Mont Ventoux

Etymology

Venteux means windy in French. In the 10th century, the names Mons Ventosus and Mons Ventorius were used interchangeably. The mistral has created wind speeds at the summit as high as 320 km/h. The wind blows over the mountains at 90 km/h for roughly 240 days a year. The road over the mountain is often closed due to high winds, especially the col des tempêtes ("storm pass") just before the summit.

History

Humans have probably scaled Mount Ventoux since prehistory. The first recorded ascent was by the influential 14th‑century French scholastic philosopher Jean Buridan who is recorded climbing Mont Ventoux before 1334 while on his way to the papal court in Avignon "in order to make some meteorological observations". The Italian poet Petrarch wrote a possibly fictional account of an ascent accompanied by his brother on 26 April 1336, in his Ascent of Mont Ventoux.

In the 15th century, a chapel was constructed on the top and dedicated to the Holy Cross.

In 1882, a meteorological station was constructed on the summit, but it is no longer in use. This observatory had been planned in 1879, along with a carriage road for access.

In the 1960s, a 50 m telecommunications mast was built.

From 1902 to 1976, the Mont Ventoux Hill Climb for car and motorcycle took place on the roads of the Mont.

Flora and fauna

Originally forested, Mont Ventoux was systematically stripped of trees from the 12th century onwards to serve the demands of the shipbuilders of the naval port of Toulon. Some areas have been reforested since 1860 with a variety of hardwood trees (such as holm oaks and beeches) as well as coniferous species, such as Atlas cedars and larches. A little higher, junipers are common.

The mountain comprises the species boundary or ecotone between the flora and fauna of northern and southern France. Some species, including various types of spiders and butterflies, are unique to Mont Ventoux. It is a good place to spot the short-toed snake eagle (Circaetus gallicus).

Its biological distinctiveness was recognised by UNESCO in 1990 when the Réserve de Biosphère du Mont Ventoux was created, protecting an area of 200,150 acres on and around the mountain.

Climate

|Jan record high C = 12.7 |Feb record high C = 14.7 |Mar record high C = 17.0 |Apr record high C = 20.0 |May record high C = 26.9 |Jun record high C = 33.4 |Jul record high C = 30.0 |Aug record high C = 32.1 |Sep record high C = 24.7 |Oct record high C = 19.6 |Nov record high C = 16.1 |Dec record high C = 14.0 |Jan record low C = −15.0 |Feb record low C = −18.0 |Mar record low C = −13.0 |Apr record low C = −9.0 |May record low C = −4.7 |Jun record low C = −0.5 |Jul record low C = 1.5 |Aug record low C = 3.2 |Sep record low C = −1.8 |Oct record low C = −8.0 |Nov record low C = −11.0 |Dec record low C = −14.9 | access-date = August 29, 2023}}}}

Road cycling

In road bicycle racing, the mountain can be climbed by three routes.

• From the South: climb starts in Bédoin: 1617 m over 21.8 km. This is regarded as the most difficult ascent, and is ranked by PJAMM Cycling as the 3rd most difficult bike climb in France. The road to the summit has an average gradient of 7.43%. Until Saint-Estève, the climb is 3.9% over 5.8 km, but the remaining 16 km has an average gradient of 8.9%. To serve as a comparison the climb of Alpe d'Huez is about 13.8 km at an average gradient of 7.9%. The last kilometres may have strong, violent winds. The ride takes to hours for trained amateur riders. Professional riders take 60 to 75 minutes. The fastest time so far recorded has been that of Tadej Pogacar in Stage 16 of the 2025 Tour de France: 53min 47s. The time was measured from Bédoin for the first time in the 1958 Tour de France, in which Charly Gaul was the fastest at 62 min 9 s.
• From the Northwest: climb starts in Malaucène: 1570 m over 21.5 km. About equal in difficulty as the Bédoin ascent, but better sheltered against the wind.
• From the East: climb starts in Sault: 1210 m over 26 km. The easiest route. After Chalet Reynard (where the "lunar landscape" of the summit starts), the climb is the same as the Bédoin ascent. Average gradient of 4.4%.

Every year there are amateur races to climb the mountain as quickly and often as possible in 24 hours, the Ventoux Masterseries and "Les Cinglés du Mont Ventoux". Cyclists can become a member of the Cinglés du Mont Ventoux Club by ascending all 3 sides of the mountain in a single day. Within this club there are other even more difficult challenges such as the Galériens which is 4 ascents in 24 hours of Ventoux including a forest path as the 4th ascent, the Bicinglés which is 6 ascents, all 3 sides twice in 24 hours and is 8800m of elevation which is roughly equivalent to the elevation of Mount Everest. Beyond this there are unofficial and extremely challenging variants such as the Tricinglés which is an extension of the bicinglés and is all 3 sides three times in 24 hours, total of 9 ascents of Ventoux in a single day. On 16 May 2006, Jean-Pascal Roux from Bédoin broke the record of climbs in 24 hours, with eleven climbs, all of them from Bédoin.

Tour de France

Mont Ventoux is the scene of one of the most grueling climbs in the Tour de France bicycle race, which has ascended the mountain eighteen times since 1951. The followed trail mostly passes through Bédoin. Its fame as a scene of great Tour dramas has made it a magnet for cyclists around the world.

British cyclist Tom Simpson died on the mountain on 13 July 1967 from heat exhaustion caused by a combination of factors, including dehydration (caused by lack of fluid intake and diarrhœa), use of amphetamines, and alcohol, although there is still speculation as to the exact cause of his death. He began to wildly weave across the road before he fell down. He was delirious and asked spectators to put him back on the bike, which he rode to within a kilometre of the summit before collapsing dead, still clipped into his pedals. Amphetamines were found in his jersey and bloodstream. There is a memorial to Simpson near the summit, which has become a shrine to fans of cycling, who often leave small tokens of remembrance there. In 1970, Eddy Merckx rode himself to the brink of collapse while winning the stage. He received oxygen, recovered, and won the Tour. In 1994, Eros Poli, not known for his climbing ability, stole away at the beginning of the day's stage, built up a substantial time gap from the peloton, and was first over the Ventoux and eventual stage winner despite losing a minute of his lead per kilometre of the ascent.

Tour de France stage finishes

The race has finished at the summit of Mont Ventoux ten times. The finish line is at 1910 m, although in 1965, 1967, 1972 and 1974 the finish was lower, at 1895 m.

In September 2008, it was announced by Claude Haut, the president of the Vaucluse province, that in 2009 the Tour de France would visit Mont Ventoux after a seven-year absence. Unusually, the riders climbed the mountain on the second-to-last day of the race, on 25 July 2009, prior to transferring to Paris for the traditional parade on the Champs-Élysées. It was next featured in the 100th Tour de France in 2013 on Stage 15.

In 2016, the stage to Mont Ventoux was shortened by 6 km the day before, after a weather forecast of high winds at the summit. The stage then finished at Chalet Reynard at 1435 m, with approximately 10 km of ascent up the mountain. This stage also featured a motorcycle-induced crash which damaged Chris Froome's bike, prompting him to jog some 100 metres up the mountain until he was able to get a neutral service bike (as his team car was too far back at the time), which did not fit him properly.

Stage 16 of the 2025 Tour de France ended at the summit of Mont Ventoux and was won by Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre.

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