Brignais is where the ride hands you back to Lyon. It sits in the valley of the Garon on the south-western edge of the city, a busy town of shops, light industry and housing estates, with the Monts du Lyonnais rising gently behind it and the Pilat a blue shadow further south. After a day on the ridges it is an unglamorous but very practical finish.
Its name lives on in the history books for a battle that went badly wrong. In 1362 a royal French army met the free companies, bands of unpaid soldiers left over from the Hundred Years' War who were pillaging the region, near Brignais. The mercenaries, who held the high ground, crushed the knights sent to stop them, and the defeat left the Lyonnais at their mercy for years. There is little to see today, but it is a reminder that this quiet suburb was once on the front line of a very different kind of war.
The countryside around is still farming land, with orchards, market gardens and small vineyards on the slopes of the Coteaux du Lyonnais. In spring the cherry trees around Vourles and Charly flower white, and in early summer the farm stalls fill with cherries and apricots.
Coming in from the Pilat, the roads change character fast. The flowing bends of the hills give way to roundabouts, traffic lights and commuter traffic. The A450 and the old national roads funnel everything towards Lyon, and the evening rush can be dense. Watch for buses, cyclists and drivers changing lanes without warning.
Brignais has every service a town of twelve thousand needs, with fuel stations on the main roads, supermarkets and plenty of cafés. If you want a last beer before the city swallows you, the centre has a few terraces where you can sit, peel off your gloves and argue about the best corner of the day.