Stage town for the first time
Town in the Puy-de-Dôme département (63)
Population: 1,300 (Montdoriens and Montdoriennes), 662,000 in the Puy-de-Dôme region
Specialities: truffade (Auvergne ham, potatoes, fresh tomme), Saint-Nectaire, craft beer
Sport: third ski resort to open in France after Montgenèvre and Chamonix. Events: Mont-Dore hill climb, part of the French mountain championship since 1961, Sancy trails.
Festivals: Sancy Snow Jazz / Volcanic Blues Festival / Rétro Rockin' Festival
Labels: Auvergne Volcanoes Nature Park / Zone natura 2000 / Famille Plus
Websites: mairie-mont-dore.fr / puy-de-dome.fr / www.sancy.com / www.cc-massifdusancy.fr
LE MONT-DORE PUY DE SANCY AND CYCLING
Although Le Mont-Dore has never hosted a stage finish of the Tour de France, the Auvergne spa resort has frequently seen the peloton pass through. Similarly, while the climb up to Puy de Sancy is a first, the Tour has already visited the Sancy massif in the past, notably during the stages finishing in Super-Besse, a resort linked to Le Mont-Dore by ski lifts. The Tour first went there in 1978 for a stage won by Paul Wellens and the last winner at the summit was Portugal's Rui Costa in 2011, two years before he became world champion. Three years earlier, Alejandro Valverde was awarded victory after Riccardo Ricco was disqualified for doping. Also nearby is the small resort of Chastreix-Sancy, where David Gaudu won a stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2022. In 2023, the same event started in Chambon-sur-Lac, a commune that includes part of the Puy de Sancy. Christophe Laporte won the stage there.
SIGHTS
Saint-Pardoux church
Built: 1852 to 1856 (architect: Aymon Gilbert Mallay)
Styles: neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque.
History: Saint-Pardoux church is a tribute to the spa town of Le Mont-Dore. Legend attributes numerous miraculous cures of paralysis to Saint-Pardoux using the springs and explains the presence of his cult in Mont-Dore as early as the 8th century.
Characteristics: The originality of this church lies in the modernity and quality of its interior decoration, based on the theme of water. The choir, decorated by Jean Olin, whose walls are painted blue and adorned with ceramics with modern motifs, evokes the biblical theme of living water.
Le Mont-Dore thermal baths
Construction: 1817 to 1823 (architect: Louis-Charles Ledru)
History: the construction of the Thermes du Mont-Dore was entrusted to the architect Louis-Charles Ledru. Neo-Byzantine in style, they were extended and modernised in 1890 by Emile Camut. While he retained Ledru's exterior design and the original appearance of the buildings, simply adding two corner pavilions and an extra storey to the main façade, he completely overhauled the interior.
Characteristics: the interior decoration includes numerous references to Roman, Byzantine and Romanesque architecture from Auvergne. They are considered to be the largest in Europe. The hall des Sources (with its metal framework designed by Gustave Eiffel) and the salle des pas perdus on the first floor are the two wonders to visit. Painter Roger Forissier painted a mural here in 1975, which was inaugurated by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
Special features: every February it hosts the SAFE (Salon d'Art Fantastique Européen), an exhibition of internationally renowned painters inspired by Salvador Dali.
Listed as: Historical Monument in 1986. Roman remains listed as Historical Monument in 1989.
Capucin funicular
Built: 1898
Characteristics: Since 1898, a cable railway has been climbing up the side of the valley at a speed of one metre per second. It's the oldest electric funicular in France, and its machinery is listed as a Historical Monument. During the ten-minute ascent (250 metres difference in altitude), the view rises over the Dordogne valley and the Grande Cascade. Following in the footsteps of the artists who came to take the waters during the Belle Époque, the descent from the Salon du Capucin along the Chemin des Artistes is an easy way to continue your journey back in time.
History: In 1894, Jean Giraudon, a public works contractor from Perrier, obtained a 70-year concession from the municipality of Mont-Dore for a "local funicular and electric railway". He assumed all the risks, as the concession was "without subsidy or guarantee of interest" and was required to pay the municipality a fee for the first ten years of operation.
Listed as: Historical Monument in 1984.
Puy de Sancy
Characteristics: The roof of the Massif Central, reaching an altitude of 1,885m. Puy de Sancy is a strato-volcano whose formation began 5 million years ago and ended 250,000 years ago. It lies at the heart of three National Nature Reserves. At the foot of the puy, the Dore and Dogne rivers meet, giving rise to the Dordogne.
Sarciron Palace (1907)
Current use: Now a private residence, it was one of the five largest palaces in France in the heyday of the spa industry. Frequented by the European elite, Asian princes, industrialists, bankers and artists, it boasted 300 rooms and suites and employed more than 200 staff.
