Floyd Landis and his 'praying mantis' time trial position (Image credit: Russ and Nancy Wright/www.abbiorca.com)
The first edition of the Tour of California came on the heels of the retirement of Lance Armstrong and used the momentum of the now-disgraced Texan to launch the ambitious event. The stars of the inaugural race were riders like Giro d'Italia champions Gilberto Simoni and Paolo Slvoldelli, and Fabian Cancellara, but it was the Americans who dominated the yellow leader's jersey.
Levi Leipheimer and then George Hincapie led the race until Floyd Landis (Phonak) used his effective but unattractive 'praying mantis' time trial position to win the San Jose time trial by 26 seconds over David Zabriskie - with Hincapie and Leipheimer around a minute behind.
Landis kept his 29-second advantage over Zabriskie in the GC through to the end to kick-start his unbelievable 2006 season. He went on to win Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia, and the Tour de France before testing positive for exogenous testosterone and getting disqualified and banned. But he got to keep his Tour of California title and remains the race's first champion.
Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
