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Montpellier
39 km
Tuesday 7 July
The team time-trial is making a comeback in the Tour de France, but with one major change: the time recorded on the line will be taken into account without tables. Real time is still the absolute rule at the 2009 Tour. That is also why the route in Montpellier is short.
Peyrou’s Arc de triomphe© City of Montpellier
• 28-time stage-town
• Population 250,000
• Capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon Region - Prefecture of Hérault (34)
Bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Montpellier is the capital of a region with a population growth rate that makes it one of the fastest growing cities in France. Montpellier is a harmonious blend of innovation and Mediterranean-style art of living inherent with tradition, and a sense of community and citizenship. The city remains steeped in the rich inheritance received from the scholars, doctors and thinkers who arrived from both sides of the "Mare Nostrum" to study, teach and exchange academic knowledge.
Enriched by its millennial past, Montpellier is today a dynamic city of 250 000 inhabitants at the heart of an urban community of over 400 000. Over the last twenty years, 35 000 jobs have been created in Montpellier, promoting the emergence of cutting edge technologies with high intellectual value: fine chemistry, health, pharmaceutics, information technologies, environment, tropical and Mediterranean agronomy, but also tourism, which accounts for close to 6 500 jobs. Today, nearly 32 000 companies are already settled in the urban community of Montpellier, a figure that is destined to increase in the next fifteen years, enough to confirm Montpellier’s position among the economic capitals of Southern Europe.
• Office de Tourisme
• Site de Montpellier Agglomération
The three Graces, place de la Comédie© City of Montpellier
• 28-time stage-town
• Population 250,000
• Capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon Region - Prefecture of Hérault (34)
It took a few centuries for the simple agricultural domain, "the Monte Pestelario", to develop into the contemporary metropolis of Montpellier.
The magnificence of the private mansions built on rue du Cannau, rue de la Salle l’Evêque and place de la Canourgue are testimonials to the town’s ancient wealth and prosperity. The Jardin Royal du Peyrou, a symbol of the city, is laid out to contain a magnificent bronze statue of Louis XIV, the Sun-King, in whose honour the garden was created.
To cater for a dramatic increase in population growth, an urban development project was launched close to the historical city centre: the city was extended and transformed in order to accommodate the massive influx of inhabitants in sufficient quality housing. Designed by the Catalan architect, Ricardo Bofill, Antigone is one of these new neighbourhoods, created in the 1980s.
In typical Mediterranean style, city life in Montpellier centres on its numerous squares. Bordered by the Comedy Opera House, a replica of the Palais Garnier in Paris, the place de la Comédie is the most famous. It is also one of the largest pedestrian squares in Europe.
• Office de Tourisme
• Site de Montpellier Agglomération
