2006 Tour de France started today

So the Tour de France started today. A few days ago I thought that this year it would be Ullrich, Basso, and Landis on stage the final day. That all changed yesterday. Ullrich, Basso, and many other riders were all provisionally suspended by their teams the day before the Tour started due to a purported blood-doping ring run by two former team directors, a former team doctor, and the director of a university haematology lab in Madrid. (More) So this year we may see 3 Americans standing on the podium.

The Prologue started and ended in Strasbourg. The route today was only 7.1km (4.4 miles). The fun starts tomorrow.
The top five riders for day 1:

1. Thor Hushovd (NOR) C.A - 7.1km in 8'17"

2. George Hincapie (USA) DSC at 01"

3. Dave Zabriskie (USA) CSC at 04"

4. Sebastian Lang (Ger) GST at 05"

5. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) CEI at 05"

Stage Map

(From http://www.olntv.com/)

Stage Topography

(From http://www.olntv.com/)