2006 Tour de France

The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition, held from 1 to 23 July, and was won by Óscar Pereiro after the disqualification of Floyd Landis. Because Lance Armstrong's seven titles from 1999 to 2005 were later annulled, it is also the first Tour since 1998 to have an overall winner, and by winning margin it was the third-closest ever. The race began with a prologue in Strasbourg and ran 3,657 km counter-clockwise, the third-fastest Tour on record, passing through the Netherlands at Valkenburg, Belgium at Huy, Luxembourg at Esch-sur-Alzette, Germany on stage 1 without stopping and Spain at Pla-de-Beret. It was the first route presented by the new director Christian Prudhomme and the first since 1999 without a team time trial.