The Tour de France sets off on its annual three-week-long odyssey on Saturday. The iconic bicycle race is as grueling as it is famous; it will take this year’s eventual winner at least 80 hours to pedal the entire 2,075-mile distance. The 112th Tour’s route also includes 32.5 miles in total altitude gain, nearly six times the elevation of Mount Everest. However, I have already circled a single day on the schedule. Stage 16 features an absolutely brutal 106-mile ride from Montpellier to the summit of Mont Ventoux. The fan-favorite torture test used to be one of Europe’s toughest hill climbs for racing cars.
Mont Ventoux is an imposing 6,270-foot-tall mountain in Provence. The mountain’s summit was deforested during the 12th century to feed Toulon’s shipyards with lumber. The bare limestone peak is visually intimidating as the desolate moonscape gives the impression that you’re ascending to a different world. Without any trees, the road is completely exposed to the wind and the sweltering summer sun. The ascent can see gusts at speeds up to 200 miles per hour. Harsh conditions before you even account for the gradient that’s as steep as 12% for some stretches.
JoMiek / Wikimedia Commons
This year’s stage will be the Tour de France’s 18th visit to Mont Ventoux. The climb debuted in 1951. Infamously, British rider Tom Simpson collapsed and died near the summit during the Tour’s sixth visit in 1967. The 1965 world champion likely died of heat exhaustion. An autopsy showed that alcohol and amphetamines were in his system, according to the academic journal Science. A roadside memorial placed near the spot of Simpson’s collapse is a morbid reminder of how challenging the climb is for cyclists.
Cars raced up Mont Ventoux long before cyclists
Mont Ventoux was long the domain of cars before the Tour de France arrived. The inaugural edition of the Mont Ventoux Hill Climb was held in 1902. However, the event reached a new extreme once the European Hill Climbing Championship was established and contemporary Grand Prix machinery began competing on the mountain. According to Motor Sport, Hans Stuck shattered the hill climb record by an entire minute in 1934 with a supercharged V16-powered Auto Union racing car. The ascent was paved entirely later that year.
The Mont Ventoux Hill Climb survived until 1976 when Formula 2 was the top category for European ascents. The event was revived in 1988, but the new route was shortened and ended at the tree line to protect drivers from the dangerous gusts that could pitch them off the road. Today, the barren summit is used to exotic car excursions and the occasional Pikes Peak test. Peugeot took its 208 T16 Pikes Peak to Mont Ventoux in 2013 before Sébastien Loeb’s record-breaking run in Colorado. It’s breathtaking to see a car practically flying up the ascent where cyclists are typically struggling to breathe.
