On Tuesday, Mont Ventoux will be the crowning feature of the 16th stage of the Tour de France, which departs from Montpellier. After a day with few other difficulties, the final ascent will be a formidable test, climbing 15.7 kilometers at an average gradient of 8.8%.
Known as the “Giant of Provence,” the mountain is a theater of both heroic exploits and cycling tragedies. Its reputation is a myth built on fear and suffering. In his work Mythologies, the philosopher Roland Barthes depicted it as “a god of evil to whom one must sacrifice. A true Moloch, a despot for cyclists, it never forgives the weak, demanding an unjust tribute of suffering.”
Journalist Antoine Blondin, writing in L’Équipe, echoed this grim portrayal: “Few happy memories are attached to this witches’ cauldron, which one does not approach with a light heart. We have seen sensible riders there verge on madness under the effect of heat and stimulants, some descending the switchbacks while they believed they were climbing them, others brandishing their pumps above our heads, calling us assassins.”
Visible from afar, Mont Ventoux appears as an anomaly in the terrain. It dominates the landscape, growing ever larger to torment and haunt its assailants long before the official ascent even begins.
