Tour De France 2006

[Ben Lauer]

This year will be interesting...
Quick summary:
- 10 riders in scheduled to compete in this years tour will not be. Two of the most promising riders, Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich and the others have been suspected for blood doping. Blood doping is a very hard thing to catch, the only way to tell is through the hematocrit, or the number of red blood cells per given volume of blood.
- Team Discovery Channel's Rider after Lance: George Hincapie
- Who will win this year's tour? No one knows. Hincapie, O'Grady, Zabel, Hushovd, McEwen, or any of the other 150+ riders. It should turn out to be a great tour.

Prologue:
Winner: Thor Hushovd
The prologue is a short (7.1km) time trial before stage one. It seems to just be a time when the TV announcers can provide some history and general information about the tour. For instance, there are 176 riders, 20 teams, and 26 nations.

Stage 1:
Jimmy Casper has won his first Tour stage. The top three are:
1. Jimmy Casper (COF)
2. Robbie McEwen (DVL)
3. Erik Zabel (MRM)
Yellow Jersey holder becomes George Hincapie.
- Thor Hushovd had his arm lacerated by Europe's equilivent of the foam finger. The big difference is that it wasn't foam, it was still cardboard, and at 35-40 mph, it can cause a decent cut. He was nearly complete with the stage when it happened, but he is worried that he will not be able to sprint as well because he cannot pull up on the handlebar without pain.

Stage 2:
The Top Three In Stage Two:
1. Robbie McEwen (AUS - DVL) [His 9th career stage win]
2. Tom Boonen (BEL - QSI)
3. Thor Hushovd (NOR - C.A)
Yellow Jersey holder returns to Hushovd, he is leading Boonen by 5 seconds and McEwen by 8 seconds.

Stage 3:
Top Five In Stage Three:
1. Matthias Kessler (GER - TMO)
2. Michael Rogers (AUS - TMO) at 5"
3. Daniel Benatti (ITA - LAM) at 5"
4. Tom Boonen (QSI - BEL) at 5"
5. Erik Zabel (GER - MRM) at 5"
Matthias Kessler claimed his first stage win in the Tour de France with an excellent attack on the final climb.
- The General Classification (GC) is as follows...
1. Tom Boonen (BEL - QSI)
2. Michael Rogers (AUS - TMO) at 1"
3. George Hincapie (USA - DSC) at 5"
4. Thor Hushovd (NOR - C.A) at 7"
5. Paolo Savoldelli (ITA - DSC) at 15"
Tom Boonen has achieved his quest of wearing the yellow jersey. The world champion was fourth in the stage and now leads the time trial world champion by one-second in the general classification.

I'll post again later today about the outcome of today's stage.