Saint-Amand-Montrond

Saint-Amand-Montrond ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France and the historical province of Bourbonnais about Template:Convert southeast of Bourges, in the basin of the eastern banks of the Cher which separates it from the commune of Orval.

A small river, the Marmande, joins the Cher there, and the canal de Berry crosses the commune from southeast to southwest.Template:Cn

Population

Jean-Baptiste Lemire (1867–1945), composer.
Louis Lecoin (1888–1971), pacifist and libertarian, was born in Saint-Amand-Montrond.
Maurice Papon (1910–2007), mayor of Saint-Amand-Montrond (1971–1983) and collaborator during World War II.
Serge Vinçon (1949–2007), college professor and politician was born here.
Jean Godin des Odonais, cartographer and explorer, lived here.
Julian Alaphilippe and his younger brother Bryan Alaphilippe, both cyclists, are from here.
Érick Jacquin, French chef naturalized Brazilian, was born here.

Cycling: The Tour de France has finished in the town three times. In 2001, it was the finishing line of a 61 km individual time trial from Montluçon. The stage was won by American Lance Armstrong of Discovery Channel Cycling Team. It featured again in the 2008 edition, again as a finish for an individual time trial. German Stefan Schumacher won the 53 km long stage from Cérilly. In 2013 stage 13 finished there from Tours and was won by British sprinter Mark Cavendish.