CSC satisfied

Team CSC came away from the Tour with two stage wins and fourth place overall, despite losing Ivan Basso before the race began because of Operacion Puerto. "I'm very pleased with our efforts in this year's Tour de France," commented Bjarne Riis on team-csc.com. "In spite of a catastrophic beginning we managed to turn things around and show, that we do have one of the strongest team out there. With two amazing stage wins and Carlos as one of the best in the mountains, we have a lot to be proud of. Most of all I'm extremely proud of the morale and fighting spirit the riders and everyone around the team have shown. It's when times are hard that people show, what they're really made of – and we did just that! We've come out on the other side of the 2006 edition of Tour de France even stronger."

Carlos Sastre got himself up into second overall before the final time trial, but ended up in fourth place after both Landis and Klöden overtook him. Nevertheless, the Spanish climber was happy with his performance. "I ended up doing Tour de France under entirely different circumstances than I'd expected, but I'm very happy with the results we've achieved," he said. "The team has supported me brilliantly and made it possible for me to attack in the mountains. It would've been fantastic to finish on the podium, but I'm not disappointed, because I did my very best and gave everything I had in me. That is what counts and I'm happy and proud of our accomplishments."