2006 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11

The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began in Strasbourg with a prologue individual time trial on 1 July and Stage 11 occurred on 13 July with a mountainous stage to Val d'Aran in Spain. The race finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, on 23 July.

1 July 2006 — Strasbourg, 7.1 km (4.4 mi) (ITT)

The prologue is a short (7.1 km/4.4 mile), completely flat, time trial, as is customary. It took place in the French city of Strasbourg.

Thor Hushovd, the 2004 and 2005 Norwegian National Time Trial Cycling Champion, captured a third stage win and second yellow jersey in his career.

Note: George Hincapie got to wear the green jersey, as a rider cannot wear two leading jerseys at the same time.

2 July 2006 — Strasbourg to Strasbourg, 184.5 km (114.6 mi)

Stage 1 was a largely flat sprinter stage with a category 4 climb up the small Côte de Heiligenstein about halfway through the stage at the 101.5 km (63.1 mi) mark, and three intermediate sprints throughout the length of the course. The sprints were in Saverne (at 53.0 km/32.9 mile), Plobsheim (137.0 km/85.1 mile), and Kehl (175.5 km/109.0 mile). The stage was a 184.5 km (114.6 mi) long loop, starting and finishing in Strasbourg.

An early breakaway consisting of Stéphane Augé (Cofidis), Walter Bénéteau (Bouygues Télécom), Unai Etxebarria (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Nicolas Portal (Caisse d'Epargne), Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Télécom), Benoit Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux), and Fabian Wegmann (Team Gerolsteiner) formed by the 22 km (14 mi) mark and gained a lead of 4:35 over the main peloton before being caught in the last 30 km (19 mi). That allowed Wegmann to take the polka dot jersey for winning the race up the lone climb.

...
Wikipedia