Everything went the way of the Renault-Elf-Gitane team during the Tour’s first-ever stage finish in Rodez in 1984. Vincent Barteau was wearing the Yellow Jersey and was set to hand it over a few days later to his team leader, Laurent Fignon, who was delighted to see his teammate and friend, the late Pierre-Henri Menthéour, join the ranks of Tour stage winners that day. Since then, Rodez has favoured puncheurs: Greg Van Avermaet won there in 2015, followed by Michael Matthews in 2017. Five years on, stage 15 of the Tour ran from Rodez to Carcassonne, where Jasper Philipsen claimed his first stage victory.
- Stage town for the 6th time
- Prefecture of Aveyron (12)
- Population: 24,000
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Rodez and cycling
Everything was going the Renault-Elf-Gitane team’s way when the Tour de France finished in Rodez for the first time in 1984. Vincent Barteau was wearing the Yellow Jersey and was preparing to hand it over a few days later to his team leader, Laurent Fignon, who was delighted that day to see one of his team-mates and friends, the late Pierre-Henri Menthéour, take his place amongst the stage winners of the Tour de France. Nowadays, Rodez favours attackers: Greg Van Avermaet in 2015 and Michael Matthews in 2017. Five years later, the 15th stage of the Tour ran from Rodez to Carcassonne, where Jasper Philipsen claimed his first victory in the Tour.
Among the cyclists born in Rodez, the best known is undoubtedly Alexandre Geniez, winner of three stages of the Vuelta a España, who has competed in the Tour de France twice (2013 and 2015).
Rodez and cycling
Everything was going the Renault-Elf-Gitane team’s way when the Tour de France finished in Rodez for the first time in 1984. Vincent Barteau was wearing the Yellow Jersey and was preparing to hand it over a few days later to his team leader, Laurent Fignon, who was delighted that day to see one of his team-mates and friends, the late Pierre-Henri Menthéour, take his place amongst the stage winners of the Tour de France. Nowadays, Rodez favours attackers: Greg Van Avermaet in 2015 and Michael Matthews in 2017. Five years later, the 15th stage of the Tour ran from Rodez to Carcassonne, where Jasper Philipsen claimed his first victory in the Tour.
Among the cyclists born in Rodez, the best known is undoubtedly Alexandre Geniez, winner of three stages of the Vuelta a España, who has competed in the Tour de France twice (2013 and 2015).
Sights
Soulages Museum
Established: 2014
Key facts: With works featured in nearly 90 museums, Pierre Soulages has produced over 1,500 paintings on canvas and held countless exhibitions across every continent. A leading figure in abstract art, he was arguably the world’s best-known contemporary painter until his death in 2022. It was in Rodez, his hometown, that he and his wife Colette made two donations totalling nearly 500 works. A dynamic museum housed in a building designed and conceived by Roques and Passelac, associate architects, in Narbonne, the museum features a vast exhibition hall of national and international significance, showcasing Soulages’ early works, the delicate ‘Brous de noix’, his prints, preparatory works for the stained-glass windows at Conques, as well as paintings on canvas, including the ‘Outrenoir’.
Key facts: the museum welcomes nearly 140,000 visitors a year.
Designation: Musée de France
Pierre Soulages
Pierre Soulages was born on 24 December 1919 in Rodez. From a very young age, he was drawn to Romanesque art and prehistory. At the age of 18, he travelled to Paris to prepare for the entrance examination to the École des Beaux-Arts. He was admitted, but, disappointed by the mediocrity of the teaching, he refused to enrol and returned to Rodez. During his stay in Paris, he frequented the Louvre and saw exhibitions by Cézanne and Picasso, which were revelations to him. Demobilised in 1941, he went to Montpellier and was a regular visitor to the Musée Fabre. A period of hiding began, during which he stopped painting. It was not until 1946 that he was able to devote all his time to painting. He then settled in the Paris suburbs. His canvases, dominated by black, were abstract and sombre. They immediately attracted attention, so different were they from the semi-figurative and highly colourful post-war painting. He found a studio in Paris, on Rue Schoelcher, near Montparnasse. In 1948, he took part in exhibitions in Paris and across Europe, notably the ‘Französische abstrakte malerei’ exhibition held in several German museums. He was by far the youngest member of this small group of painters, which included the early masters of abstract art.
From the 1950s onwards, he exhibited regularly in New York, where his works were acquired by the Guggenheim Museum and MoMA. Today, Pierre Soulages is represented in over 110 museums across every continent, with more than 230 paintings. From 1987 to 1994, he created the 104 stained-glass windows for the abbey church at Conques, in his native Aveyron.
The Soulages Museum in Rodez was inaugurated in May 2014 with the opening of the first temporary exhibition, Outrenoir in Europe: Museums and Foundations.
In tribute to the artist on the centenary of his birth in 2019, numerous events are being organised in France and abroad, alongside a host of book publications, radio programmes and television broadcasts.
He died in October 2022 at the age of nearly 103.
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Construction: 1277 to 1542
Style: Gothic
Features: Towering over the town and the surrounding landscape, the lofty silhouette of the cathedral (87 metres) and its freestanding bell tower is the iconic feature of Rodez’s heritage. Construction, which began in 1277, continued for nearly three centuries, yet the building displays a beautiful sense of unity thanks to the pink sandstone used. From the Rayonnant and Flamboyant Gothic styles through to the Renaissance, the cathedral showcases the finest artistic achievements of each era. The building is distinguished by its fortress-like west façade, which was once part of the city walls, as well as by its bell tower.
The bell tower is the work of the Rouergue architect Antoine Salvanh. Standing 87 metres tall, this delicately crafted tower was erected between 1513 and 1526 at the request of Bishop François d’Estaing. Notable features inside include: the richly decorated choir stalls (15th century), crafted by the workshop of the master sculptor André Sulpice; the monumental altarpiece in the chapel known as the Gaillard Roux Chapel (or Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre) and its sculpted group depicting the Entombment (16th century); the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament (16th century), surmounted by a gallery and adorned with a coffered vault; the case of the great organ (17th century);
Distinguishing features: in 2002, the Historic Monuments department sought to provide the cathedral with stained-glass windows befitting the building and commissioned Stéphane Belzère to design them; he created the seven stained-glass windows in the chancel between 2002 and 2007.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 1862
Fenaille Museum and Hôtel de Jouéry
Construction: 16th century for the Hôtel de Jouéry. The museum opened in 1937.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 1944
Style: medieval and Renaissance.
History and features: A pioneer of the oil industry and a great art lover, Maurice Fenaille donated the Hôtel de Jouéry in 1929 to house the Rouergue Museum of Archaeology and History, founded 170 years earlier by the Société des Lettres de l’Aveyron. The museum owes its international renown to its exceptional collection of menhir statues, carved nearly 5,000 years ago.
The so-called ‘Maison d’Armagnac’
Built: between 1525 and 1531.
Style: Renaissance.
Features: The mansion known as Maison d’Armagnac is the most remarkable example of Renaissance civil architecture in Rodez, characterised by its curved corbelling, the décor featuring numerous carved medallions, and the Annunciation on the façade. It bears witness to the economic vitality of Rodez’s merchants, to whom the patron, Hugues Daulhon, belonged.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 1862.
