In the world´s most grueling cycle race, Jan Ullrich and his team colleagues went for racing tires made by Continental – and rode to victory as winners of the overall team position. The other teams using Continental tires also scored a number of successes: Crédit Agricole, Phonak and Saunier Duval came in fourth, sixth and ninth out of the 21 teams competing.Riders on tires from Korbach also triumphed in their individual classifications: Norwegian Thor Hushovd, for example, nailed down the green jersey as leading sprinter.

Continental equipped the teams with three different tire models, to be mounted accordingly to suit weather and competition conditions. The Competition Pro Limited Allround tire features a compound that is ideal for flat road racing and the mountain stages. Continental developed the Competition Pro Limited Rain for wet weather conditions, and the Podium Pro Limited – weighing just 220 grams and delivering an exceptionally low rolling resistance – took Jan Ullrich to third place in the overall time trials. Oscar Pereiro, second in the mountain competition and wearer of the red number on the back of his jersey qualifying him as the rider with the most fighting spirit, also chose Continental tires.

Continental has, by tradition, been the tire partner for various teams competing in the Tour de France since 1997.Le Tour racing tires are hand-made in Korbach, Hesse, with some 30,000 competition series racing tires leaving the plant each year. And yet this superb tire engineering expertise is available not only to professionals of the Tour de France and other races; Competition and Podium racing tires are also sold through bicycle dealers.