Sport on Mont Ventoux

Mont Ventoux in France is known for the sports it plays, especially cycling and motorsport. The mountain is best known for cycling stages in, among others, the Tour de France. The ascent from Bédoin is very difficult due to the length of the climb, the average gradient and the summer temperatures in the South of France. In total there are three climbs with a road bike possible. The climb was fatal to cyclist Tom Simpson in 1967 due to a combination of amphetamine, alcohol and the heat. Three years later, Eddy Merckx, on his way to victory, still had the presence of mind to take his hat off as he passed the monument erected in Simpson's memory. After the finish, Merckx would have succumbed, but in later years Merckx claimed that he played this to get the big media attention. In the Tour de France 2000, the much stronger Lance Armstrong gave the victory on the Ventoux to the Italian climber Marco Pantani. He expressed regret for this gift a day later. In 2016, a stage with a finish at the top of Mont Ventoux was planned, but on the day before the stage, due to bad weather forecasts, the finish was moved to Chalet Reynard on the southeastern mountainside.

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