The Tour’s first visit to the home town of painter Pierre Soulages smiled on Pierre-Henri Menthéour, who won the only race of his career here in 1984. Since then, the riders have done battle near the famous Gothic cathedral. In the 2015 edition, Greg Van Avermaet put an end to his reputation as a nearly-man by beating Peter Sagan to claim his first Tour victory. The Classics hunter came close to a repeat performance two years later, but was beaten in the last 200 metres by Australian Michael Matthews.
- Stage town for the 5th time
- Prefecture of Aveyron (12)
- Population: 26,700 (Ruthénois and Ruthénoises)
