The Tour de France

• Stage town on one previous occasion
• 5, 054 inhabitants
• Cantonal subdivision of Vendée (85)

At the heart of the Vendée, Les Essarts is both the principal town of the Les Essarts canton and the seat of the community of the Pays des Essarts municipalities, situated at the crossroads of the A83 running from Nantes to Niort and the A87 between Paris and La Roche-sur-Yon. A number of monuments and places of interest have been preserved from its rich history: the twelfth-century chateau with its Saracen tower, Saint Peter’s church, reconstructed in the nineteenth century on the site of the ruins of the twelfth century Roman church, and the twelfth-century Roman crypt, which still stands. Built in 1182, it retains its magnificent archways and pillars of the time. This tight community is nevertheless busy and diverse: 90 clubs or societies cater for everyone – from sport to culture to leisure to welfare. Culture, in particular, is given priority: Les Essarts boasts a library, schools, a private college and a public college set for completion in 2013. In addition, thanks to an exchange programme, Les Essarts is twinned with the English town of Bicester, near Oxford, and Neunkirchen-Seelscheid, near Cologne, in Germany, helping to cultivate its openness and sense of belonging to Europe.

The peloton of the Tour will continue to progress along the roads of Vendee which are symbolic of cycling. The visits of the Grande Boucle (Big Loop) are frequent there, and it was precisely after a stage finish in Les Essarts that the 2005 Tour left the department. Tom Boonen got ahead of Thor Hushovd in the sprint, and then did so again the next day in Tours, which is also a region of sprinters. Another kind of high speed display will be provided on the daily circuit with a team time-trial focusing on aesthetics and performance.