Stage 3 Valenciennes – Dunkirk

TOUR DE FRANCE MEETS FRENCH HISTORY

As France declared war on Austria on 20th April 1792, hostilities begun almost instantly.

The French decided they should invade the Austrian Netherlands at three points simultaneously, starting on 28 April 1792, with thrusts against Namur, Mons and Tournai.In the morning of 28 April Lieutenant- Général Armand-Louis de Gontaut, duke de Biron, marched from Valenciennes at the head of 7,500 men and thirty-six guns, pushing back some Austrian vedettes he encountered near the border.¹

Please note, that this year I focus on the events of the French Revolution related to the places the peloton visiting. Last time Dunkirk was visited by the Tour de France in 2022. I wrote a bit more about the history of the place then.