2006 Paris–Nice

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. The race was won by Floyd Landis of Team Phonak.

Teams

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

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Route

Stage characteristics and winners

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	5 March	Issy-les-Moulineaux	Template:Convert	File:Time Trial.svg	Individual time trial	Template:Flagathlete
1	6 March	Villemandeur to Saint-Amand-Montrond	Template:Convert	File:Plainstage.svg	Flat stage	Template:Flagathlete
2	7 March	Cérilly to Belleville	Template:Convert	File:Hillystage.svg	Hilly stage	Template:Flagathlete
3	8 March	Juliénas to Saint-Étienne	Template:Convert	File:Mediummountainstage.svg	Medium mountain stage	Template:Flagathlete
4	9 March	Saint-Étienne to Rasteau	Template:Convert	File:Mediummountainstage.svg	Medium mountain stage	Template:Flagathlete
5	10 March	Avignon to Digne-les-Bains	Template:Convert	File:Mountainstage.svg	Mountain stage	Template:Flagathlete
6	11 March	Digne-les-Bains to Cannes	Template:Convert	File:Mediummountainstage.svg	Medium mountain stage	Template:Flagathlete
7	12 March	Nice to Nice	Template:Convert	File:Mountainstage.svg	Mountain stage	Template:Flagathlete

Stages

Prologue

5 March 2006 — Issy-les-Moulineaux to Issy-les-Moulineaux, Template:Convert (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	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	6' 07"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 1"
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 2"

Stage 1

6 March 2006 — Villemandeur to Saint-Amand-Montrond, Template:Convert

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	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	4h 56' 01"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	s.t.
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	s.t.

Stage 2

7 March 2006 — Cérilly to Belleville, Template:Convert

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	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	5h 20' 50"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	s.t.
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	s.t.

Stage 3

8 March 2006 — Juliénas to Saint-Étienne, Template:Convert

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	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	4h 23'28"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	s.t.
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 1' 16"

Stage 4

9 March 2006 — Saint-Étienne to Rasteau, Template:Convert

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	4h 40' 29"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	s.t.
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	s.t.

Stage 5

10 March 2006 — Avignon to Digne-les-Bains, Template:Convert

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	4h 43' 34"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 19"
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 33"

Stage 6

11 March 2006 — Digne-les-Bains to Cannes, Template:Convert

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	4h 12' 08"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 1' 06"
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 1' 11"

Stage 7

12 March 2006 — Nice to Nice, Template:Convert

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	3h 29' 38"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	s.t.
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	s.t.

General Standings

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	31h 54' 41"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 9"
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 1' 05"

Mountains Classification

	Cyclist	Team	Points
1	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	51
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	42
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	39

Points Classification

	Cyclist	Team	Points
1	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	66
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	63
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	52

Best Young Rider

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	31h 58' 11"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 21"
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:UCI team code	+ 52"

Best Team

	Team	Country	Total time
1	Template:UCI team code	Italy	95h 51' 43"
2	Template:UCI team code	United States	+ 3"
3	Template:UCI team code	Spain	+ 34"