In short
| Stage winner | Tom BOONEN |
 (yellow/white jersey) |
Tom BOONEN |
 (green/white jersey) |
Tom BOONEN |
 (red polka dotted jersey) |
Stéphane AUGE |
 (blue jersey) |
Alberto CONTADOR |
All classifications
| Stage |
|---|
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• Individual time• Individual points • Best climber • Best young • Best team |
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| Overall |
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• Individual time• Individual points • Best climber • Best young • Best team |
Stage by stage
| P | Sunday 5 March | 4.8 km |
| Issy-les-Moulineaux > Issy-les-Moulineaux | ||
| 1 | Monday 6 March | 193 km |
| Villemandeur > Saint-Amand-Montrond | ||
| 2 | Tuesday 7 March | 200 km |
| Cerilly > Belleville | ||
| 3 | Wednesday 8 March | 168.5 km |
| Julienas > Saint-Etienne | ||
| 4 | Thursday 9 March | 193 km |
| Saint-Etienne > Rasteau | ||
| 5 | Friday 10 March | 201.5 km |
| Avignon > Digne-les-Bains | ||
| 6 | Saturday 11 March | 179 km |
| Digne-les-Bains > Cannes | ||
| 7 | Sunday 12 March | 135 km |
| Nice > Nice | ||
| Total | 1274.8 km | |
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The race
Monday 6 March 2006| stage 1 | Villemandeur > Saint-Amand-Montrond - 193 km |  |
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Boonen seizes the lead as planned
Tom Boonen seized the lead in the 64th edition of Paris-Nice with an impressive sprint victory at the end of the first stage between Villemandeur and St Amand-Montrond. Winner of two stages on the Race to the Sun last year, the world champion outpowered Australian Allan Davis and Spain’s Francisco Ventoso on the finish line.
The Belgian Quick Step-Innergetic leader was only three seconds overall behind American Bobby Julich after Saturday’s prologue and his final surge earned him 10 seconds in bonuses and the yellow and white jersey.
The stage, slowed by cold, rain and light snow, was marked by two breakaways, the first staged almost unwittingly by David Zabriskie in the first 50 kilometres. Frenchmen Stephane Auge and Christophe Laurent then tried their luck in turn, building a ten-minute lead before being caught by the chasing pack with six kilometres left.
Central stage was left to the sprinters and Boonen emulated Frederic Moncassin and Alessandro Petacchi, the two previous winners in St Amand-Montrond.
The film of the stage
Boonen simply too strong
Weather: cloudy and cool with rainy spells
168 riders at the start
Zabriskie’s solo
After a leisurely start from Villemandeur, David Zabriskie parted company with the bunch at kilometre 13. The American, a disappointing 27th in the prologue, excelled in his favourite effort, building a maximum lead of 7:40 after 25 kms. His break oddly helped his Team CSC leader Bobby Julich while forcing Tom Boonen’s Quick Step team-mates to chase. The lead melted like snow on the roadside as Zabriskie stopped twice to answer the call of nature and the junction took place at km 51. The average speed in the first two hours was very slow: 33.6 kph.
Auge and Laurent on the move
Frenchmen Stephane Auge (Cofidis) and Christophe Laurent (Agritubel) attacked in turn after 60 kilometres. The two former team-mates at Jean Delatour worked perfectly together to build a 10:05 gap at kilometre 108. Auge was 143rd in the prologue and Laurent 158th, 34 and 38 seconds behind Julich respectively. The bunch, frozen in the rain and light snow, did not react at first
Laurent won the first intermediate sprint at Ste Thorette (km 123) ahead of Augé. Belgium’s Wilfried Cretskens (Quick Step) was third 9:35 adrift at the front of the pack.
Gap melts
The chase started for real after the sprint under the direction of Quick Step-Innergetic and Lampre-Fondital riders and the duo’s lead quickly diminished. In less than 30 kms, the bunch had claimed three minutes back and the lead was down to just over two minutes (2:10) when the bunch crossed the line for the first time before the final 19.4-kms circuit around St Amand. The second intermediate sprint was won by Laurent ahead of Auge with Cedric Vasseur third at the front of the bunch.
Boonen too strong
In the La Vieille Cote climb, Laurent tried to attack Auge but was soon reined in. Their lead on German Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) and the pack at the top of the third category ascent was down to 1:50 at that stage. The leading two were reined in 6.4 kms from the finish line after a 127-kms effort.
The final say was left to the sprinters and as could be expected, Tom Boonen was simply too strong for the opposition. The Belgian world champion, perfectly set-up by his Quick Step team-mates, quickly overtook Allan Davis to beat the Australian on the line while Spain’s Francisco Ventoso (Saunier Duval) hat to settle for third spot.
Boonen now leads Julich by seven seconds overall with Kazakh Andrey Kashechkin third eight seconds adrift. Auge was rewarded for his long breakaway by taking the best climber’s polka dot jersey.
The winner interview
Boonen : good for the morale
It was a stage you had been looking for ?
« Two weeks ago, when I saw the roadbook, I had marked it down as one of my main goals. It was a flat stage which suited me fine even though the conditions made it very hard. It was cold, it rained and I’m all the happier to have been able to win in such conditions.
Is it an important victory ?
It’s good for the team morale at the start of a week that looks to be a hardfought one. I’m also hapy to have taken the yellow jersey thanks to my fine performance in the prologue. It’s good to have won that stage because now we can relax and take it easy until the end of Paris-Nice.
For your main goal remains the classics…
Yes. In the team we have four or five riders who can do well in the classics and that’s a luxury.
The newsflashes
17:06Climber’s jersey to Auge
Boonen simply too strong
Boonen ahead of Davies and Ventoso
Spain’s Francisco Ventoso (Saunier Duval) is third.