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Stage by stage
stage 4 - Brive-la-Gaillarde 
Rodez
178 km
Wednesday 7 March
Rodez
178 km
Wednesday 7 March
En ligne - A sporting perspective
In the centre of France, it is not possible to ride a long way before meeting an obstacle. The riders will receive proof of this as they cross the Lot department. The sequence of difficulties will obviously continue in the Cantal and then in the Aveyron. In Rodez, which will be welcoming Paris-Nice for the first time, the pretenders for victory will have to save their breath and strength in their legs: before the finish in front of the Notre-Dame cathedral, they will have to tackle a last climb located two kilometres from the end.
Brive-la-Gaillarde
View of Brive-la-Gaillarde© Brive Magazine
Brive, a sub-prefecture of the Corrèze and, the most populated municipality in the département with an urban area totalling over 80,000 inhabitants, is the second city in the Limousin region. With its mediaeval heart and extensions dating from the 19th century, its historical heritage boasts no fewer than seventeen listed monuments. Its fame also owes much to its renowned market, of which Georges Brassens once sang, foires grasses (fat goose fairs), the CABCL rugby team – European champions in 1997 – and the Book Fair, held annually in November. With a very thriving labour market and a university of 1,750 students, the city lies at the crossroads of a major motorway intersection (A20 and A89), while its new Brive-Dordogne Valley airport is located at the crossroads of three of France’s regions, Limousin, Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrénées. In sporting terms, around 150 clubs cater for 70 sports with 160 municipal and private facilities.
• www.brive.fr
• www.brive-tourisme.com
• www.cabrive.net
• www.correze.fr
• www.region-limousin.fr
Rodez
Rodez and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame© Photothèque Ville de Rodez –C. Méravilles
Located in the prefecture of Aveyron, Rodez sits at the crossroads between Millau with its famous viaduct and the abbey church of Conques. The two-thousand year-old town, recently admitted to the highly select club of Great Sites of the Midi-Pyrenees, boasts a wealth of discoveries and exceptional sites. Starting with the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Rodez and its flamboyant Gothic spire, 87 metres high (one of the highest in France) with stained glass windows by Stéphane Belzère, lending the building a contemporary touch. Continue your tour at the Fenaille archaeology museum, with its collection of standing stones in a wonderfully restored site – unique in France – and the Denys Puech Museum of Contemporary Art, Grand Prix de Rome in 1884 and a repository of modern creativity in the town. In 2013, Rodez will see the opening of the Soulages museum, a tribute to a world-renowned painter, who donated nearly five hundred works to the town.