.39.74 121 Moises Duenas (Spa) Agritubel 0.39.82 122 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak 0.40.25 123 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas 0.40.37 124 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.41.37 125 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Cofidis 0.41.42 126 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.41.44 127 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.41.58 128 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Milram 0.41.71 129 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis 0.42.16 130 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel 0.42.29 131 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 0.42.51 132 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.42.67 133 Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa) Agritubel 0.42.73 134 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.42.81 135 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.43.25 136 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Team CSC 0.43.52 137 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.43.55 138 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile 0.43.61 139 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.43.62 140 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.43.71 141 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.43.90 142 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Milram 0.43.94 143 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel 0.44.15 144 Marco Velo (Ita) Milram 0.44.25 145 David Kopp (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.44.94 146 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.45.02 147 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 0.45.79 148 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.46.08 149 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole 0.46.39 150 David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis 0.46.82 151 David Lopez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.46.89 152 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.46.97 153 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.47.08 154 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 0.47.38 155 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.47.50 156 Kjelt Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 0.48.24 157 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 0.48.31 158 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 0.48.32 159 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.48.85 160 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 0.49.02 161 Stephane Goubert (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 0.49.29 162 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.49.92 163 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.50.03 164 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas 0.50.06 165 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.50.41 166 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.50.44 167 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.52.40 168 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Milram 0.52.87 169 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.56.45 170 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) Agritubel 0.58.67 171 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis 1.00.35 172 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1.01.94 173 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 1.02.47 174 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Agritubel 1.04.31 175 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.07.69 176 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 1.10.65 Points 1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 15 pts 2 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 12 3 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 10 4 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 8 5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 6 6 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 5 7 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 4 8 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel 3 9 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 2 10 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1 Young rider 1 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 8.33 2 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.02 3 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.03 4 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 0.07 5 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaise Des Jeux 0.10 6 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.13 7 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux 8 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.14 9 José Rujano (Ven) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.15 10 Christian Knees (Ger) Milram 0.17 11 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.18 12 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 0.20 13 Moises Duenas (Spa) Agritubel 0.23 14 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas 0.24 15 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.25 16 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 17 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Milram 18 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.30 19 David Lopez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 20 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.33 21 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.36 22 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Milram 23 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) Agritubel 0.42 Teams 1 Discovery Channel Team 25.16 2 Team CSC 0.01 3 T-Mobile Team 0.07 4 Caisse D’Epargne-Illes Balears 5 Phonak Hearing Systems 0.14 6 Gerolsteiner 0.18 7 Davitamon - Lotto 0.31 8 Credit Agricole 9 Liquigas 0.32 10 AG2R Prevoyance 11 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone 0.34 12 Lampre-Fondital 0.37 13 Francaise Des Jeux 0.39 14 Rabobank 0.42 15 Saunier Duval - Prodir 16 Bouygues Telecom 0.46 17 Quick Step - Innergetic 18 Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.03 19 Team Milram 1.16 20 Agritubel 1.23 Intermediate timing km 3.7 1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 4.04 2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 3 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 0.01 4 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 5 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 0.02 6 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel 7 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 0.03 8 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 9 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 10 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.04 11 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 12 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 13 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.05 14 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 15 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 16 Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Phonak 0.06 17 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 18 Viatsjeslav Ekimov (Rus) Discovery Channel 19 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 20 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 21 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.07 22 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 23 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 24 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) T-Mobile 25 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 26 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Quick-Step-Innergetic 27 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 28 Jaroslav Popovitsj (Ukr) Discovery Channel 29 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 30 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile 0.08 31 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile 32 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 33 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 34 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 35 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 36 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 37 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.09 38 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis 39 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 40 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak 41 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 42 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 43 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 44 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 45 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 46 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.10 47 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaise Des Jeux 48 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 49 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis 50 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram 51 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 52 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak 53 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 54 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 55 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 56 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval - Prodir 57 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 58 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 58 Iker Camano (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 60 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel 61 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 0.11 62 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 63 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak 64 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Milram 65 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 66 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 66 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 68 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 69 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 70 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux 0.12 70 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 72 Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 73 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis 74 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 74 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 76 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak 77 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 78 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 79 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel 80 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 81 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis 82 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas 83 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.13 84 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 85 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 86 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 87 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 88 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 89 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 90 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Milram 91 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 92 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 93 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.14 93 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank 93 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 96 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 97 José Rujano (Ven) Quick-Step-Innergetic 97 Axel Merckx (Bel) Phonak 97 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 100 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R-Prevoyance 101 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 102 Sandy Casar (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 103 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 104 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak 105 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas 106 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile 107 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre-Fondital 108 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.15 109 Moises Duenas (Spa) Agritubel 110 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 111 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R-Prevoyance 112 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 113 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 114 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Cofidis 115 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2R-Prevoyance 116 Christian Knees (Ger) Milram 117 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel 118 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole 119 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak 0.16 120 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel 121 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quick-Step-Innergetic 122 David Canada (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 123 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 124 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 125 Marco Velo (Ita) Milram 126 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 127 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 128 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel 129 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 130 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.17 131 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 132 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir 133 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 134 Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa) Agritubel 135 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 136 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 137 Ivan Ramiro Parra (Col) Cofidis 138 David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis 139 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.18 140 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram 141 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 142 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 143 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 144 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 145 David Lopez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 146 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 147 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas 0.19 148 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 149 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Milram 150 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 151 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 152 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 153 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 154 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Crédit Agricole 155 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.20 156 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Team CSC 157 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 158 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile 159 David Kopp (Ger) Gerolsteiner 160 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.21 161 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis 161 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick-Step-Innergetic 163 Stephane Goubert (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 164 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 165 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Milram 0.22 166 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) Agritubel 167 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 168 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 169 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.23 170 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole 0.24 171 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel 172 Kjelt Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 0.26 173 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Agritubel 0.27 174 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.28 175 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.33 176 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.42
