On the 24th of July we turned the page on a long, very long chapter in the history of the Tour de France. And one month later, current events made it clear to us that it was just as well that this was so.

Does this justify closing the entire book and erasing all the emotions that, for so many years, the Tour and its champions have provided us with? Taken as a whole, judged on its lifelong worth – like an artist or a poet – and in particular on its future productions, we want to believe that the Tour de France deserves a better fate. The dream that it embodies, the values that it is capable of generating mean that it has a duty to be able to hold its head up in pride.

It is towards this goal that we are working, as of now, as of this 2006 edition, which begins with the announcement of its itinerary and its special features. All of those, still as many in number and still as enthusiastic, who have faith in the sport and the men, will join us in our hopes for the Tour, right up to the 1st of July, when, in the thick of the final of the Football World Cup in neighbouring Germany, we will set off from Strasbourg.

Here we will be warmly welcomed. The impetus given to this Grand Départ by the people of Alsace – and our German neighbours, we are sure! – will certainly determine the rest of the competition, and its share of unknown elements: the new faces, the performances, the behaviour, the prevailing mood at the heart of our mobile community, a community that today includes some 5000 people.

Hence, over the course of these next few months, we have a job and a mission to fulfil.

The job covers the habitual responsibilities of the organisers of the greatest cycling event in the world. These involve the drawing up of an itinerary to satisfy all categories of riders, concern for their safety, for their well being, without forgetting the festivities that go hand in hand with the competition, and the working conditions of those who follow the race and who ensure its impact at an international level.

In this respect, you will notice that there is a mixture and a balance between the new and the traditional. The sports arena provided as the backdrop for the event, in France and in our neighbouring countries (visits to the Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Spain) and the tremendous enthusiasm that awaits us are similarly promising guarantees.

As for the mission, it remains the same and it plagues us, constantly, like a knife in the back: to guarantee in the best possible way equal chances for all competitors, which evidently means respecting the rules. In other words, the war against doping. A war that is never entirely won, as we are only too sadly aware. We participate wholly in this ceaseless combat – technically, financially, morally – where it is possible, along with the delegated regulatory authorities.

We have this time called upon the most distinguished among them, the World Anti-Doping Agency and its Chairman. As we know only too well that in cycling, in sport in general, just as in all human activities, the options are always the same and it is either order or chaos that rules…

Jean-Marie Leblanc	Christian Prudhomme
Deputy Managing Director of A.S.O.	Director of Tour de France