2006 Tour de France Course Announced

VeloNews profiles the recently announced 2006 Tour de France course, calling it a throwback to the pre-Lance Armstrong era.

"There's no team time trial, four fewer transfers between stages, two long individual time trials, lots of stages for the sprinters, and five challenging mountain stages."

USA Today notes that, breaking tradition, Lance wasn't around for the presentation of the Tour route.

Pez sez Discovery Director Johan Bruyneel didn't appreciate the snub.

"I walked away a bit angry but at the same time, and I have to thank the Tour for this, more driven than ever before," Bruyneel said. "One of the things Lance passed on to me was to find motivation out of unpleasant things. I walked away thinking about how we are going to try to win the Tour de France next year."