TOUR DU ALS CHALLENGE: VENTOUX

THE GIANT OF PROVENCE

Curious about what challenge is waiting for the team that will face Mont Ventoux in the Tour du Als? Well, the mountain is unique as it has 3 ways to reach its top and the riders can chose to face all them, two or only the last one. See after the link everything about this mountain and what it will mean to the team to climb it once from Sault, twice or 3 times from Bedoin.

The Tour du ALS team getting close to the top of the Bald Mountain in the first edition.
Foto: Edwin Sonneveld - go to Tour du ALS site for more photos of 2012

Mont Ventoux is a big mountain in the Provence region, south of France. It is the largest mountain in the region and has been nicknamed the "Beast of Provence", the "Giant of Provence" or "The Bald Mountain". The first two names is due to Ventoux being the highest mountain in the region which guarantees the most stunning views from its top. The bald name come from the fact that the last 6 kms of the mountain has no vegetation, being completely covered with limestone.

The mountain became famous through its use in the Tour de France, which is a constant race feature since 1951 mostly out of the village of Bedoin. It has also been stage to legendary and decisive moments on the Tour de France for names like Eddy Merckx,  ‘Jeff’ Bernard , Marco Pantani and Spanish climber ‘Juanma’ Gárate (2009). At the top of Mont Ventoux hangs a huge poster with the names of all the cyclists who won Tour de France stages to the summit of this legendary “Giant of Provence”. This year the giant will be the end of stage 15, in a race of 242 kms.

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FIRST CLIMB OF THE DAY: BEDOIN - And there is a reason why the mountain is constant in the Tour and scenario of big battles. It is one of the toughest climbs in France. The official climb from Bedoin is really hard with 20.8 kms (some sites claim 22 kms). The first 5 kilometers it start easy, with a average inclination of 4%. But after that village of Saint Estève, things change when the road turn left and the rider enters the forest. The gradient goes to 9.5% and stays around that for the next 10 kms with some sections of 11% that don't show in the picture because of hairpins that lower the average inclination. Another challenge for the riders is that from those 10 kms, good part of it is a monotonous straight line that psychologically drains the cyclist. Looking up there is no reference for the rider and the view of the long straight line is very daunting.

A little rest comes around the Chalet Reynard after 15 kms of climbing. Right after the end of forest when the road enters to bare top of the mountain. The last 5 kilometers stay around 7% with a hard one around 10% very close to the top. But every rider has to remember that he or she are out of the forest and unprotected against the wind. That can be quite strong up there and make everything harder.  There are historians that say Ventoux comes from the strong winds recorded at the top (venteux means windy in French) as there are no other mountains around to protect it from the wind. But this is not proven.  On the Tour du ALS day this will be the first climb of the day, after what the riders will go down to Maulacene for the second climb that is somewhat easier.

There is very good review of the mountain in the inner ring here.

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SECOND CLIMB: MALAUCENE -  Different from Bedoin, the climb fro Malaucene start immediately to 7% inclination. It will be a 20kms battle again and after the long 20kms descent of the first climb this is going to be a challenge for stiff legs. The next 10 kilometers has a lot of variation from below 3% up to 9 and some corners above 10%. Difficult to find rhythm. This will be followed by 4 kms of 10% average that will grind the legs of everybody. The rest of the climb is not easier with a steep section of almost 11% average gradient after 15 kms of climb and the last 4 kms with an average of 8%. Although a lot of riders consider the Bedoin side the hardest, this doesn't lose much for it and in reality from Malaucene the riders will ride more vertical meters then from Bedoin.

The last 4 kms is again outside the forest and exposed to the elements. If the wind gods are against the riders that day those 8% will seem much higher with wind speed of 30 to 50 kms/h recorded very frequently. Actually it hits 90kms/h for one third of the year. From the top, the riders will go down in the direction of Chalet Reynard and instead of going down towards Bedoin, the group will turn left towards Sault.

LAST CLIMB: SAULT - The little village of Sault is the start place of the third climb of the day and consider the easier of them all. At this point the riders will meet the ones that will climb once and start as a group. It is a good thing as the ones that climb two times already will have 42 kms of climbing in the legs. The ride start on the lavender fields just outside the village with a easy 2% inclination. Once into the forest, the ride is quite pleasant with 4 to 6% inclination and wide roads, lots of hairpins to relax and some glimpses of the top. From Sault the climb has around 25 kms and the middle 5 kilometers has an easy gradient until the riders reach Chalet Reynard again gearing up for the last time to reach the top and enjoy the stunning view of the Giant from Provence. Even that last kilometer with 10.5% inclination will look easy. Just watch out that right hand hairpin! Its going to hurt.