The Start Town - Saint Jean de Maurienne
2 times stage town - 9,400 inhabitants
(Saint-Jeannais)
A paradise for grimpeurs, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne finds itself at the heart of the most prestigious
cycling area: the Galibier, the Madeleine, the Glandon, the Croix-de-Fer, the Telegraphe... it
is at the crossroads of all the mythical cols and the famous climbs, like that of La Toussuire. All
cyclists, whether touring, casual or bikers are guaranteed to find happiness here. Gateway to the
Sybelles, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne allows ac- cess to many winter resorts and to the discovery of
the flora and fauna of the Vanoise National Park nearby. Historic capital of the valley,
Saint-Jean also offers a rich heritage as a Pays d’Art et d’Histoire: gothic ca- thedral and
cloisters, crypt where you can see roman art, costume museum, the Museum of Mont Corbier (liquour
made from plants picked in the surrounding mountains), and of course, the Opinel Museum, the
famous knife invented more than 120 years ago a few steps away from the town. Its cultural
programme is as equally busy: spectacles, concerts, open air cinema and on Thursday 2nd August the
traditional Saint-Jean Bread Festival.
The finish Town - Annonay Davezieux
First time stage town - 17,500 inhabitants (Annoneens)
and 2,300 (Davezolais)
At the heart of the green Ardeche, Annonay Davezieux has given birth to world recognised inven-
tors and industrialists. Who would think that here, north of the Ardeche, you would find the
cradle of air and space conquest or suspension bridges? On the 14th December 1782, the Mongolfier
brothers, Joseph and Etienne, created the first aerostat in the garden of their paper mill in
Vidalon; their great nephew Marc Seguin, talented engineer, followed in their footsteps in de-
signing bridges and in developing trains whilst their descendants would prove themselves with
aeroplane engines. Annonay is also a town with narrow lanes packed with history and of the
memory of the states- man Boissy d’Anglas, father of the Constitution of the Year III. It still
resounds with the noises of the tanneries and paper mills, of the well known Canson and other
captains of industry. But the economic capital of the Ardeche, situated less than an hour from
Lyon and Valence doesn’t just live in the past. Full of savoir-faire the city has attracted new
dynamic activites notably in the fields of mechanics, medicine and food processing.
