The 2006 Eneco Tour road cycling race took place from 16 to 23 August, two weeks later in the season than the year before. The second edition of the Eneco Tour covered parts of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. As in 2005, 23 teams took part in the race. Next to the 20 UCI ProTour teams, , and received wild card entries.

The race itself was very close, as both the prologue (6 km) and timetrial (16 km) were quite short which led to small time differences. A dramatic conclusion on the last day rendered Stefan Schumacher the victory over George Hincapie, with just one second of advantage. Other riders who stood out during this race were the Belgians Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert, who both won in their home region. Other wins came from Manuel Quinziato and David Kopp.

Schedule StageRouteDistanceDateWinner PDen Helder – Den Helder 6.1 km Wednesday 16 August 1Wieringerwerf – Hoogeveen 176.9 km Thursday 17 August 2's-Hertogenbosch – Sittard-Geleen 194.6 km Friday 18 August 3Beek – Westmalle 185 km Saturday 19 August 4 (ITT)Landgraaf – Landgraaf 16.1 km Sunday 20 August 5Hasselt – Balen 181.7 km Monday 21 August 6Bornem – Sint-Truiden 211.7 km Tuesday 22 August 7Ans – Ans 199.7 km Wednesday 23 August

Stages

16-08-2006: Den Helder, 6.1 km. (ITT)

Prologue Result CyclistTeamTime1 7' 00"2 1"3 1"General classification after Prologue CyclistTeamTime1 7' 00"2 1"3RAB 1"

17-08-2006: Wieringerwerf-Hoogeveen, 176.9 km.

Stage 1 Result CyclistTeamTime1 4h 12' 52"2 s.t.3 s.t.General classification after Stage 1 CyclistTeamTime1 4h 19' 47"2 4"3 7"

18-08-2006: 's-Hertogenbosch-Sittard Geleen, 194.6 km.

Stage 2 Result CyclistTeamTime1 4h 46' 43"2 4"3 4"General classification after Stage 2 CyclistTeamTime1 9h 06' 34"2 1"3 3"

19-08-2006: Beek-Westmalle, 185 km. Stage 3 Result CyclistTeamTime1 4h 50' 00"2 s.t.3 s.t.General classification after Stage 3 CyclistTeamTime1 13h 12' 20"2 11"3 13"

20-08-2006: Landgraaf, 16.1 km. (ITT)

Stage 4 Result CyclistTeamTime1 19' 58"2 s.t.3 7"General classification after Stage 4 CyclistTeamTime1 13h 32' 35"2 3"3 11"

21-08-2006: Hasselt-Balen, 183.1 km.

Stage 5 Result CyclistTeamTime1 3h 52' 20"2 s.t.3 s.t.General classification after Stage 5 CyclistTeamTime1 17h 24' 55" 2 3"3 11"

22-08-2006: Bornem-Sint Truiden, 213.9 km.

Stage 6 Result CyclistTeamTime1 4h 50' 43"2 s.t.3 s.t.General classification after Stage 6 CyclistTeamTime1 22h 15' 38"2 3"3 11"

23-08-2006: Ans-Ans, 201.2 km.

In the last final meters, Stefan Schumacher got hit by an arm from a supporter and as a result made an awkward move away from the supporters to the middle of the road, which resulted in George Hincapie falling down. Before the move it looked like Schumacher was going to become second and Hincapie third, which would make Hincapie the winner with an advantage of 1 second. Since Hincapie crashed he did not take any bonus seconds for ending in the top three and because Schumacher managed to restart his sprint and end third he took 4 bonus seconds and so won by 1 second. The jury took about twenty minutes deciding if Schumacher should be removed to the back of the peloton but in the end they concluded that Schumacher did not make the move on purpose and thus Schumacher won the Eneco Tour 2006. Some reactions: Dirk Demol, sports director of Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team: "If you look at the replay, you can clearly see that George Hincapie was surely going to end in second or third place. Even if he was going to be beaten by Schumacher in the sprint and end third, he would still be first in the overall standings. Surely we will issue a complaint." Stefan Schumacher: "I'm not happy right now, it's a shame it has to end this way. For my career it's a big step, because it's my biggest win so far, but still I'm not happy right now. Croatian jury president Bruno Valcic: "It was a tough decision for us, but Schumacher clearly got hit by a supporter and surely did not bring George Hincapie down on purpose."

Stage 7 Result CyclistTeamTime1 5h 05' 16"2 2"3 2"General classification after Stage 7 CyclistTeamTime1 27h 20' 55"2 1"3 12"

General classification The leader of the general classification (ENECO Energie leiderstrui) wears a red jersey. CyclistTeamTime1 27h 20' 55"2 1"3 12"4 17"5 32"6 35"7 52"8 53"9 55"10 56"

KOM Classification There was no King Of the Mountains jersey this year. Instead, during some of the climbs bonus seconds were handed out in stages 6 and 7.

Points Classification The leader of the points classification (Lotto Puntenklassement) wears a white jersey.

CyclistTeamPoints1 912 903 594 575 56=6 54=6 54=6 549 5210 48

Best Young Rider The leader of the Best Young Rider Classification (Topsport Vlaanderen jongerenklassement) wears a yellow jersey.

CyclistTeamPoints1 27h 20' 55"2 12"3 17"

Best Team TeamTime1 82h 04' 56"2 11"3 29"

Jersey progress

Stage(Winner) General classification Points Classification Young Rider Classification Team Classification Prologue (ITT)(Stefan Schumacher) Stefan Schumacher no award Stefan Schumacher Stage 1 (Tom Boonen) Tom Boonen Tom Boonen Stage 2 (Manuel Quinziato) Simone Cadamuro Stage 3 (Tom Boonen) Stage 4 (ITT) (George Hincapie) George Hincapie Stage 5 (Tom Boonen) Stage 6 (David Kopp) Stage 7 (Philippe Gilbert) Stefan Schumacher Final Stefan Schumacher Simone Cadamuro Stefan Schumacher

UCI ProTour Points The Eneco Tour 2006 is part of the UCI ProTour and so the riders can earn UCI ProTour Points. Below is states which riders won points and where. Because the Eneco Tour 2006 is a smaller stage race the points given are 3, 2 and 1 for the first three in each stage result. At the end of the tour, the top 10 in the standings receive points accorded as follows: 50, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5 and 2.

CyclistTeamPoints15524533743452862171581099=105=105123=132=132=132=132=171=171

External links Race website Eneco Tour 2006 on cyclingnews.com