Following the Tour de France’s visit to Monaco for the final stage of the 2024 race on 21st July, the Principality is continuing its celebrations with a special exhibition in the Saint-Martin Gardens.
This isn’t the first time that the Principality has hosted the world-famous race as Monaco’s Princely family has a long-lasting connection with the Tour that dates back to the 1940s.
The race was put on hold during WWII, and in the years that followed the global conflict, France’s finances simply weren’t strong enough to resume the competition. Monaco’s ruling Grimaldi family decided to step in and provide crucial funds that allowed the Tour to restart.
Back in December 2023, when the plans for Monaco to formally host the final leg were confirmed at an event at the Yacht Club de Monaco, Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Amaury Sport Organization, which runs the race, said, “Without the Grimaldi family, the Tour de France would perhaps never have restarted in 1947. In 1946, after the war, it was because your family, Monseigneur [Prince Albert], paid for accommodation for the riders of a Monaco-Paris trip that, the following year, the Tour de France was able to rise from the ashes.”
See more: Monaco to officially welcome the Tour de France in summer 2024
In the years since, the Principality hosted the Tour 11 times, beginning in 1952. The most recent visit was in 2009, when the second stage departed from a start line in front of the Palais Princier de Monaco.
In commemoration of this special relationship, a new outdoor exhibition has been erected in the Saint-Martin Gardens on the Rock.
It features an array of 19 historical photographs depicting the Tour’s various visits to the Principality over the years. The photographs, which come from the ASO, Palais and state archives in Monaco, have been blown up and printed on large canvases.
They present a fascinating insight into the changing landscape of Monaco over the last 85 years, as well as the evolving trends and equipment of the cyclists who took part in the races.
The temporary exhibition will remain in place until 31st August.
Click on the images below to see more:
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Photo credits: Monaco Communications Department