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Leblanc predicts exciting 2006 Tour without Armstrong

By The Associated Press
Published: Oct. 27, 2005
Leblanc and heir-apparent Christian Prudhomme outline the 2006 Tour route
Leblanc and heir-apparent Christian Prudhomme outline the 2006 Tour route
Photo: AFP

Paris (AP) - Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc has predicted an exciting 2006 race in the absence of Lance Armstrong and taken another shot at the seven-time champion.

Leblanc announced the 2006 Tour route Thursday, with the notable points being the absence of a team time trial, the return of L'Alpe d'Huez, and the matter of which rider takes the start line in the No. 1 jersey now that Armstrong has retired.

“It is a classical, well-balanced course. There are five wonderful mountain stages,” Leblanc said. “It is a change of era. A period of long domination is over. There will be (Jan) Ullrich and (Ivan) Basso, and others coming through as well. The path is open. It is an exciting time.”

Leblanc said Armstrong was discredited by allegations printed in the L'Equipe sports newspaper on Aug. 23, which claimed that he used the banned performance enhancer EPO during his first Tour win in 1999. Leblanc said there was relief in the sport that Armstrong will not be returning.

“Without doubt ... what we have learned has increased the lassitude toward him,” Leblanc said. “He was not irreproachable in '99. EPO is a doping product. So this tempers and dilutes his performances and his credibility as a champion.”

Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's team director on each of his seven wins, said Thursday's Tour presentation seemed to take a cheap shot at Armstrong.

Bruyneel: Felt targeted
Bruyneel: Felt targeted
Photo: John Pierce (PhotoSport International)

“I felt targeted during the presentation,” Bruyneel said. “They talk for 12 minutes about ethics rather than presenting the race itself. I would have taken a different direction.

“I'm conscious Lance won seven Tour de France titles and owes a lot to the race. But at the same time, the Tour de France became more important with an American who won seven Tours.”

Armstrong vehemently denies any wrongdoing. Leblanc made similar comments in August and Armstrong has said he is considering whether to take L'Equipe, France's national anti-doping laboratory and the Tour director to court.

The 2006 Tour starts on July 1 in Strasbourg, in the Alsace region of eastern France, then passes through Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands, before winding counterclockwise through the Pyrenees and then the Alps and ending on Paris' famed Champs-Elysees on July 23 - a total distance of 3,639 kilometers (2,256 miles).

With five major mountain ascents - including the Col du Tourmalet, Col d'Izoard, and Col du Galibier - and three uphill finishes, the route is likely to favor the climbers.In Armstrong's absence, 1997 Tour winner Ullrich of Germany, Basso of Italy, Spain's Alejandro Valverde and American rider Floyd Landis will try to dominate.Basso's Team CSC director, 1996 Tour winner Bjarne Riis, said the new course favored Ullrich - traditionally much stronger than Basso in a clock race.

“It's a nice Tour for Ullrich I think,” Riis said. “Two nice long time trials, and not so hard in the beginning. Basso won't lose a lot (in the time trials), but he'll be competing against Ullrich.”

At this year's Tour, Team CSC was narrowly edged by Armstrong's Discovery Channel in a thrilling team time trial. Riis' team would have been among the favorites next year.“It's a big pity there isn't one this time,” he said.

Leblanc, who steps down after next year's race, said Basso was likely to wear the No. 1 jersey because he finished second last year. Ullrich was third.

In all, there are 22 climbs rated at category 1 or non-classified - the toughest of all.The first time trial is on July 8, the seventh stage of the race, and is a 52-kilometer (32.2-mile) sprint from Saint-Gregoire to Rennes.

The second time trial is on the penultimate day, stage 19, and is a 56 kilometer (34.7-mile) run from Le Creusot to Montceau-les-Mines.

“It is a redoubtable final week and it will be like a dream if the result will hang in the balance going into the final time trial,” said assistant Tour director Christian Prudhomme.He said the decision to scrap the team time trial - won last year by Armstrong's Discovery Channel team - is a temporary decision due to scheduling difficulties, and that the event will return either in 2007 or 2008.

“The Tour can live with or without it,” Prudhomme said.

The opening day prologue is to finish at around 4.30 p.m local time so as not to clash with a World Cup quarterfinal soccer match being held the same day in Germany.In addition, the route has nine flat stages and four medium mountain stages.

Leblanc and Prudhomme insisted that the World Anti-Doping Agency has a prominent role to play, by ordering drug tests on riders in the weeks and days leading up to the 2006 Tour.

“We want more controlled (non-random) tests before the start of the Tour,” Prudhomme said. “So riders don't disappear for three weeks and we know where they all are. WADA is a great idea and is necessary in today's sport. Suspicion is the worst thing that exists in sport.”

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