2006 Paris–Nice Explained

The 2006 Paris–Nice was the 64th edition of the Paris–Nice cycle race and was held from 5 March to 12 March 2006. The race started in Chaville and finished in Nice.^[2] The race was won by Floyd Landis of Team Phonak.

Teams

Twenty-one teams, containing a total of 168 riders, participated in the race:^[3]

Route

Stage characteristics and winners

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		scope=col	Winner
P	5 March	Issy-les-Moulineaux	4.8km (03miles)		Individual time trial
1	6 March	Villemandeur to Saint-Amand-Montrond	193km (120miles)		Flat stage
2	7 March	Cérilly to Belleville	200km (100miles)		Hilly stage
3	8 March	Juliénas to Saint-Étienne	168.5km (104.7miles)		Medium mountain stage
4	9 March	Saint-Étienne to Rasteau	193km (120miles)		Medium mountain stage
5	10 March	Avignon to Digne-les-Bains	201.5km (125.2miles)		Mountain stage
6	11 March	Digne-les-Bains to Cannes	179km (111miles)		Medium mountain stage
7	12 March	Nice to Nice	135km (84miles)		Mountain stage

Stages

Prologue

5 March 2006 — Issy-les-Moulineaux to Issy-les-Moulineaux, 4.8km (03miles) (ITT)^[4] 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			6' 07"
2			+ 1"
3			+ 2"

Stage 1

6 March 2006 — Villemandeur to Saint-Amand-Montrond, 193km (120miles)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			4h 56' 01"
2			s.t.
3			s.t.

Stage 2

7 March 2006 — Cérilly to Belleville, 200km (100miles)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			5h 20' 50"
2			s.t.
3			s.t.

Stage 3

8 March 2006 — Juliénas to Saint-Étienne, 168.5km (104.7miles)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			4h 23'28"
2			s.t.
3			+ 1' 16"

Stage 4

9 March 2006 — Saint-Étienne to Rasteau, 193km (120miles)

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1			4h 40' 29"
2			s.t.
3			s.t.

Stage 5

10 March 2006 — Avignon to Digne-les-Bains, 201.5km (125.2miles)

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1			4h 43' 34"
2			+ 19"
3			+ 33"

Stage 6

11 March 2006 — Digne-les-Bains to Cannes, 179km (111miles)

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1			4h 12' 08"
2			+ 1' 06"
3			+ 1' 11"

Stage 7

12 March 2006 — Nice to Nice, 135km (84miles)

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1			3h 29' 38"
2			s.t.
3			s.t.

General Standings

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1			31h 54' 41"
2			+ 9"
3			+ 1' 05"

Mountains Classification

	Cyclist	Team	Points
1			51
2			42
3			39

Points Classification

	Cyclist	Team	Points
1			66
2			63
3			52

Best Young Rider

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1			31h 58' 11"
2			+ 21"
3			+ 52"

Best Team

	Team	Country	Total time
1		Italy	95h 51' 43"
2		United States	+ 3"
3		Spain	+ 34"

Further reading

• Web site: Guide Historique 2014. French. Historic Guide 2014. L'Equipe. 69. https://web.archive.org/web/20140327051041/http://netstorage.lequipe.fr/ASO/cyclisme/paris-nice/2014/guide_historique_fr.pdf. 27 March 2014.
• Web site: 64th Paris-Nice - ProTour, France, March 5-12, 2006. Cycling News.
• Web site: Prologue - March 5: Issy-les-Moulineaux ITT, 4.8 km. Cycling News.
• Web site: Stage 1 - March 6: Villemandeur - Saint-Amand-Montrond, 193 km. Cycling News.
• Web site: Stage 2 - March 7: Cerilly - Belleville, 200 km. Cycling News.
• Web site: Stage 3 - March 8: Julienas - Saint-Etienne, 168.5 km. Cycling News.
• Web site: Stage 4 - March 9: Saint-Etienne - Rasteau, 193 km. Cycling News.
• Web site: Stage 5 - March 10: Avignon - Digne-les-Bains, 201.5 km. Cycling News.
• Web site: Stage 6 - March 11: Digne-les-Bains - Cannes, 179 km. Cycling News.
• Web site: Stage 7 - March 12: Nice - Nice, 135 km. Cycling News.
• News: París-Niza abre hoy el calendario del polémico Pro-Tour. Spanish. Paris-Nice today opens the calendar of the controversial Pro-Tour. El Mundo Deportivo. 53. 5 March 2006.
• News: Alberto Contador deberá recuperar tres segundos. Spanish. Alberto Contador must recover three seconds. El Mundo Deportivo. 54. 6 March 2006.
• News: Boonen, nuevo líder gracias a su octavo triunfo del año. Spanish. Boonen, new leader thanks to his eighth win of the year. El Mundo Deportivo. 49. 7 March 2006.
• News: Contador pincha y ve escapar sus opciones en la general. Spanish. Contador punctures and sees his chances slip away in the general classification. El Mundo Deportivo. 49. 8 March 2006.
• News: Vila estrena palmarés. Spanish. Vila debuts palmarés. El Mundo Deportivo. 50. 9 March 2006.
• News: Boonen consigue su décima victoria del año. Spanish. Boonen gets his tenth victory of the year. El Mundo Deportivo. 52. 10 March 2006.
• News: El catalán Joaquim Rodríguez logra su segunda etapa de París-Niza. Spanish. The Catalan Joaquim Rodríguez achieves his second stage of Paris-Nice. El Mundo Deportivo. 55. 11 March 2006.
• News: Ocho puertos de montaña. Spanish. Eight mountain passes. El Mundo Deportivo. 54. 12 March 2006.
• News: Landis gana en Niza. Spanish. Landis wins in Nice. El Mundo Deportivo. 57. 13 March 2006.

External links

• Web site: Official site. https://web.archive.org/web/20060304152141/http://www.letour.fr/2006/PRN/LIVE/us/0/edito.html. 4 March 2006.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Paris-Nice (Pro Tour-Historic). BikeRaceInfo. 24 August 2024.
2. Web site: 64ème Paris-Nice 2006. Memoire du cyclisme. https://web.archive.org/web/20070320042634/http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_paris_nice/parnice2006.php. 20 March 2007.
3. Web site: Start list. Cycling News. 26 August 2024.
4. Web site: Stages & results. Cycling News. 24 August 2024.