The 2006 edition of the

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlook ...

bicycle race was run from March 5 to March 12. The race was won by

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

rider

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 ...

, of Team Phonak.

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 Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kazakhstan *Kazakhs, an ethnic group *Kazakh language *The Kazakh Khanate * Kazakh cuisine * Qazakh Rayon, Azerbaijan *Qazax, Azerbaijan *Kazakh Uyezd, administrative dis ...

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 Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former Road bicycle racing, professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice (2007 Tour de France, 2007, 2009 Tour de France ...

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

By winning the

peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reductio ...

sprint in

Saint-Amand-Montrond Saint-Amand-Montrond () is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France and the historical province of Bourbonnais. Saint-Amand-Montrond literally translates to Saint Amand round hill, despite not being on a roun ...

ahead of

Allan Davis Allan Davis may refer to: * Allan Davis (cyclist) (born 1980), Australian road racing cyclist * Allan Davis (director) (1913–2001), British-Australian actor, director and producer * Allan Davis (footballer) (born 1948), Australian rules footballe ...

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 i ...

(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 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 st ...

, Frenchmen Cristophe Laurent and

Stéphane Augé Stéphane Augé (born 6 December 1974 in Pau) is a French former road racing cyclist. Following his career, he worked as a sporting director for UCI Professional Continental team from 2011 until 2016. While he initially had a contract to ride c ...

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.

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

Stage 2 saw a repeat of

's victory over

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 Nicolas Crosbie (born 2 April 1980 in Niort, Deux-Sèvres) is a French professional road bicycle racer who is currently unattached. Palmares * 2007 Giro d'Italia - 88th * Tour de la Guadeloupe The Tour de Guadeloupe (; en, Tour of Guadelo ...

, 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

finishing 1'13 behind the pack.

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

In the third stage to Saint-Etienne, where

racer Andrei Kivilev died after a fall in the 2003 edition of Paris–Nice (prompting the

UCI UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer I ...

to make the wearing of helmets mandatory during all UCI-sanctioned races), there were some changes to the race classifications as American

took over first place in the GC, placing second in the stage after

Patxi Xabier Vila Errandonea Francisco Javier "Patxi" Vila Errandonea (born 11 October 1975 in Hondarribia, Basque Country) is a Spanish Basque former professional road bicycle racer who rides for the UCI Professional Continental team . He was formerly with UCI ProTeam , bef ...

and

retained their respective climber and sprinter jerseys, whereas the blue jersey for the best young rider was awarded to

Stefan Schumacher Stefan Schumacher (born 21 July 1981) is a German former professional road racing cyclist. Schumacher won the bronze medal in the road race at the 2007 UCI Road World Championships, two stages in the 2006 Giro d'Italia and two stages in the 20 ...

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 The Col de la Croix de Chaubouret (elevation ) is a mountain pass in France, located in the Pilat massif in the Loire. It is between Graix and Le Bessat. Details of the Climb Starting from Bourg-Argental (south), the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret ...

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

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

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

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

General Standings

KOM Classification

Points Classification

Best Young Rider

Best Team

References

Race websitecyclingnews
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Paris-Nice Paris–Nice Paris-Nice Paris-Nice March 2006 sports events in Europe