Crab Cakes Rescue

Description

Châtelaillon-Plage to Poitiers

Stage 11 - Wednesday, 9 September - 167 km (104 mi)

The Stage

Another bunch sprint and the Tour website even calls it as suited to Arnaud Démare... (Who isn't starting, so he can't come to the rescue.)

Winner: Caleb Ewan

Tour Touristique

Aigrefeuille-d’Aunis
In 1876, and like many communes of Charente Inferieure (2nd French wine department), the town saw its vineyard destroyed by the scourge of phylloxera (aphid pest that gave its name to the disease). This led to a profound transformation of agriculture; cattle breeding and the cultivation of cereals replacing wine growing. This new activity contributed to the development of the dairy industry which was very successful, thanks to the quality of the local butter and cheeses before vanishing in the late 1970s.

Nearby are ruins of an old medical center built in 1951 which provided medical support for the U.S. troops still engaged in Europe from 1950 to 1966. A real city within the city (about 2,000 people and a capacity of more than 1,000 beds), it was baptised Croix-Chapeau by the Americans who could not pronounce the name of the town. It was dismantled in 1966 during Operation Freloc (fast relocation from France), when France decided to leave NATO (nearly 700,000 tons of equipment, 30,000 American soldiers and 40,000 civilian employees had to leave France before April 1, 1967).

Gamers Assembly
Couldn't resist using this one.
It is the fruit of the human adventure of a band of gamers and video game lovers who, 20 years ago, decided to organize a competition in a room in the small town of Smarves, located 15 minutes south of Poitiers. A real success from the start, the Gamers Assembly developed and moved to the town of Saint Benoit first then to the Futuroscope Congress Hall. Today, installed in the Poitiers Exhibition Center, the Gamers Assembly is the event that brings together the most video game players in France (more than 2,500 players and 25,000 visitors). With its team, its training center, and its support for the Gamers Assembly, Poitiers is positioned as the French capital of e-sports.

View attached image.