NICE
“Nice, most loyal city” declares its Latin motto, and this has been well respected thanks to no fewer than 38 appearances as a Tour de France stage town since 1906. In addition to its regular hosting of the Tour, the prefecture of Alpes-Maritimes also welcomes cycling’s elite each spring for the finale of Paris-Nice. Over the course of 81 editions of “The Race to the Sun”, 13 Tour winners have taken this title, six of them achieving the double in the same year, including Egan Bernal in 2019. In the 1981 Tour, world champion Bernard Hinault swapped his rainbow jersey for the Yellow Jersey when he won the prologue in Nice. The next two half-stages were won by Freddy Maertens and then by Ti-Raleigh, their team time trial success putting Gerrie Knetemann in the Yellow Jersey.
- Stage town for the 39th time
- Prefecture of the department of Alpes-Maritimes (06)
- Population: 345,000 (Niçois), 560,000 within the 51 communes comprising the Nice Côte d’Azur
