In short
| Stage winner | Nicholas ROCHE |
 (yellow/white jersey) |
Nicholas ROCHE |
 (green/white jersey) |
Bruno NEVES |
 (red polka dotted jersey) |
René MANDRI |
All classifications
| Stage |
|---|
 |
• Individual time• Individual points • Best climber • Best team |
|
| Overall |
|
• Individual time• Individual points • Best climber • Best team |
Stage by stage
| 1 | Thursday 31 August | 130 km |
| Charleroi - Charleroi | ||
| 2 | Friday 1 September | 180.5 km |
| Charleroi - Mont-Saint-Martin | ||
| 3 | Saturday 2 September | 144.5 km |
| Mont-Saint-Martin - Moyeuvre-Grande | ||
| 4 | Sunday 3 September | 149 km |
| Yutz - Metz | ||
| 5 | Monday 4 September | 151 km |
| Metz - Nancy | ||
| 6 | Tuesday 5 September | 161.5 km |
| Nancy - La Bresse | ||
| 7 | Wednesday 6 September | 163 km |
| La Bresse - Ornans | ||
| 8 | Thursday 7 September | 143.5 km |
| Salins-Les-Bains - Saint-Genis-Pouilly | ||
| 9 | Friday 8 September | 24.5 km |
| Chamonix-Mont-Blanc - Finhaut | ||
| 10 | Saturday 9 September | 145.5 km |
| Saint-Nicolas-La-Chapelle - Marcinelle-en-Montagne | ||
| Total | 1393 km | |
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The race
Sunday 3 September 2006| stage 4 | Yutz - Metz - 149 km |  |
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Roche comes in first
4th stage: Yutz – Metz: 149 km. On the agenda: seven 4th and 3rd category climbs and three sprint-bonifications. Start at 1:05 pm for 124 racers. It’s the first professional win for Nicholas Roche (COF) who came out on top after a long breakaway, taking the leader’s Yellow Jersey along with him.
The film of the stage
The attacks began just after kilometre 0. Several small groups had their turn at a slight lead, but the peloton pedalled at top speed and reacted to every breakaway attempt. At kilometre 10, Khatuntsev (ODB), Mandri (AUB), Cardoso (POR) and Pardilla (VMC) took a slight advantage. At the top of the Côte de Apach (km 15.5), Khatuntsev passed Mandri and Pardilla to dominate the lead foursome. Cardoso was quickly left behind, then Melero (ORB) and Roche (COF) caught up with him. Trailing them, Sonnery (FRA) successfully broke away from the peloton.
On their way up the Côte de Manderen (km 21), Cardoso, Melero and Roche caught up with the lead three. At the top, Khatuntsev took the lead over Pardilla and Mandri once again. Sonnery hung on to his 50’’ with the peloton behind by 2’40. Kolesnikov (ODB) and Van Ooiyen (UBD) caught up with Sonnery at kilometre. 33.5. These three were 2’40 behind the breakaway, but the peloton lagged by 5’35. The gap widened until the Rabobank and Bouygues Télécom teams took action and moved to the head of the peloton. Driven by these two teams, the peloton expanded and reduced its distance to 4’40 at kilometre 50. One by one, Sonnery and Van Ooiyen lost their lead as Kolesnikov resisted.
At the top of the Côte de Luttange (km 64.5), Mandri stole the lead from Pardilla and Cardoso while Khatuntsev, who had just fallen, came in 2’35 behind the other breakaways. Lone Kolesnikov remained 4’30 behind the leaders, with the peloton now lagging by 6’30 before it picked up the pace, passing Kolesnikov and splitting into two. But as they approached the refreshment area, the breakaways still had a 6’45 lead.
The peloton decided in favour of a firm reaction, but at the Maizières-les-Metz sprint-bonification (km 85.5), Pardilla passed Cardoso and Mandri with a 6’ lead over the others. At the top of the Côte de Fèves (km 94.5), the leaders (in this order: Mandri, Cardoso, Pardilla and Melero) had a 5’55 lead over Kolesnikov and 6’25 over the peloton. This advantage was confirmed by the sprint-bonification in Pierrevillers (km 107), which Pardilla won, followed by Cardoso and Mandri.
At the top of the Côte de Pierrevillers (km 109.5), Cardoso came in first ahead of Mandri, Roche and Pardilla. Valynin (ODB) then broke away from the peloton to catch up with Kolesnikov. The duo attacked the hill 6’ behind the leaders with the peloton still 6’25 behind. Mandri took the Paradis sprint-bonification (km 120.5) in front of Cardoso and Pardilla, with a 5’55 lead over the peloton.
Fifteen kilometres from the finish line, Roche picked up his pace, breaking up the lead group. He and Melero quickly pedalled ahead of their former fellow leaders. Roche then Melero conquered the Col de Lessy with a 5’ advantage on Mandry. Meanwhile, the head of the peloton shook things up as the Française des Jeux team split the peloton into pieces.
Less than 8 kilometres from the finish, the leading men had a near 3’ lead. The breakaways would have final say in the day’s results. Nicholas Roche was the brilliant victor of this little plan, which earned him his first professional win as well as the yellow jersey.
The winner interview
My first professional win
I set myself the goal of winning a stage in this year’s Tour de l’Avenir. My team decided to go for a bluff, that I would try to break away. It worked, but Monfort is still our best element for the general ranking. This is my first professional win, so of course I’m very happy. To tell you the truth, it hasn’t really sunk in yet.