Tour de France 2024 - stages 6 & 7

Map: click on icons for more information.

Stage 6 - Macon to Dijon (Burgundy) 

    Day 6 ,Thursday 4th July is a chance to discover the southern half of Burgundy, one of the great historic regions of France. In the Middle Ages, the Dukes of Burgundy rivalled in power with the Kings of France, and to this day Burgundy retains some great vestiges of it historic past.
    Setting off from Macon, a bustling small city on the banks of the river Saône, riders head into the hills and north towards Cluny, once the second most important place in Christendom after Rome. Cluny's abbey was the greast monastic centre in Europe, and its monks went out to all the corners of the continent. Today little remains of the huge monastery, apart from the abbey church and adjacent buildings.
    Northwards from Cluny, the route takes cyclists past the modern pilgrimage centre of Taizé, then past the superb Renaissance château of Cormatin, and along the eastern slopes of the Burgundy hills, through many famous vineyard areas.
    After the railway junction town of Chagny, the route enters an area famed for having some of the most valuable rural real estate in the world, Burgundy's "Grands crus" vineyard area. Passing through the villages of Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny Montrachet and Mersault, which produce some of the world's  most prestigious wines, riders then skirt to the south of Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy, whose medieval hospital, the Hôtel Dieu is, along with the great local vineyards, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
    Leaving the vineyards, the route heads east and onto the relatively flat land of the Saône valley. At Seurre, the route heads north, passing another formerly great monastery, or what remains of it. Citeau Abbey was, in the Middle Ages, the home of the Cistercian order which founded monasteries all over Europe, including dozens in Britain such as Tintern Abbey or Rievaulx in Yorkshire. Little remains of the once magnificent abbey at Citeaux, except its famous library.
    From Citeaux, the route winds northwards, for a finish close to the centre of Dijon, Burgundy's historic capital city.

The next day (stage 7) is a day for time trials around more of the most prestigious Burgundy vineyards in the vicinity of Nuits Saint Georges, Clos Vougeot, and Gevrey Chambertin, a few miles south of Dijon.
For more on Burgundy wines, see ► French wine guide

► Continue with Stage 8
   

Detail from one of the medieval stained glass windows in Bourges cathedral

---