The 2006 Tour of Britain took place in Great Britain from 29 August to 3 September 2006. A UCI category 2.1 event, the tour consisted of six stages covering a distance of 870.5 km (540.9 mi), starting in Glasgow and finishing in The Mall, London.

Stages edit

Stage 1 edit

29 August: Glasgow to Castle Douglas, 162.6 km (101.0 mi)

The stage was dominated by an early breakaway of three riders who were never caught, finishing 212 minutes ahead of the peloton.

Cyclist Nationality Team Time
1 Martin Pedersen   Denmark Team CSC 4h 03'38"
2 Luis Pasamontes   Spain Unibet.com s.t"
3 Matthew Goss   Australia Southaustralia.com–AIS s.t"

Stage 2 edit

30 August: Blackpool to Liverpool, 163 km (101 mi)

The stage ended in a mass sprint. During the race, Goss won enough time bonuses in the sprints to take the overall lead from Pedersen.

Cyclist Nationality Team Time
1 Roger Hammond   United Kingdom Team Great Britain 3h 54'15"
2 Aart Vierhouten   Netherlands Skil–Shimano s.t"
3 Russell Downing   United Kingdom DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed s.t"

Stage 3 edit

31 August: Bradford to Sheffield, 180 km (110 mi)

The stage was dominated by a crosswind. Pedersen's teammates split the peloton and ensured his return to the lead, but could not manage to catch Filippo Pozzato, who escaped from the lead group near the finish.

Cyclist Nationality Team Time
1 Filippo Pozzato   Italy Quick-Step–Innergetic 4h 28'18"
2 Michael Rogers   Australia T-Mobile Team 32"
3 Nick Nuyens   Belgium Quick-Step–Innergetic 32"

Stage 4 edit

1 September: Wolverhampton to Birmingham, 130.3 km (81.0 mi)

Another stage where a group escaped early on, and the peloton was unsuccessful in catching them again. Manning was leading as the race reached the final roundabout but he was sent the wrong way and lost the stage.

Cyclist Nationality Team Time
1 Frederik Willems   Belgium Chocolade Jacques–Topsport Vlaanderen 2h 54'12"
2 Mark Cavendish   United Kingdom T-Mobile Team 2"
3 Paul Manning   United Kingdom Landbouwkrediet–Colnago 6"

Stage 5 edit

2 September: Rochester to Canterbury, 152.6 km (94.8 mi)

The riders went on strike, after being led astray by race officials. Their main complaint was poor security. The riders eventually resumed the race, and the stage ended in a mass sprint.

Cyclist Nationality Team Time
1 Francesco Chicchi   Italy Quick-Step–Innergetic 4h 24'42"
2 Mark Cavendish   United Kingdom T-Mobile Team s.t"
3 Aart Vierhouten   Netherlands Skil–Shimano s.t"

Stage 6 edit

3 September: Greenwich to The Mall, 82 km (51 mi) (38 km (24 mi), plus 20 laps of 2.2 km (1.4 mi))

There was a number of breakaways on the final stage, but all were eliminated, and the stage ended in a mass sprint.

Cyclist Nationality Team Time
1 Tom Boonen   Belgium Quick-Step–Innergetic 2h 00'41"
2 Roger Hammond   United Kingdom Team Great Britain s.t"
3 Mark Cavendish   United Kingdom T-Mobile Team s.t"

Final classifications edit

General classification edit

Name Nationality Team Time
1 Martin Pedersen   Denmark Team CSC 21h 51'24"
2 Luis Pasamontes   Spain Unibet.com + 51"
3 Filippo Pozzato   Italy Quick-Step–Innergetic + 2'11"
4 Nick Nuyens   Belgium Quick-Step–Innergetic + 2'46"
5 Michael Rogers   Australia T-Mobile Team + s.t.
6 Iljo Keisse   Belgium Chocolade Jacques–Topsport Vlaanderen + 3'06"
7 Johann Tschopp    Switzerland Phonak iShares + 3'07"
8 Andy Schleck   Luxembourg Team CSC + 3'14"
9 Russell Downing   United Kingdom DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed + 3'16"
10 Maarten Tjallingii   Netherlands Skil–Shimano + 3'18"

External links edit