Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
204 km
Thursday 12 March
Paris-Nice had not visited Annonay for more than 50 years. It was in 1952, the year Louison Bobet won the overall classification in Nice.
The real difficulties will star tat kilometre 16, with the 2nd category Col de Juvenet.
After several 2nd and 3rd category climbs, the riders will face the first big difficulty of this year’s Paris-Nice with the Col du Bénas (km 113, 1st category) and its 10,7 kilometres at 4,8 %.
Then, the downhill through the wonderful Gorges de l’Ardeche will quickly lead the bunch to the finish in Vallon-Pont-d’Arc.
© Ville d’Annonay
Annonay, the principal town in the Ardèche Department, possesses a character typical of this intrepid region of mountains and valleys: solid and ebullient, industrious and supportive, welcoming. Here prevails a strong industrial tradition, pride in a job well done, creative genius (like that of the Montgolfier brothers and Marc Seguin, inventor of the first French railway line), daring innovation that mobilises and transforms. In matters of leisure too this area has an exceptionally energetic, sporting approach, encouraging endeavour, team work, a taste for exertion. It is this vitality that makes Annonay, « the city circled by cedar trees », a town keen to develop a genuine quality of life in a wealth of carefully preserved environmental assets. An ongoing harmony favouring a rich heritage from the past and a vigorous attachment to modernity: such is the driving force of Annonay where the gentleness of the Ardèche region and the energy of a dynamic town form such a superb alliance.
© Mairie de Vallon-Pont-d’Arc
A peaceful town in wintertime, Vallon-Pont-d’Arc is transformed into a magnificent tourist resort from spring onwards. Vallon is situated at the threshold of the Gorges de l’Ardèche (Ardèche Canyon) National Park. Over the years, the river carved a canyon more than 30 kilometres long out of the rock. The famous Pont d’Arc, a natural arch of more than 60 metres in height, is the natural entrance to this cave. A multitude of activities are available to visitors: canoeing-kayaking, hiking, climbing, fishing, horse riding, accrobranche trails, cave exploring, museums… and road cycling of course! All of this punctuated by big events like the Raid Nature du Pont d’Arc, the Gorges de l’Ardèche International Marathon, the Fête de l’Olivier, the Journées de la Préhistoire (Prehistory exhibitions) … The town of Vallon also conceals a « hidden » treasure: the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc cave, discovered in 1994 and which contains the oldest forms of cave art ever unearthed: 32 000 years old!
