Valence, Drôme

The 2007 Monte Carlo Rally (formally known as the 75e Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) was a rallying autosports race held over four days between 18 January and 21 January 2007, and operated out of Valence, Drôme, France. It was the first race of the 2007 World Rally Championship (WRC) season. Contested over fifteen stages at a length of 328.54 kilometres (204.15 miles), Sébastien Loeb won the race for the Citroën Total World Rally Team. Dani Sordo finished second in the other Citröen works car, with Marcus Grönholm finishing third in a Ford. Loeb, driving an all new Citroën C4 WRC car which had been in development throughout 2006, took control of the race from the outset, winning the two stages on the first day and four more stages over the following three days. His teammate Sordo kept the pressure on, winning three stages, but on Stage 6, Loeb extended his lead from 6.6 seconds to nearly 24 seconds, and from thereon became unattainable. Each stage on the first two Legs were won by either Loeb or Sordo, and it was not until Saturday afternoon on the second run of the day's stages, that other drivers could effectively challenge them. The last two days of the race consisted of a duel between Mikko Hirvonen, who drove a factory 2006 model Ford Focus RS WRC, and Chris Atkinson in a factory Subaru Impreza WRC 2006. After Hirvonen completed Stage 2 in fourth place, Atkinson took the position on Stage 3 and held onto it throughout Friday and into Saturday morning's stages. On Stage 12 on Saturday afternoon, Hirvonen retook fourth, Atkinson regained it on Stage 13 but then lost it to Hirvonen again following Stage 14. Atkinson won the final stage on Sunday morning, and finished the race back in fourth position. Controversially, the 2007 Monte Carlo Rally was no longer based in Monaco and localities nearby, where it had been held in recent years. The event only visited Monte Carlo with its final special stage, a short run on part of the Circuit de Monaco and the rest of the time was spent in and around Valence hundreds of kilometres north of Monaco in the Rhône-Alpes region. Many of the locations had not been visited since the 1990s, such as the Vercors and Ardèche, and only one top level driver had competitively driven on the roads before. The 2007 event also marked the return of the nighttime stages. Loeb's win was his fourth at Monte Carlo and twenty-ninth in WRC. It was the sixth time that he had achieved a podium position there, which brought his WRC podium finishes to forty-eight. He earned ten points in the World Rally Championship for Drivers. Sordo was two points behind him, while Grönholm was in third position with six points. With Atkinson and Hirvonen in fourth and fifth place, Petter Solberg, Toni Gardemeister and Jan Kopecký were the other points finishers. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Citroën Total World Rally Team earned the maximum eighteen points for their 1–2 finish, BP Ford World Rally Team placed second, with ten points, with the Subaru World Rally Team placing third with eight points.

Valence Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Apollinaire de Valence) is a Roman Catholic church in Valence, Drôme, France. The cathedral is in the Romanesque architectural tradition. It is dedicated to Saint Apollinaris of Valence. It is the seat of the Bishop of Valence.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Valence (–Die–Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux) (Latin: Dioecesis Valentinensis (–Diensis–Sancti Pauli Tricastinorum); French: Diocèse de Valence (–Die–Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in southern France. The contemporary diocese is co-extensive with the department of Drôme. The Cathedral of Valence was originally dedicated to Saints Cornelius and Cyprianus (Bishops of Rome and of Carthage, both mid-third century martyrs), but in 1095, during his visit to France to rouse up the aristocracy for a Crusade to liberate the Holy Land, Pope Urban II rededicated the cathedral to Saint Apollinaris, one of Valence's sixth century bishops. The Cathedral had fourteen Canons, including a Dean, a Provost, the Archdeacon, a Theologian, and the Abbot of S. Felix.In the Great Western Schism (1378–1417), the Bishops of Valence-et-Die were all appointed by and were loyal to the Popes of the Avignon Obedience. Pope Pius VI, who had been taken prisoner and deported from Italy by troops of the French Directory, was imprisoned in the fortress of Valence. After six weeks he died there, on 29 August 1799. His body was buried in the chapel, and a month later, on First Consul Napoleon's orders, given a public funeral and buried in the town cemetery.

The canton of Valence-4 is an administrative division of the Drôme department, southeastern France. Its borders were modified at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Valence.It consists of the following communes: Valence (partly)

Valence-Ville station (French: Gare de Valence-Ville) is a railway station serving the town Valence, Drôme department, southeastern France. It is situated on the Paris–Marseille railway, and is the southern terminus of a branch line to Grenoble. The station is owned and operated by the SNCF and served by both TGV and TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes trains.

The arrondissement of Valence is an arrondissement of France in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It has 101 communes. Its population is 292,801 (2016), and its area is 1,516.3 km2 (585.4 sq mi).

Bourg-lès-Valence (French pronunciation: ​[buʁ lɛ valɑ̃s]; Occitan: Lo Borg de Valença) is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. It is a suburb of Valence. The archaeologist and Hellenist Fernand Courby (1878–1932) was born in Bourg-lès-Valence. In 2014–2019, Bourg-lès-Valence was twinned with the town of Shusha (Shushi) of the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, but de jure part of Azerbaijan. In 2019, the administrative court of Grenoble declared the partnership treaty null and void due to the municipality having exceeded its power by unilaterally signing it and France's non-recognition of the de facto state.

Guilherand-Granges (French pronunciation: ​[ɡijʁɑ̃ ɡʁɑ̃ʒ]) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. It is a suburb of Valence, Drôme. It is one of the most populous commune in the Ardéche department, after Annonay and Aubenas, and before Tournon-sur-Rhône.

The canton of Guilherand-Granges is an administrative division of the Ardèche department in southern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Guilherand-Granges.It consists of the following communes: Châteaubourg Cornas Guilherand-Granges Saint-Péray Saint-Romain-de-Lerps

The canton of Valence-3 is an administrative division of the Drôme department, southeastern France. Its borders were modified at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Valence.It consists of the following communes: Beaumont-lès-Valence Beauvallon Montéléger Portes-lès-Valence Valence (partly)

The École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs des Systèmes Avancés et Réseaux (Esisar) is an engineering school of the Grenoble Institute of Technology.

The canton of Valence-2 is an administrative division of the Drôme department, southeastern France. Its borders were modified at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Valence.It consists of the following communes: Chabeuil Malissard Montélier Valence (partly)