Paris - Bourges

The first race took place in 1913 and was won by the Frenchman Rene Pichon . Until 1949, the race was amateur, since 1949 it has become professional.

From 1980 to 1992 (with the exception of 1984 when it was a day and 1989 when it was not carried out) it was multi-day — it consisted of two or three stages that took place over two days. ^[one]

Initially, the race began in Paris and finished in the city of Bourges ( Center region - Loire Valley ). However, in recent years, due to the reduction in the length of the course, it became impossible to connect the two cities, and since 1996 the race began to start in the city of Giens (department Loire ), which is located 156 km south of Paris. The race’s official name is now Paris-Gien-Bourges , although it is still referred to as Paris-Bourges in the UCI calendar and in many other media outlets . ^[2]

From 1993 to 2008, she entered the French Cycle Championship . Since 2005, included in the calendar UCI Europe Tour with category 1.1 .

The modern version of the race takes place at a distance of about 190 km, the middle part of which climbs the hills of the Sanserua region, including three classified climbs: Cote de Jars (324 meters), Cote de Graveron (337 meters) and La Chapelotte (378 meters) on which mountain prize . ^[3] Because of its low altitude and distance from the finish ( La Chapelotte is located 35 km from the finish), these hills very rarely have a decisive influence on the race.

The race usually ends with a group sprint on Republic Boulevard in Bourges. In the 2000s, only two riders managed to win with a slight advantage over the peloton - Thomas Föckler in 2006 and Florian Vachon in 2012. ^{[4] [5]}

• Official site (fr.)