Agen, préfecture of Lot-et-Garonne, is known outside cycling circles mainly for its prunes — but for riders it's a waypoint on the Canal des Deux Mers à Vélo, crossed via one of France's longest canal bridges, a 600-metre span over the Garonne.
The surrounding country is bastide territory: fortified medieval towns built from scratch in the 13th century, among them Damazan and the confluence village of Aiguillon, where the Lot meets the Garonne. Terrain here rolls rather than climbs — vineyards, prune orchards, and quiet departmental roads linking hilltop villages like Penne-d'Agenais and Tournon-d'Agenais.
The Tour de France passed through in 2024, when Stage 13 left Agen for Pau, the traditional gateway to the Pyrenees, crossing the short, sharp Côte de Blachon and Côte de Simacourbe along the way. Agen is less a destination for suffering than for steady miles between two mountain ranges.
