Maine-et-Loire is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers,Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north,Loire-Atlantique to the west,Indre-et-Loire to the east,Vienne and Deux-Sèvres to the south,Vendée to the south-west,and Ille-et-Vilaine to the north-west. It also borders Ille-et-Vilaine in the north for just 20 yards (19 m),France's shortest department boundary. Its prefecture is Angers;its subprefectures are Cholet,Saumur and Segré-en-Anjou Bleu. Maine-et-Loire had a population of 818,273 in 2019.
Cholet is a commune of western France,in the Maine-et-Loire department. With 54,307 inhabitants (2019),it is the second most populous commune of Maine-et-Loire,after the prefecture,Angers.
Pierrick Fédrigo is a French former racing cyclist,who rode professionally between 2002 and 2016 for the Crédit Agricole,Bbox Bouygues Telecom,FDJ.fr and Fortuneo–Vital Concept teams. He was the winner of the French National Road Race Championships in 2005,and won four stages at the Tour de France.
Romain Feillu is a French former road racing cyclist,who rode professionally between 2006 and 2019. He is the older brother of Brice Feillu,who also competed professionally as a cyclist.
Stéphane Heulot is a French former road racing cyclist. Born in Rennes,Heulot wore the yellow jersey in the 1996 Tour de France during three stages. He also won the French National Road Race Championships in 1996. He was the manager of French cycling team Sojasun between 2009 and 2013. He joined Cannondale in February 2014 as the team's Performance Development Director. From 2019 to 2021,he worked as a directeur sportif for Rally UHC Cycling. In 2023,he became the general manager of UCI ProTeam Lotto–Dstny.
Stéphane Bonsergent is a French former professional racing cyclist,who competed as a professional with the Bretagne–Schuller team,between 2006 and 2011.
Sigoyer is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France.
Caramany is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.
Bruno Daniel Marie Paul Retailleau is a French politician who has presided over The Republicans group in the Senate since 2014. He has represented the Vendée department in the Senate since 2004. Retailleau also served as President of the General Council of Vendée from 2010 to 2015 and President of the Regional Council of Pays de la Loire from 2015 until 2017.
The National Centre of Independents and Peasants is a right-wing agrarian political party in France,founded in 1951 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents with the Peasant Party and the Republican Party of Liberty.
Le Courrier français was an illustrated weekly founded and edited by Jules Roques. It appeared from 1884 to 1914.
The 2015 Roye shooting took place at 4.30 pm in a Roma camp in Roye on Tuesday,25 August 2015 and saw the death of 4 people;a gendarme and three people from the same family,in addition to the serious wounding of a three-year-old child. The perpetrator,73-year-old Marcel Ruffet,was shot and injured by the police as they carried out an arrest,and was later sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. Ruffet expressed no regret for committing the shooting,citing hatred of Romanis.
Jean-Claude Boulard was a French politician. He was mayor of Le Mans from 2001 until his death,senator from 2014 to 2017,and deputy of National Assembly from 1988 to 1993 and again from 1997 to 2002.
Gilles Bertin was a French musician and singer,and a member of the punk band Camera Silens from 1981 to 1986.
Alexandre Beaupain,is a French singer and composer,both of his own songs,and of the music and songs for films,particularly those directed by Christophe Honoré. He has released several albums and received awards,both for film scores and the song albums.
Oumar Ngom is a professional footballer who plays for Ligue 2 club Pau FC. Born in France,he plays for the Mauritania national team.
The New Ecological and Social People's Union is a left-wing electoral alliance of political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022,the alliance includes La France Insoumise (LFI),the Socialist Party (PS),the French Communist Party (PCF),Europe Ecology –The Greens (EELV),Ensemble! (E!),and Génération.s (G.s),and their respective smaller partners. It was the first wide left-wing political alliance since the Plural Left in the 1997 French legislative election. Over 70 dissident candidates who refused the accord still ran.
Vincenzo Vecchi is an Italian "altermondialist".
Maurice Ligot was a French civil administrator and politician. He served in the National Assembly from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 2002 in Maine-et-Loire's 5th constituency. He was Mayor of Cholet from 1965 to 1995 and served as Secretary of State of Civil Service from 1976 to 1978. In 1988,he co-founded the Fédération des maires des villes moyennes alongside Jean Auroux,which became the Fédération des villes de France in 2014.
