First run in 1906, the Paris-Lille stage was a traditional curtain-raiser for the Tour de France. It was run on seven occasions on routes that were every bit as testing as Paris-Roubaix in the modern era! This was backed up by Georges Speicher’s stage win in 1934, the Frenchman going on to take victory in Paris-Roubaix two years later. Ferdi Kübler won on the same route in 1947, when it launched the first post-war Tour, but he was narrowly beaten in Lille in 1954 by Louison Bobet. Bernard Hinault also triumphed in the city in 1980, having won the time trial on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit the day before.
The historic capital of Flanders hosted a Grand Départ in 1960 and again in 1994, when Britain’s Chris Boardman created a sensation in the prologue, which he covered at a record average speed of 55.152 km/h. Twenty years on, the Tour returned to Lille after completing a Grand Départ in England. Marcel Kittel had hit the ground running with victories in Harrogate and London, and his purple patch continued when he celebrated a third victory in just four stages.
- Stage town for the 19th time
- The metropolitan area comprises 95 communes within the towns of Lille, Roubaix, Tourcoing, and Villeneuve-d’Ascq (59)
- Population: 1,187,000; 236,000 in Lille (Lillois and Lilloises); 2,611,000 within the department of Nord; 5,996,000 within the Hauts-de-France region
