1.
Tour de France
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The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase sales for the newspaper LAuto, the race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams. Traditionally, the race is primarily in the month of July. The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long segments over a 23-day period, the race alternates between clockwise and counterclockwise circuits of France. The number of teams usually varies between 20 and 22, with nine riders in each, all of the stages are timed to the finish, the riders times are compounded with their previous stage times. The rider with the lowest aggregate time is the leader of the race, gaining a stage win is also a hotly contested competition, fought for by a specialist cycling sprinter on each team. The Tour de France was created in 1903, the roots of the Tour de France trace back to the emergence of two rival sports newspapers in the country. On the one hand was Le Vélo, the first and the largest daily newspaper in France which sold 80,000 copies a day. On the other was LAuto, which had been set-up by journalists and business-people including Comte Jules-Albert de Dion, Adolphe Clément, the new newspaper appointed Henri Desgrange as the editor. He was a prominent cyclist and owner with Victor Goddet of the velodrome at the Parc des Princes, De Dion knew him through his cycling reputation, through the books and cycling articles that he had written, and through press articles he had written for the Clément tyre company. LAuto was not the success its backers wanted, stagnating sales lower than the rival it was intended to surpass led to a crisis meeting on 20 November 1902 on the middle floor of LAutos office at 10 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, Paris. The last to speak was the most junior there, the chief cycling journalist, Desgrange had poached him from Giffards paper. Lefèvre suggested a six-day race of the sort popular on the track, long-distance cycle races were a popular means to sell more newspapers, but nothing of the length that Lefèvre suggested had been attempted. If it succeeded, it would help LAuto match its rival and it could, as Desgrange said, nail Giffards beak shut. Desgrange and Lefèvre discussed it after lunch, Desgrange was doubtful but the papers financial director, Victor Goddet, was enthusiastic. He handed Desgrange the keys to the safe and said
2.
Eastern Bloc
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The Eastern Bloc was the group of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact. The terms Communist Bloc and Soviet Bloc were also used to denote groupings of states aligned with the Soviet Union, although these terms might include states outside Central and Eastern Europe. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who viewed the Soviet Union as a socialist island, Eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Bessarabia in northern Romania were recognized as parts of the Soviet sphere of influence. Lithuania was added in a secret protocol in September 1939. During the Occupation of East Poland by the Soviet Union, the Soviets liquidated the Polish state, Soviet authorities immediately started a campaign of sovietization of the newly Soviet-annexed areas. Soviet authorities collectivized agriculture, and nationalized and redistributed private and state-owned Polish property, the international community condemned this initial annexation of the Baltic states and deemed it illegal. In June 1941, Germany broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact by invading the Soviet Union, from the time of this invasion to 1944, the areas annexed by the Soviet Union were part of Germanys Ostland. Thereafter, the Soviet Union began to push German forces westward through a series of battles on the Eastern Front, from 1943 to 1945, several conferences regarding Post-War Europe occurred that, in part, addressed the potential Soviet annexation and control of countries in Central Europe. I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he wont try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace. While meeting with Stalin and Roosevelt in Tehran in 1943, Churchill stated that Britain was vitally interested in restoring Poland as an independent country, Britain did not press the matter for fear that it would become a source of inter-allied friction. In February 1945, at the conference at Yalta, Stalin demanded a Soviet sphere of influence in Central Europe. Stalin eventually was convinced by Churchill and Roosevelt not to dismember Germany, after resistance by Churchill and Roosevelt, Stalin promised a re-organization of the current pro-Soviet government on a broader democratic basis in Poland. He stated that the new primary task would be to prepare elections. In addition to reparations, Stalin pushed for war booty, which would permit the Soviet Union to directly seize property from conquered nations without quantitative or qualitative limitation, a clause was added permitting this to occur with some limitations. At first, the Soviets concealed their role in other Eastern Bloc politics, as a young communist was told in East Germany, its got to look democratic, but we must have everything in our control. Moscow-trained cadres were put into crucial power positions to fulfill orders regarding sociopolitical transformation, elimination of the bourgeoisies social and financial power by expropriation of landed and industrial property was accorded absolute priority. These measures were publicly billed as reforms rather than socioeconomic transformations, the bloc system permitted the Soviet Union to exercise domestic control indirectly. Crucial departments such as responsible for personnel, general police, secret police
3.
Fontenay-sous-Bois
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Fontenay-sous-Bois is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.3 km from the center of Paris, the name Fontenay was recorded in the Middle Ages as Fontanetum, meaning the springs, from Medieval Latin fontana. The wood referred to in the name of the commune is the Bois de Vincennes, in 1929, the commune of Fontenay-sous-Bois lost more than a third of its territory when the city of Paris annexed the Bois de Vincennes, a large part of which belonged to Fontenay-sous-Bois. The Rosettes fountain was lost during World War II, years later, it was found by chance in a market in the South of France, the town of Fontenay-sous-Bois recovered it, and re-installed it in the place where it can be seen today. Fontenay-sous-Bois is served by Fontenay-sous-Bois station on Paris RER line A and it is also served by Val de Fontenay station, which is an interchange station on Paris RER line A and RER line E. The commune has eleven preschools, eleven schools, one junior high school. Collège Victor Duruy and Lycée Pablo Picasso are the secondary schools. The mayor is now part of the few PCF mayors who practice the expulsion of squatters, in 2015 a street in Brovary, Ukraine was named after its sister city Fontenay-sous-Bois. Communes of the Val-de-Marne department Official website
4.
Individual time trial
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An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock on flat or rolling terrain, or up a mountain road such as Alpe dHuez. There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, the opening stage of stage race will often be a short individual time trial called a prologue. Starting times are at intervals, usually one or two minutes apart. The starting sequence is based on the finishing times in preceding races with the highest ranked cyclist starting last. Starting later gives the racer the advantage of knowing what time they need to beat, competitors are not permitted to draft behind each other. Any help between riders is forbidden, the rider with the fastest time is declared the winner. Bicycle construction is limited by regulations covering dimensions and other such as weight. Race regulations typically dictate a minimum distance behind the cyclist which the car must maintain, the Vuelta a España often features a final individual time trial in Madrid in which the winner is often decided, providing much drama and excitement at the end of the stage race. In recent years, Óscar Sevilla and Roberto Heras have seen their lead evaporate in the trial in Madrid. The Grand Prix des Nations was an event, professionals may also compete in the annual World time trial championship. The individual time trial is also an Olympic event in which professionals are allowed to participate, most recent winners of the Tour de France have been good time-trialists, exceptions include Marco Pantani, Carlos Sastre, and Andy Schleck, who were climbing specialists. As a result, the trial is often considered the most difficult part of any major competition for young cyclists. Special aerodynamic time trial bicycles, clothing, helmets, aerobars, generally, components are designed to be as aerodynamic as possible, as most of the riders effort goes into overcoming aerodynamic drag. TT bikes often have lower handlebars than normal road racing bikes to facilitate this, also, the saddle is sometimes moved forwards relative to the handlebars and bottom bracket to allow the hips a more natural angle of motion, improving performance. Up until the late 1980s, low-profile bullhorn handlebars were used, then in the late 1980s triathletes developed so-called tri-bars that allowed for a much better aerodynamic position. Fignon was using conventional handlebars, Lemond the new triathlon style, the concept has changed little since then, with only Scotsman Graeme Obree attempting to improve the idea. His arms-under-the-torso tuck was revolutionary, helping him and others to break world records, the UCI banned it in 1994, but he came back with the Superman position, an evolution of the traditional tri position, but with the arms fully stretched out in front. Equipment used is very specialized, and component manufacturers can spend vast sums of time, deep section or solid disc wheels are often used to reduce turbulence around the spokes, but these can affect handling in windy conditions
5.
Nogent-sur-Marne
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Nogent-sur-Marne is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.6 km from the centre of Paris, Nogent-sur-Marne is a sous-préfecture of the Val-de-Marne département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Nogent-sur-Marne. Several origins of the name are proposed, Novigentum, new people, nov. indicates fatty or soaked grounds. Novientum which is the Gallic equivalent of medieval French Villeneuve or English Newtown, in the Middle Ages, several castles were built. Le Château de Plaisance, built in the 13th century, which hosted Charles V, the only vestige which remains is a house of the current private hospital,30 rue de Plaisance, as well as the bottom of the enclosing wall of the gardens. Le Château de Beauté sur Marne, 14th century, is a royal stay, cardinal de Richelieu destroyed it in 1626. In the 17th century, whereas the population was made up of a majority of vine growers, the middle-class discovered the charms of the country. Jean-Antoine Watteau lived in Mr. Lefevres house his last moments, the construction of the two railway lines, Paris–Mulhouse and Bastille–La Varenne in the 1850s still accelerated the process. The viaduct, built by Auvergnats and Belgians was destroyed once on 15 September 1870, italians rebuilt it, an Italian community was established there. Coming, for the majority, from the province of Piacenza, isolated since 1854 by the construction of a viaduct for the Paris–Mulhouse line, the commune of Le Perreux sur Marne is born after a fight of more than 10 years in 1887. On 28 February 1887, more than half of the territory of Nogent-sur-Marne was detached, in 1929, the commune of Nogent-sur-Marne lost a small part of its territory when the city of Paris annexed the Bois de Vincennes, the eastern fringe of which belonged to Nogent-sur-Marne. Autoroutes, A4 A86 both at 03 - A4–A86 Junction, Nogent-sur-Marne N34 by boat, by Marne, from Paris, collège Pierre Brossolette is in nearby Le Perreux. The commune has two public academic high schools/sixth-form colleges, Lycée Branly and Lycée Louis Armand, as well as two high schools, La Source and Val de Beauté. Private schools, Lycée Albert-de-Mun Institut Montalembert Bibliothèque Cavanna serves as the municipal library
6.
Soissons
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Soissons is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France, located on the Aisne River, about 100 kilometres northeast of Paris. It is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital of the Suessiones, Soissons is also the see of an ancient Roman Catholic diocese, whose establishment dates from about 300. Soissons enters written history under its Celtic name, Noviodunum, meaning new hillfort, at Roman contact, it was a town of the Suessiones, mentioned by Julius Caesar. Caesar, after leaving the Axona, entered the territory of the Suessiones, and making one days march, reached Noviodunum, which was surrounded by a high wall. From 457 to 486, under Aegidius and his son Syagrius, Noviodunum was the capital of the Kingdom of Soissons, until it fell to the Frankish king Clovis I in the Battle of Soissons. Part of the Frankish territory of Neustria, the Soissons region, after the death of Clovis I in 511, Soissons was made the capital of one of the four kingdoms into which his states were divided. Eventually, the kingdom of Soissons disappeared in 613 when the Frankish lands were amalgamated under Clotaire II. During the Hundred Years War, French forces committed a massacre of English archers stationed at the towns garrison. The Congress was largely successful and led to the signing of a treaty between them. During the First World War The city came under heavy bombardment, there was mutiny after the disastrous Chemin des Dames offensive. A statue erected with images of French soldiers killed in action in 1917 is behind the St Peters Church, the town was on the main path of totality for the Solar eclipse of August 11,1999. Today, Soissons is a commercial and manufacturing centre with the 12th century Soissons Cathedral, the nearby Espace Pierres Folles contains a museum, geological trail, and botanical garden. The Cathédrale Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais de Soissons is constructed in the style of Gothic architecture, the building of the south transept was begun about 1177, and the lowest courses of the choir in 1182. The choir with its original elevation and extremely tall clerestory was completed in 1211. This was earlier than Chartres, on which the design was supposed to have been based, work then continued into the nave until the late 13th century. The former abbey of Notre Dame, former royal abbey, founded in the Merovingian era, famous for its treasure of relics. The abbey was prestigious abbesses like Gisèle, sister of Charlemagne, or Catherine de Bourbon, the Saint-Médard Abbey was a Benedictine monastery of Soissons whose foundation went back to the sixth century. The city hall built by architect Jean-François Advyné, between 1772 and 1775, at the request of the Intendant Pelletier Mortefontaine on the site of the old counts of Soissons
7.
Valenciennes
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Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It lies on the Scheldt river, although the city and region experienced a steady population decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded. The 1999 census recorded that the population of the commune of Valenciennes was 41,278, Valenciennes is first mentioned in 693 in a legal document written by Clovis II. In the 843 Treaty of Verdun, it was made a city between Neustria and the Austrasia. Later in the 9th century the region was overrun by the Normans, in 923 it passed to the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia dependent on the Holy Roman Empire. Once the Empire of the Franks was established, the city began to develop, under the Ottonian emperors, Valenciennes became the centre of marches on the border of the Empire. In 1008, a famine brought the Plague. According to the tradition, the Virgin Mary held a cordon around the city which. Since then, every year at that time, the Valenciennois used to walk around the 14 kilometres road round the town, many Counts succeeded, first as Margraves of Valenciennes and from 1070 as counts of Hainaut. In 1285, the currency of Hainaut was replaced by the currency of France, Valenciennes was full of activity, with numerous corporations, and outside its walls a large number of convents developed, like that of the Dominicans. In the 14th century, the Tower of Dodenne was built by Albert of Bavaria, where even today, in the 15th century, the County of Hainault, of which Valenciennes is part, was re-attached to Burgundy, losing its autonomy. On the Journée des Mals Brûlés in 1562, a mob freed some Protestants condemned to die at the stake, in the wave of iconoclastic attacks called the Beeldenstorm that swept the Low Countries in the summer of 1566, the city was the furthest south to see an attack. In 1576, when for a time the Southern Netherlands joined the revolt, however, in 1580, Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma took Valenciennes and Protestantism was eradicated there. Hereafter, Valenciennes remained under Spanish protection, no longer involved in later fighting of the Eighty Years War. With its manufacturers of wool and fine linens, the city was able to economically independent. In 1591, the Jesuits built a school and then the foundations of a church of Sainte-Croix, in 1611, the façade of the town hall was completely rebuilt in magnificent Renaissance style. In the seventeenth century the Scheldt was channelled between Cambrai and Valenciennes, benefitting Valenciennes wool, fabric and fine arts, to use up flax yarn, women began to make the famous Valenciennes lace. The French army laid siege to the city in 1656, defending the city, Albert de Merode, marquis de Trélon was injured during a sortie on horseback, died as a result of his injuries and was buried in the Church of St. Paul
8.
Roubaix
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Roubaix is a city in Northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area. As regards towns boundaries, Roubaix is encompassed by seven cities which constitute its immediate neighbouring environment, Roubaix, alongside those municipalities and twenty-one other communes, belongs to the land of Ferrain, a little district of the former Castellany of Lille between the Lys and Escaut rivers. As the crow flies, the distance between Roubaix and the cities is some odd,16 kilometres to Tournai,18 kilometres to Kortrijk,84 kilometres to Brussels and 213 kilometres to Paris. This area consists predominantly of Holocene deposits of alluvial origin and it is flat and low, with an elevation drop of only 35 m over its 13.23 square kilometres. The lowest altitude of this stands at 17 m, while its highest altitude is 52 m meters above the sea level. Opened in 1877, the Canal de Roubaix crosses the town from its northern neighbourhoods to its eastern neighbourhoods, the Canal de Roubaix closed in 1985, after more than a century in use. Thank to the European funded project Blue Links, the waterway has been reopened to navigation since 2011, despite some American statements that weather conditions in Roubaix were bad during the 19th century, the area of the city is not known for undergoing unusual weather events. The current citys name is most likely derived from two Frankish words, raus meaning reed and baki meaning brook, thence the sense of Roubaix can probably find its origin on the banks of the three following historical brooks, Espierre, Trichon and Favreuil. The place was mentioned for the first time in a Latinised form in the 9th century, thereafter, the following names were in use,1047 and 1106 Rubais,1122 Rosbays,1166 Rusbais,1156 and 1202 Robais,1223 Roubais. Over the span of centuries, the name evolved to Roubaix as shown on Mercators map of Flanders published at Leuven in 1540, parallel to the official and usual name Roubaix, some translations are worth a mention. Firstly, though the city has never belonged to the Flemish-speaking area, furthermore, the Dutch Language Union established Robaais as the citys proper Dutch name. Inhabitants of Roubaix are known in English as Roubaisians and in French as Roubaisiens or in the feminine form Roubaisiennes, also natively called Roubaignos or in the feminine form Roubaignoses. From the 21st century, communes with more than 10,000 population have sample surveys held every year, by the late 18th century, the city began to emerge as regional textile manufacturing centre and its population increased, reaching a level of 8,091 in 1800. As a result of the process of the 19th century. Belgian settlement was a feature of the Roubaisian life at that time, nonetheless, the rate of natural increase shew to be a more important component of the population growth in that period. At the 20th century threshold, the Roubaisian population reached a peak of 124,661, the population of the city was 95,866 at the January 2013 census. This enables Roubaix to remain the third largest municipality in the region Hauts-de-France, after Lille and this spoken vernacular is locally known as Roubaignot. Until the early 20th century this patois prevailed, in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War and the German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, many Jews left their homes and emigrated
9.
Le Havre
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Le Havre is an urban French commune and city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northwestern France. It is situated on the bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux. Modern Le Havre remains deeply influenced by its employment and maritime traditions and its port is the second largest in France, after that of Marseille, for total traffic, and the largest French container port. The name Le Havre means the harbour or the port and its inhabitants are known as Havrais or Havraises. Administratively the commune is located in the Normandy region and, with Dieppe, is one of the two sub-prefectures of the Seine-Maritime department, Le Havre is the capital of the canton and since 1974 has been the see of the diocese of Le Havre. Le Havre is the most populous commune of Upper Normandy, although the population of the greater Le Havre conurbation is smaller than that of Rouen. It is also the second largest subprefecture in France, the city and port were founded by the King Francis I of France in 1517. Economic development in the Early modern period was hampered by wars, conflicts with the English, epidemics. It was from the end of the 18th century that Le Havre started growing, after the 1944 bombings the firm of Auguste Perret began to rebuild the city in concrete. Changes in years 1990–2000 were numerous, the right won the municipal elections and committed the city to the path of reconversion, seeking to develop the service sector and new industries. The Port 2000 project increased the capacity to compete with ports of northern Europe, transformed the southern districts of the city. In 2005 UNESCO inscribed the city of Le Havre as a World Heritage Site. The André Malraux Modern Art Museum is the second of France for the number of impressionist paintings, the city has been awarded two flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom. Le Havre is a major French city located some 50 kilometres west of Rouen on the shore of the English Channel, numerous roads link to Le Havre with the main access roads being the A29 autoroute from Amiens and the A13 autoroute from Paris linking to the A131 autoroute. Administratively, Le Havre is a commune in the Haute-Normandie region in the west of the department of Seine-Maritime, the urban area of Le Havre corresponds roughly to the territory of the Agglomeration community of Le Havre which includes 17 communes and 250,000 people. It occupies the tip of the natural region of Pays de Caux where it is the largest city. Le Havre is sandwiched between the coast of the Channel from south-west to north-west and the estuary of the Seine to the south, Le Havre belongs to the MLG community Paris Basin which was formed in the Mesozoic period. The Paris Basin consists of sedimentary rocks, the commune of Le Havre consists of two areas separated by a natural cliff edge, one part in the lower part of the town to the south including the harbour, the city centre and the suburbs
10.
Le Mans
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Le Mans is a city in France, on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department, Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region. Its inhabitants are called Manceaux and Mancelles, since 1923, the city has hosted the internationally famous 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance sports car race. First mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy, the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, Le Mans is also known as Civitas Cenomanorum, or Cenomanus. Their city, seized by the Romans in 47 BC, was within the ancient Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis, a 3rd-century amphitheatre is still visible. The thermae were demolished during the crisis of the century when workers were mobilized to build the citys defensive walls. The ancient wall around Le Mans is one of the most complete circuits of Gallo-Roman city walls to survive, as the use of the French language replaced late Vulgar Latin in the area, Cenomanus, with dissimilation, became known as Celmans. Cel- was taken to be a form of the French word for this and that, and was replaced by le, gregory of Tours mentions a Frankish sub-king Rigomer, who was killed by King Clovis I in his campaign to unite the Frankish territories. As the principal city of Maine, Le Mans was the stage for struggles in the century between the counts of Anjou and the dukes of Normandy. When the Normans had control of Maine, William the Conqueror successfully invaded England, in 1069 the citizens of Maine revolted and expelled the Normans, resulting in Hugh V being proclaimed count of Maine. Geoffrey V of Anjou married Matilda of England in the cathedral and their son Henry II Plantagenet, king of England, was born here. The airfield was declared operational on 3 September and designated as A-35 and it was used by several American fighter and transport units until late November of that year in additional offensives across France, the airfield was closed. Le Mans has an old town and the Cathédrale St-Julien, dedicated to St Julian of Le Mans. Remnants of a Roman wall are visible in the old town and these walls are highlighted every summer evening in a light show that tells the history of the town. Arboretum de la Grand Prée Part of the former Cistercian abbey de lEpau, founded by Queen Berengaria, jardin des Plantes du Mans Musée de la reine Bérengère, a museum of Le Mans history located in a gothic manor house. Musée de Tessé, the arts museum of the city, displaying painting. Le Mans has an oceanic climate influenced by the mild Atlantic air travelling inland, summers are warm and occasionally hot, whereas winters are mild and cloudy. Precipitation is relatively uniform and moderate year round, at the 1999 French census, there were 293,159 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Le Mans, with 146,105 of these living in the city proper
Eric Vanderaerden (BEL)
Frits Pirard (NED)
Serge Demierre (SUI)
Dominique Gaigne (FRA)
Riccardo Magrini (ITA)
Robert Millar (GBR)
Kim Andersen (DEN)
Ángel Arroyo (ESP)
Sean Kelly (IRE) 
Phil Anderson (AUS)
José Patrocinio Jiménez (COL)
