Strasbourg to start off 2006 Tour

LANCE ARMSTRONG’S anointed heir Ivan Basso will launch his bid for the vacant Tour de France throne in Strasbourg next July.

Tour chiefs have unveiled the course for the 2006 race the first since seven-times winner Armstrong quit the saddle with the Alsatian city getting the much-coveted honour of hosting the opening prologue on July 1 and the first stage a day later.

The peloton, presumably much depleted from its initial strength of 189 riders in the intervening three weeks, will reach the finishing line on July 23 at the traditional point on the Champs Elysees in Paris.