2006 Paris–Nice

The 2006 edition of the Paris–Nice bicycle race was run from March 5 to March 12. The race was won by United States rider Floyd Landis, of Team Phonak.

2006 Paris–Nice

2006 UCI ProTour, race 1 of 27
Race details
Dates	March 5–12, 2006
Stages	8
Distance	1,276.3 km (793.1 mi)
Winning time	31h 54' 41"
Results
Winner  Floyd Landis (USA) (Phonak)   Second  Patxi Vila (ESP) (Lampre–Fondital)   Third  Antonio Colóm (ESP) (Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears) Points  Samuel Sánchez (ESP) (Euskaltel–Euskadi) Mountains  David Moncoutié (FRA) (Cofidis) Youth  Luis León Sánchez (ESP) (Liberty Seguros–Würth)   Team Lampre–Fondital
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Stages

05-03-2006: Issy-les-Moulineaux – Issy-les-Moulineaux, 4.8 km. (Prologue, ITT)

The prologue stage saw 2005 GC winner Bobby Julich retain the yellow/white GC leader's jersey after defeating Kazakh Andrey Kaschechkin, who held the best time through most of the stage's duration, by a narrow margin of 1 second. As the winner of the first stage he also received the green/white points jersey. The blue jersey for best young rider went to Alberto Contador.

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Bobby Julich	Team CSC	6' 07"
2	Andrey Kaschechkin	LSW	+ 1"
3	Bradley McGee	Française des Jeux	+ 2"

06-03-2006: Villemandeur – Saint-Amand-Montrond, 193 km. (Stage 1)

By winning the peloton sprint in Saint-Amand-Montrond ahead of Allan Davis, Tom Boonen (who finished fifth in the prologue stage five seconds down on Bobby Julich) took over the yellow/white jersey due to the time bonus awarded to stage winners. He also took over first place in the points classification.

After a short solo breakaway effort by David Zabriskie, Frenchmen Cristophe Laurent and Stéphane Augé launched a long attack at the 60-km point but were caught by the chasing peloton only 2 km before the finish line. Augé was awarded the first red polka dotted jersey in the mountains classification.

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Tom Boonen	QSI	4h 56' 01"
2	Allan Davis	LSW	s.t.
3	Francisco Ventoso	SDV	s.t.

07-03-2006: Cerilly – Belleville, 200 km. (Stage 2)

Stage 2 saw a repeat of Tom Boonen's victory over Allan Davis in the first stage, the Belgian finishing first in another bunch sprint.

The polka-dotted mountains jersey changed hands due to a long breakaway by French rider Nicolas Crosbie, who established a maximum lead of 27'30" after 81 kilometers. Crosbie was caught by the peloton 10 km before the finish line.

The blue jersey for the best young rider was awarded to Benoît Vaugrenard who took over first place with former leader Alberto Contador finishing 1'13 behind the pack.

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Tom Boonen	QST	5h 20' 50"
2	Allan Davis	LSW	s.t.
3	Danilo Napolitano	Lampre–Fondital	s.t.

08-03-2006: Julienas – Saint-Étienne, 168.5 km. (Stage 3)

In the third stage to Saint-Étienne, where Kazakh racer Andrei Kivilev died after a fall in the 2003 edition of Paris–Nice (prompting the UCI to make the wearing of helmets mandatory during all UCI-sanctioned races), there were some changes to the race classifications as American Floyd Landis took over first place in the GC, placing second in the stage after Patxi Xabier Vila Errandonea.

Nicolas Crosbie and Tom Boonen retained their respective climber and sprinter jerseys, whereas the blue jersey for the best young rider was awarded to Stefan Schumacher who finished 1'25 behind the winner.

As expected of a hilly stage Stage 3 saw breakaway attempts on the different climbs, the defining break happening on the last climb of the day, the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret.

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Patxi Vila	Lampre–Fondital	4h 23'28"
2	Floyd Landis	PHO	s.t.
3	Samuel Sánchez	EUS	+ 1' 16"

09-03-2006: Saint-Étienne – Rasteau, 193 km. (Stage 4)

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Tom Boonen	QST	4h 40' 29"
2	Allan Davis	LSW	s.t.
3	Stefan Schumacher	GST	s.t.

10-03-2006: Avignon – Digne-les-Bains, 201.5 km. (Stage 5)

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Joaquim Rodríguez	CEI	4h 43' 34"
2	Joost Posthuma	RAB	+ 19"
3	Jérôme Pineau	BTL	+ 33"

11-03-2006: Digne-les-Bains – Cannes, 179 km. (Stage 6)

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Andrey Kaschechkin	LSW	4h 12' 08"
2	Sylvain Chavanel	Cofidis	+ 1' 06"
3	Sandy Casar	Française des Jeux	+ 1' 11"

12-03-2005: Nice – Nice, 135 km. (Stage 7)

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Markus Zberg	GER	3h 29' 38"
2	Evgeni Petrov	Lampre–Fondital	s.t.
3	Alberto Contador	LSW	s.t.

General Standings

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Floyd Landis	PHO	31h 54' 41"
2	Patxi Vila	Lampre–Fondital	+ 9"
3	Antonio Colóm	CDE	+ 1' 05"

KOM Classification

	Cyclist	Team	Points
1	David Moncoutié	Cofidis	51
2	Christophe Laurent	AGR	42
3	Joaquim Rodríguez	CEI	39

Points Classification

	Cyclist	Team	Points
1	Samuel Sánchez	EUS	66
2	Sandy Casar	Française des Jeux	63
3	Jérôme Pineau	BTL	52

Best Young Rider

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Luis León Sánchez	LSW	31h 58' 11"
2	Joost Posthuma	RAB	+ 21"
3	Thomas Löfkvist	Française des Jeux	+ 52"

Best Team

	Team	Country	Total time
1	Lampre–Fondital	Italy	95h 51' 43"
2	Discovery Channel	United States	+ 3"
3	LSW	Spain	+ 34"

References

• cyclingnews