The departments in the Pays de la Loire region hosted the Tour de France’s cyclists on its very first edition. Indeed, it was via the department of the Vendée that the pack entered the region in 1903 on the Bordeaux-Nantes stage, destined to become a classic on the routes of the era in which the Tour de France emerged. Since this time, the cities and towns of the Pays de la Loire region have welcomed the Grand Départ of the race nine times, five of which have set out from the Vendée. In 2018, once again the riders will gather in this cycling-crazy part of the country to tackle the 105th edition of the Tour de France.
The Grand Départs of the Tour de France hosted by the Pays de la Loire region:
1957: Nantes
1967: Angers
1972: Angers
1976: Saint-Jean-de-Monts
1988: Pornichet
1993: Puy-du-Fou
1999: Puy-du-Fou
2005: Fromentine
2011: Passage du Gois
