Day 1,550

Mont Ventoux

Today was the day. For the last few weeks this had been our goal, to ride Mont Ventoux. It stands alone, separated from the rest of the Alps mountain range so can be seen from miles around. It's 1,910 metres high or 6,270 feet. There are 3 ways to climb up it, the most famous being from Bèdoin. It is 13.5 miles, with an average gradient of 7.43%, and is classed at the 3rd most difficult bike ride in France. We had decided to ride up from Malaucène, it's just about the same level of difficulty but is more sheltered from the wind, and for us, the main reason was Malaucène is a way prettier village to stay in! Today though, there was no wind, the weather conditions were perfect. Covered in trees for the majority of the way up, then the trees disappear leaving the top exposed section of limestone, which for the past 95 million years has given the Mont its distinctive appearance, a bleak white moonscape or as some call it, a bald bloke! Dominating the skyline is the abandoned metrological station built in 1882. 

In the cycling world it is an icon, world famous due to its inclusion in the Tour de France. First included in 1951, it has been used 19 times, and has been witness to triumph and tragedy.  It has been a stage finish 10 times, first in 1957. 

The icon

But in 1967 on the 13th of July a British rider, Tommy Simpson, a Tour de France contender, died from heat exhaustion. A memorial stands at the point where he fell. Even to this day most riders pause as they reach this point, many dismount and take a few moments to show their respect and leave a gift, a token. It is an incredibly moving experience, to stand there at the spot Tommy died, so near to the summit. 

The Tom Simpson Memorial

There has been so much drama and excitement during the race over the years. Probably one of the most unique was in 2016. The mountain was packed with thousands and thousands of excited fans. Chris Froome was in yellow, but there was not a lot of time separating any of the top 10 GC riders. Due to the extreme wind the stage finish had been moved from the summit to the cafe at Chalet Reynard. This is 3.7 miles from the top. It was already packed with thousands of spectators, but 3.7 miles worth of additional spectators had walked down the hill to see the shortened race. By the time the first riders approached the new finish, they were at least 10 deep at each side of the road. There were no barriers in place to keep them back. Many fans were a little drunk, they were screaming and surging as the cavalcade of motorbikes, riders and team cars approached. It was a disaster waiting to happen. The breakaway riders made it through, but when Richie Porte appeared, with Chris Froome  the crowd went crazy. A motorbike stopped, blocked by the crowds, and Richie simply rode straight into it, Chris crashed into him, followed immediately by a third rider. The resulting chaotic scenes went global, Chris ended up running without his bike for a 100 metres and finished the stage over 2 mins behind the main field and out of yellow, though not for long, and the organisers try each year to improve safety for the riders. The fastest ascent, the King of the Mountains, is held by Tadej Pogačar. In this year's 2025 tour he took just 53 minutes and 47 seconds to complete the climb. 

We didn't expect quite such dramatic scenes nor to summit anywhere near as fast as Pogi. We just wanted to ride up this famous climb. Tom being Tom decided to make it harder, and set off on his heavy touring bike, complete with all his loaded pannier bags which if we include him, is about 160kg in total. Now that was going to be tough. I opted to leave my bags at the apartment. With our wide range of gears, the ride for me wasn't too tough. Tom though needed every one of his, but he dug deep. We took our time, pausing for a rest at every bin, not quite sure why we chose such scenic-less rest points! We stopped to gaze in awe at the stunning views of the snow capped mountains. We passed nobody, but many passed us. The other riders though were on super lightweight racing bikes or E-bikes. Near the top we were riding pretty much at the same speed as a small group on racers and E-bikes so we were pretty happy. We didn't quite get near Podi’s speed, it took us just over 3 hours, but we loved every minute and we're proud to say, we summited Mont Ventoux!

We did it!