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The Ultimate Guide to the Tour de France 2022 King of the Mountains Competition

The mountains classification is always a great attraction of the Tour de France, especially when the fight for the general classification is not entertaining or exciting deep into the race. In this article, we will take a closer look at 2022 edition’s scoring system, the tactics for winning it and who are the favourites.

This year’s route is quite mountainous, with mythical passes such as Galibier, Alpe d’Huez or Hautacam. In this article , we analysed all these climbs featuring in the 2022 Tour de France, including projected climbing times and watts. In total, there will be:

• 61 categorised climbs;
• 7 Hors Catégorie climbs;
• 10 category 1 climbs;
• 6 category 2 climbs;
• 16 category 3 climbs; and
• 22 category 4 climbs,

for 985 available points.

Logically, the Hors Catégorie climbs are the most important, with a big difference over the rest. Not only does the first rider score twice as much as a first category climb, but there are points up to the eighth position, as you can see in the following graph.

Moreover, according to the rules, “in the event of two riders being equal on points in the best climber classification, the rider with the most first places at the summit of Hors Catégorie passes or climbs or summit finishes will be declared the winner”.

If a rider’s goal is the final mountain classification, there is little point in expending valuable energy racing for the points available on Category 3 or 4 climbs, and instead they should focus on the Hors Catégorie and Category 1 climbs. In any case, modest teams will compete for the points on these small hills in the first week to wear the jersey until the arrival of the high mountains and thus maximise their visibility and publicity impact on the race, as was the case last year when Perez and Schelling battled throughout the Grand Depart on the short hills in Brittany last year.

In addition, although they have almost no impact on the classification, topping a fourth category climb is rewarded with 200 euros, which is welcome among the cyclists with lower salaries.

As we can see in the graph, the Hors Catégorie and Category 1 climbs share 86% of the total points for the mountain classification. Five of the seven Hors Catégorie are in the two big Alpine stages, with finishes at Col du Granon and Alpe d’Huez. Those two stages will be key, as if a rider passes all the climbs first he can score 55 and 60 points respectively. However even in the event of the GC group eventually catching the breakaway on the four major climbing stages (11, 12, 17 and 18), four of the seven Hors Catégorie climbs are during the middle of the stage where it is much more likely that a breakaway will still be up the road to take maximum points.

Below you can see the exact distribution of points on each stage, with the heavy weighting in the Alps and Pyrenees.

As the key stages come in the first block of mountain stages, it is possible that many good climbers will not have given up on the general classification and will find it difficult to get into the breakaway. Therefore, contenders for the mountain classification who are not thinking about the general classification will have a competitive advantage, and may even score some points on stage 9, with two first category mountain passes, where a breakaway is expected to win. In these Alpine stages, the mountains jersey could also be a good target for riders who drop out of the general classification in the traps of the first week, such as the windy stages, the pavé or the finish at La Planche des Belles Filles.

It is clear that riders with ambitions for the KOM should not leave their homework for the Pyrenees, because the classification is likely to be very clear after Alpe d’Huez on stage 12 and with the GC group likely to be motivated on stage 18 to pace on Spandelles and Hautacam, reducing the likelihood of a breakaway winnig.

An anti-Pogacar system

Unlike in recent editions, this year there will be no climbs with double points, which will favour the KOM to be won by a climber who enters the breakaways in the high mountain stages. The sponsor of the mountains classification is probably interested in having its jersey worn by one of the best riders in the world, but last year’s scoring system was very distorting. In the last two editions of the Tour de France, Tadej Pogacar has won the KOM classification without it being a main objective for him, as he was busy fighting for the yellow jersey.

For example, last year there were double points for the second pass of Mont Ventoux and the finishes of Col du Portet and Luz Ardiden. These passes were already categorised as Hors Catégorie, but the organisers decided that they would distribute twice as many points as the other Hors Catégorie climbs (40 points for the first rider instead of 20). Poels, Woods and Quintana were fighting for several stages in this classification, but finally Pogacar won it “unintentionally” by winning in the Pyrenees on Col du Portet and Luz Ardiden, scoring 40 points on each climb. With the current scoring system, Wout Poels would have won the mountains classification in 2021 and Richard Carapaz in 2020, so it will be very difficult for Pogacar to repeat in 2022, particularly if he faces stiffer competition from his GC competitors on the mountain top finishes compared to last year.

The contenders

Pogacar (or whoever is the best climber in the race) will concentrate most of his points on the top finishes: La Planche des Belles Filles, Col du Granon, Alpe d’Huez, Peyragudes and Hautacam. In the best case scenario, assuming he wins those 5 stages, he would score 80 points, which might not even be enough to win the mountains classification given the amount of Hors Catégorie and Category 1 passes in the middle of the stages. Therefore, the chances of Pogacar winning the mountains classification for the third year in a row are very low.

The two riders who can set their sights on the mountains classification right from the start are local stars Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet (KOM at the 2019 Tour). Neither of them have the general classification as a target and they do have enough level to get over the big Alpine passes at the head of the race as shown by Pinot in his recent Tour de Suisse stage win and Bardet on Blockhaus in the Giro d’Italia.

Other French climbers like Warren Barguil (KOM at the 2017 Tour), Guillaume Martin (KOM at the 2020 Vuelta) or Pierre Rolland always go on the attack, but perhaps they lack the climbing level to win the Tour’s mountains classification if riders like Pinot and Bardet focus on the classification. After his display on Mont Ventoux and the Dauphiné, we also cannot forget Ruben Guerreiro (KOM at the Giro 2020), who in principle comes to the Tour with the objective of winning stages but may inadvertently pick up points by being in breakaways and fall into the KOM fight.

The final tier of favourites is made up of the general classification contenders who will change their objective after the complicated first week. Nairo Quintana and Michael Woods already tried in 2021 and could rethink this objective, but my outsider is Adam Yates. The Englishman comes to the Tour after passing Covid and it would be logical for him to suffer in the chaotic first week filled with wind and cobbles. With Thomas and Martínez for the general classification, Ineos could think about Adam Yates for the mountains classification and breakaway stages in the mountains, racing the Tour in a more offensive way without an outright GC favourite.

We hope you enjoyed this breakdown of the King of the Mountains classification at the Tour de France 2022. If you want to follow Raúl’s thoughts during the Tour, follow him on twitter @raulbanqueri .

What about Ruben Guerreiro? I see him as an outsider to the jersey as well after his performances the last month or so

Great read, thanks. Some time ago, with friends we were talking about this same issue, that KOM competition has kind of lost it’s identity and GC winner takes KOM as well. Would love to see a return of full on battle for polka dot jersey once again.

I may have jumped the gun on that one

Literally in the article: “After his display on Mont Ventoux and the Dauphiné, we also cannot forget Ruben Guerreiro (KOM at the Giro 2020), who in principle comes to the Tour with the objective of winning stages but may inadvertently pick up points by being in breakaways and fall into the KOM fight.”

Wonderful article. Really detailed and helpful to understand the differences between previous editions

Great article and that pie chart works wonders – why the hell doesn’t ASO present the points available like that! Thank you.

another stunning work. thanks Raül.

Best assessment I’ve read. Even as we enter stage 18 tomorrow this analysis still holds up. Thank you for making the KOM competition so much more clear and so much more interesting!

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Climbs of the 2022 Tour de France

In this short summary of the climbs of the 2022 Tour de France, we include all the information you need to prepare for the various stages. This edition of the Tour de France, sees the riders tackling climbs in three mountain ranges, the Jura, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. We will see some of the iconic Tour de France climbs including Alp d’Huez, Col du Galibier, and Col du Peyresourde which will be fantastic to watch.

Our tables list out all the officially categorized climbs with information such as climb length, average gradient, distance from the stage start, and categorization. Where possible we have also included the gradient profile for these climbs. We have also included the estimated time the first riders will hit the top of each of the climbs. This is handy information if you will be watching the tour either in person or on TV.

We also have a separate article with lots of information about all the stages of the 2022 Tour de France which you can access here . If you are planning on watching the Tour de France by the roadside for the first time you can see our tips for watching it in person.

Our site also has plenty of information about visiting France for a cycling holiday, so make sure you check it out. The Practical section has all the necessary information about things like visa requirements, using your mobile phone, how to get money out etc while our Destination section includes information about where to stay and how to get to various cycling destinations as well as cycling routes for you to ride.

A brief history of the mountains in the Tour de France

In most editions of the Tour de France, the mountain stages are where the race is won or lost. A single bad day for a rider in the mountains can see them lose minutes to rivals and an end to their title bid. On long mountain climbs, there is nowhere to hide and any little chinks in a rider’s armor are usually found out. Over the years climbs such as Alpe d’Huez, Col du Galibier, Mont Ventoux, Col du Tourmalet and Col d’Aubisque have become synonymous with the race.

The mountain stages are some of the most popular for people to watch the race and there are many iconic images of riders navigating a sea of spectators. It is estimated that many hundreds of thousands of fans line the mountain roads as they twist and turn their way to the summit. On rare occasions, fans get a little too close and bring a rider down.

First mountain stage in the Pyrenees

The mountains first entered the Tour de France in the 8th edition in 1910. In that year stage 10 started in the Pyrenean town of Bagneres de Luchon and climbed Col du Peyresourde, Col d’Aspin, Col du Tourmalet and Col d’Aubisque before finishing 326km later in Bayon. Octave Lapize finished the stage first in a time of 14hrs 10mins. No mean feat given that all the mountain passes were dirt roads back in those days and the bikes had nowhere near the range of gears modern bikes now have.

Inclusion of the French Alps

While the organizers deemed the addition of the mountains to be successful the riders were less impressed and there were protests in 1910 about the stage. Nevertheless, in 1911 the French Alps were added to the race with the inclusion of Col du Galibier, Col de Castillion, and Col de Braus. This was in addition to the stage in the Pyrenees.

Since those early days, both the Pyrenees and French Alps have featured in the race annually. In later years climbs in other regions such as the Jura, the Vosges, and the Massif Central have been added to the race. The Pyrenees and French Alps have generally taken turns in being featured in the all-important last week of the race. In 2021 it is the Pyrenees that will close out the mountain stages for this edition of the race.

2022 Tour de France climb stats

The 2022 Tour de France includes 11 stages with categorized climbs, five of which includes a summit finish; Stage 7 La Super Planche de Belle Filles, Stage 11 Col du Granon, Stage 12 Alpe d’Huez, Stage 17 Peyragudes, and Stage 18 Hautacam. The race includes 25 categorized climbs on 24 different mountains with Col du Galibier being climbed twice by the riders over consecutive days.

There are four climbs over 2,000m in the 2022 Tour de France with the highest being Col du Galibier at 2,642m (climbed twice), followed by Col du Granon at 2,413m and Alpe d’Huez at 2,067m. The longest climb is the climb to Col de la Croix de Fer from St Jean de Maurienne which is 29km at an average gradient of 5.2%. The shortest climb on the 2022 Tour de France is the first categorized climb, Côte de Pulventeux, which averages 12.3% for 800m on stage 6.

At the time of putting this table together, there is some information not yet publicly released by ASO about the route, which means there may be some blanks in the table. As it becomes available we will include it so be sure to check back.

Categorization of Tour de France climbs

Each of the climbs is given a categorization which is an indication of the difficulty of the climb. Hors category (HC) are the toughest climbs followed by category 1, category 2, category 3, and category 4. A category 1 climb will be harder than a category 3 climb so the lower the number the harder the climb. A climb can change categorization based on how far into a stage it might be. For example, a climb could be considered a category 2 climb if it comes early on in the stage when riders have fresh legs, or a category 1 climb if it comes towards the end.

The climb categorization also comes into play when awarding points in the Polka Dot jersey competition. For example on an HC climb the first rider over the top will be awarded 20 points while on a category 4 climb the first rider will be awarded 1 point. On an HC climb points are awarded for the first 8 riders while on a category 4 climb only the top rider receives any points. There is a sliding scale of points and positions between HC and category 4.

Planning your own cycling holiday to France

If you are planning a trip to France to ride some of these climbs and the many more on offer our site includes lots more information. We have written guides on the Best base for cycling in the Pyrenees and Where to stay in the French Alps with lots of information about these two areas. Our Destination guide page has more detailed information about The Pyrenees, The French Alps, The Alpes Maritimes, The Jura, and Provence and Luberon.

We also have lists of cycle hotels , airline luggage rules , cycle tour companies , and bike travel cases to help you plan your trip.

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Just a look at the Mont Ventoux

Stage 17 will kick off from Le Pont du Gard where the riders already passed yesterday, showcasing an extraordinary heritage. Heading to the Alps, the Mont Ventoux will offer a beautiful view at the exit of the Rhône valley where the wind could be a factor, but it’s a stage for attackers. Thomas De Gendt is up for it. Sprinters like Peter Sagan and Michael Matthews can also be ambitious, either in being part of the winning move or getting their team to set up a bunch gallop in which not all the sprinters will be in contention. The cat. 3 col de la Sentinelle with 8.5km to go is too hard for some but not all of the fast men.

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Tour de France : seize passages et arrivées au Mont Ventoux

• Isabelle Lassalle
• France Bleu Vaucluse ,
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Depuis le début de l’histoire de cette course cycliste mythique, le Tour de France est déjà passé six fois au Ventoux et en a fait une arrivée d’étape à dix reprises. Cette année 2021 sera celle d’une double ascension inédite, le 7 juillet.

Une année 2021 exceptionnelle, avec, pour la première fois, une double ascension du Ventoux lors de la même étape. Un défi inédit attend les coureurs lors de cette 11e étape de 199 km , le 7 juillet prochain. Retour sur les seize passages et arrivées au Ventoux depuis le début de l’histoire du Tour de France.

1951, le 22 juillet, c’est le premier passage du Tour au Ventoux. La montée s’effectue côté Nord, par Malaucène. Un an plus tard, nouveau passage, par le versant Sud cette fois. Jean Robic passe le sommet en tête et remporte aussi l’étape. 1955, nouveau passage. Louison Bobet passe en tête au sommet et gagne l’étape. Il est le premier coureur à gagner le Tour trois fois de suite, de 1953 à 1955.

Le 13 juillet 1958, c’est la première arrivée au sommet du Ventoux, avec départ depuis Bédoin. C’est aussi le premier contre-la-montre au Ventoux. 1965, nouvelle arrivée au Ventoux. Poulidor bat Jiménez au sommet, mais il finit, comme l’année d’avant, deuxième du Tour.

La mort de Tom Simpson

1967, Jimenez passe en tête au Ventoux, mais il est rattrapé dans la descente. Lors de cette étape, Simpson s’effondre , victime de dopage et d’une chaleur étouffante. Un an après, des contrôles antidopages sont effectués à l’arrivée et le ravitaillement en course est autorisé. À 2,5 km du sommet, une stèle est érigée à la mémoire de Tom Simpson.

1970, nouvelle arrivée au Ventoux. Première ascension pour Merckx qui remporte la victoire , mais est victime d'un malaise à l'arrivée. Et il doit être mis sous oxygène. Deux ans plus tard, arrivée au Ventoux, par le versant Nord, pour la deuxième fois. Thévenet revient sur le trio Ocaña, Merckx et Poulidor et gagne l’étape avec plus de trois minutes d’avance.

En 1974, le Tour fait un passage par le versant Est, pour la première fois. C’est l’unique passage par la route reliant Sault au Chalet Reynard. Après 13 ans d’absence , en 1987, arrivée au "Mont chauve" et second contre-la-montre de l’histoire. Exploit de Jean-François Bernard avec sa montée victorieuse, confirmée par un deuxième succès contre-la-montre à Dijon.

1994, le géant du peloton, Eros Poli, 1,94m pour 85 kg a 20 minutes d’avance au pied du Ventoux, il arrive premier au sommet et vainqueur à Carpentras, au terme d'une échappée solitaire de 171 km. En 2000, c’est une journée record d’environ 300.000 spectateurs. Après un long coude à coude, Pantani emporte la victoire offerte par le véritable roi de ce Tour 2000, Armstrong .

La victoire de Virenque

Virenque remporte l’étape, deux ans plus tard, après une longue échappée amorcée dès le début. " Au Ventoux, c’est ma plus belle victoire , ce col est majestueux et mythique ", un doigt pointé vers le ciel, fier de sa revanche. 2009, c'est une arrivée au sommet par le versant Sud, le plus difficile. Juan Manuel Gárate est le premier Espagnol vainqueur.

2013, nouvelle arrivée au "Géant de Provence". À sept km du sommet Froome attaque et surprend tout le monde. Il remporte l’étape et le Tour. Juillet 2016, trois ans plus tard, le parcours est raccourci de six km en raison d’un vent trop fort. Un accident dans le dernier km, force Froome à abandonner son vélo, il continue à pied avant de retrouver un vélo et son maillot jaune.

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Tour de France 2021 route revealed: Double-ascent of Mont Ventoux, two time trials, and Andorra visit for 108th edition

The 21 stages of next year's French Grand Tour have been unveiled

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Mont Ventoux (Photo by Chris Auld/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

The 2021 Tour de France route has been unveiled.

Riders will tackle Mont Ventoux twice on stage 11 before finishing down in the town of Malaucène. A summit finish in Tignes will also take place on stage nine, two years after the finish was cancelled due to landslides.

Stage 15 features the highest peak of this year's race, as riders summit the 2,408m-high Port d'Envalira before finishing in Andorra.

Another summit finish on the Col du Portet will also first see riders tackle both the Col du Peyresourde and the Col de Val Louron-Azet.

Two individual time trials will take place on stages five and 20, both around 30km in length.

Brittany will host the Grand Départ, as Copenhagen have had to delay hosting the race due to the rescheduled European Football Championships.

>>> See the full 2021 Tour de France route: Details of the 108th edition

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The opening stage will suit the puncheurs, with a finish up the Côte de la Fosse aux Loups.

Riders will tackle the Mûr-de-Bretagne twice on stage two, before a first opportunity for the sprinters on stage three, and another day for the fast men on stage four.

The first individual time trial will take place on stage five, 27km in length, before another likely battle between the sprinters on stage six.

Stage seven will then be the longest Tour stage since the year 2000, with the route between Vierzon to Le Creusot totalling 248km.

Then we get to the mountains, with the riders tackling first the Col de Romme before the Col de la Colombière on stage eight, finishing down in Le Grand-Bornand.

Another day in the mountains follows on stage nine, with the Tour heading up for another summit finish to Tignes two years after the arrival there was cancelled due to landslides.

After the first rest day, the sprinters will head to the Rhône valley for another chance at stage glory, before a stage 11 that will likely prove unforgettable.

Stage 11 will see the Tour de France peloton climb Mont Ventoux twice, firstly from the side out of Sault first before the Bedoin side, then finishing down in Malaucène.

The Tour last went up Mont Ventoux in 2016, although with wind exceeding 100km/h at the top, the summit finish was brought down to Chalet Reynard, 6km down the mountain. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) won the stage,

Before that, Chris Froome beat Nairo Quintana up the mythical mountain on stage 15 in 2013, extending his lead in the general classification en route to winning his first yellow jersey.

Stage 12 then sees the sprinters battle it out in Nîmes, where Caleb Ewan won in 2019, before heading on a 220km route to Carcassonne on stage 13.

Next, we head to the Pyrénées for a medium mountain day on stage 14, before the highest summit on stage 15, the race heading over the Port d'Envalira before finishing in Andorra.

A day for the barodeurs follows on stage 16, before another big mountain day on stage 17.

Stage 17 will see the riders tackle Col du Peyresourde, Col de Val Louron-Azet before finishing atop the Col du Portet, in what should prove to be a definitive stage for the GC.

The last day in the mountains follows on stage 18, when the riders set out from Pau, tackling both the Tourmalet, where Thibaut Pinot won in 2019 when the climb was used as a summit finish, before a summit finish on Luz Ardiden.

Stage 19 then provides a penultimate opportunity for the sprinters before another stage 20 individual time trial, 31km in length to decide the general classification once and for all, replicating the structure of the 2020 edition, where Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) lost the yellow jersey on the penultimate stage to Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).

Stage 21 will then see the traditional romp around the Champs-Élysées before the final podium.

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Hi. I'm Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor. I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.

Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).

I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.

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Tour de France

Legendary mountains of the tour de france: mont ventoux, tom simpson died scaling this mountain, but other names associated with its moonscape have met happier fates..

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If the way to judge a mountain’s difficulty is by studying the faces of those who have just cycled up it, then Mont Ventoux is the winner going away—at least as far as cyclo-tourists are concerned. I’m not sure the same can be said about today’s well-trained Tour cyclists, for the phobia of Tom Simpson’s death on the mountain in 1967 has long since faded. For this generation of racers, the Ventoux is simply one of the sport’s toughest climbs .

The Ventoux can still make life difficult for the Tour’s thoroughbreds, however. If it’s stiflingly hot in Bédoin, but cooler once the tree line has been cleared, the climb is brutal but tolerable. But if this part of Provence is having a heatwave, and if there’s no wind to clear the air, then the cyclists are in for a real grilling. Such was Simpson’s fate all those years ago.

Other factors contribute to the mountain’s fearsome challenge. The Ventoux stage might be a time trial, as in the 1987 Tour. It could be a summit finish after a long day in the saddle, as is most common on the Ventoux. Or it might be the last climb in a long day of mountain ascents, the brutal finale to an en-ligne stage ending in Carpentras or Avignon. At least one thing is sure: The Tour will always climb the Ventoux from its harder side, the way it first did in 1951 and the way it has done fourteen times since.

Because I first saw the Ventoux climbed in that 1987 time trial, when I could see each suffering individual as he climbed the mountain, capture on film each drop of sweat as it left so many furrowed brows behind, and feel the agony that each of the competitors was experiencing, it is harder for me now to judge the state of mind of the riders bringing up the rear of the peloton. The subjects in my camera these days are the fast men at the front of the race, the winged angels for whom the mountain holds no fear at all—men like Marco Pantani , Lance Armstrong, Richard Virenque, and Iban Mayo.

As for the others, I know they’re back there somewhere. They’re the less fortunate ones who’ve struggled from the moment they first glimpsed the bald summit over one hour ago, and are still struggling to finish long after the more gifted men have crossed the line, shared the podium with some pretty hostesses, and are already well into their descent to Malaucène and a cozy shower. It’s just that I can’t get back there to record their plight the way I once could.

Agony or not, photographing the Tour on the Ventoux is a treasured occupation. It’s one that’s made all the more exciting because the Tour only visits occasionally, about once every five years since that first ascent, with six crossings and ten summit finishes to date.

It’s one of the few mountains that gets me all fired up, right from the moment its name is mentioned at the Tour launch in October; even the Galibier doesn’t do that. Mont Ventoux always has a decisive role in the Tour’s outcome, and that knowledge is intoxicating. There’s never going to be an easy winner on its summit, and Ventoux always acts as the great stage on which the race’s best cyclists are going to do battle. Great pictures are going to come from any ascent of this monster. What you don’t know is who’s going to win.

Although I’ve only seen the Tour climb the Ventoux four times in my career, its more regular inclusion in the weeklong Dauphiné-Libéré (now the Critérium du Dauphiné) stage race that precedes the Tour in June means there’s a familiarity about it that makes my work even more pleasurable. Ventoux is one of the few mountains where I can watch the racing as I take pictures.

The opening kilometers are there purely to shed the no-hopers and to focus your mind on the task that lies ahead. It helps that this part of the climb is heavily shaded. The first key place comes about 7 kilometers up, at a sharp righthand bend. The road is pitched up sharply here, with a gradient of 8.6 percent. It makes this bend a favorite place to stop and see the beginning of the end as the peloton begins to break apart.

The next few kilometers take us to the Chalet Reynard, the steepest and most crucial part of the climb, where the pitch averages just over 7.0 percent but includes a ramp or two at 10.3 percent. This also happens to be the most populated area, because of the D164 access road coming from Sault. The ramp that climbs away from the Chalet acts as the final launchpad for many of the Ventoux’s stage winners.

Just after the ramp settles down to a more civilized gradient, the road swings right, and at once the shocking face of the Ventoux unfolds before your eyes, a vast mountain of limestone rubble the color of white gold, with the observatory antenna still a distant 6 kilometers away.

It’s at this point that I realize all over again how much I love the Ventoux, both as a photographer and a cycling fan. The road just keeps going up, barely turning one way or the other, allowing me to see every pedal stroke the cyclists are taking as they tackle the cruelest section of the mountain. The backdrop is a vista of Provençal plaine and distant alpine peaks, which in the late afternoon sunshine is all the more overwhelming.

That same lighting illuminates the sweating faces in a way not seen on other mountains—and, yes, there’s definitely a ghostly pallor to even the healthiest cyclists. The limestone acts as a giant reflector, bouncing the sun, the light, and especially the heat back at the Tour’s gladiators, as if they didn’t already know that there is nowhere to hide on this part of the mountain.

The best ones now ratchet up the pace a little, testing their legs, testing the few rivals left near them. This is where Lance Armstrong delivered the coup de grâce to Joseba Beloki in 2002, firing off a series of attacks that quickly demolished the Basque’s failing morale. It was a lesson Armstrong perhaps learned on this part of the climb two years earlier, with just 6 kilometers to go, when instead of dropping Marco Pantani he let the Italian stay with him, who then went on to win the stage.

Sadly, the last kilometers disappear all too quickly for me. It’ll soon be time to calculate the distance I need to make the finish in time—that’s if I want to make the finish at all. There’s a captivating spirit about the last section of the Ventoux that makes it hard to tear yourself away from the action, a reluctance heavily influenced by the knowledge that the finish shot will literally be just that: the end.

I was a highly disappointed photographer in the 2000 Tour when Pantani surged to the line first but never celebrated his win the way a true Ventoux winner should—arms aloft, head held high, face expressive if not totally split by a wide smile. My preferred plan since then has been to stay with the leaders to the very last kilometer, speed ahead to the final 300 meters, then set up a standing shot with a long telephoto lens just before the final kickback bend to the finish. It’s a strategy that never fails, especially if it happens to be a yellow-jerseyed Armstrong pumping out the revs, a rat pack of motorcycle photographers trailing his every move, just as their forebears did with Eddy Merckx in 1970.

As the latest conquerors of the Ventoux pedal past where I stand, it’s hard not to feel emotional about the mountain. Men have died cycling up it, while others have found a happier fate doing merely what they do best. As I look down on the land so far below me, I wonder how long it will be before the Tour is back on Mont Ventoux. Not too long, I hope.

Adapted from Graham Watson’s Tour de France Travel Guide by Graham Watson with permission of VeloPress.

Graham Watson’s Tour de France Travel Guide

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Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge

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• One day race

Race information

• Date: 14 June 2022
• Start time: 11:05
• Avg. speed winner: 33.898 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 154 km
• Points scale: 1.1
• UCI scale: UCI.WR.1
• Parcours type:
• ProfileScore: 394
• Vert. meters: 4521
• Departure: Vaison-la-Romaine
• Arrival: Mont Ventoux
• Race ranking: 84
• Startlist quality score: 260
• Won how: 11.5 km solo
• Avg. temperature: 26 °C

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Replay Tour de France : revivez la victoire de Wout van Aert au Mont Ventoux

Tant pis pour l'indigestion de dénivelé ! Le peloton de la Grande Boucle a eu droit à une double dose de Ventoux pour la 11e étape, mercredi, qui reliait Sorgues à Malaucène.

Ce qu'il faut savoir

Les amateurs de cyclisme avaient coché la date du 7 juillet sur leur calendrier, jour de la 11e étape du Tour de France , entre Sorgues et Malaucène, avec deux ascensions du mont Ventoux au programme. Soit 198 km de sueur et d'effort à suivre sur france.tv pour les images et ici même pour la commenter avec nous.

Victoire de Wout van Aert, Pogacar en contrôle. C'est le Belge Wout van Aert qui s'est imposé en solitaire, après avoir lâché ses camarades d'échappée parmi lesquels figurait Julian Alaphilippe. Le maillot jaune Tadej Pogacar s'est fait distancer par Jonas Vingegaard dans les derniers mètres de la seconde ascension mais a pu revenir dans la descente.

Le "géant de Provence" impressionne toujours autant.  C'est à partir de la moitié de l'étape, autour du kilomètre 100 que les choses sérieuses vont vraiment commencer avec la première ascension du Ventoux, par son versant "facile", long de 22 km à 5,1% de moyenne. Rebelote par le versant difficile, celui où Tom Simpson a laissé sa vie un jour de cagnard en 1967, 15,7 km à 8,8%, des pourcentages encore raisonnables, mais une ascension interminable (une bonne heure, deux fois l'Alpe d'Huez), sans répit, qui use l'organisme à petit feu. 

Un lieu où s'écrit la légende du Tour.  Evoquez le Ventoux auprès des fans de cyclisme, et une foule d'images s'invite : Chris Froome qui continue sa montée à pied après avoir cassé son vélo, le malaise d'Eddy Merckx en 1970, la petite phrase de Louison Bobet qui qualifie "d'enfer" son ascension en pleine canicule... Sans parler de la descente finale, que les coureurs graviront à tombeau ouvert.

Réaction attendue des coureurs qui ont perdu gros en première semaine. Avis à Richard Carapaz, le leader de l'équipe Ineos, Jonas Vingegaard, la tête de gondole de rechange de l'équipe Jumbo ( orpheline de Primoz Roglic ), et des quelques autres cadors qui nourrissent des ambitions au classement général : mettre le feu à la course peut permettre de gagner de précieuses minutes dans une hiérarchie très ouverte, derrière Tadej Pogacar.

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Course highlight: mont ventoux.

Tour de France 2021: We look back at some of the key players and how they tackled the ever-daunting Mont Ventoux.

As the most famous mountain in cycling, Mont Ventoux needs little introduction. Like a rite of passage, cyclists travel from afar to pedal through the beautiful vineyards and lavender fields of the Provence region before emerging above the tree line, revealing a surreal moonscape environment as the summit of the bald mountain looms above. The climb first featured in the Tour de France in 1951 and since then, we have come accustomed to expecting the unexpected on this climb whenever it features in the race. Therefore, when the 2021 Tour de France route was announced, it instantly got people talking about ‘that stage’. Stage 11 featured an ascent of Mont Ventoux not once, but twice . A first in Tour de France history, it quickly became one of the key stages of the Tour as people speculated. What could be about to unfold on this mythical climb? We look back at some key players from the stage here and how they tackled the daunting Giant of Provence .

"Julien Alaphilippe made his first move on the climb ahead of Chalet Reynard."

"If you believe in it then anything is possible."

Wout van aert.

Tadej Pogačar As previous Tour de France winner, Pogačar had thus far shown no signs of cracking but the second ascent of Mont Ventoux proved he was human after all . It was Jonas Vingegaard ’s attack that sent him into the red and saw him dropped off the back. He later admitted to suffering in the final few kilometres to the summit and having to dig deep. We can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the stage had finished atop Ventoux and how the peloton may have played the game differently.

Mark Cavendish Throughout most of Stage 11, there was much speculation as to whether Mark Cavendish would even make the cut-off point. With the time limit at around 47 minutes , or 15 per cent of the winner’s time, the British cyclist made it within the cut-off and survived to ride another day. Despite his own battles and suffering that day, Cavendish was seen taking off his helmet and tipping it in respect to Ben Simpson at his memorial site. Simpson, who was also a British rider and the first to ever wear the yellow jersey, died on Mont Ventoux in 1967 . His death was deeply etched in cycling history and it has since become tradition for British riders to pay tribute as they approach the summit of the Giant of Provence.

The 2021 Haute Route Ventoux is coming soon. Find out more on this epic race on the Haute Route website . 

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Taming the Beast: Mont Ventoux and the Tour de France 2021

Champion cyclists have lost their lives battling ‘The Beast’ Mont Ventoux and yet this year’s Tour de France challenges riders to make the ascent twice in one day. Steve Wartenberg reports.

The 103rd Tour de France will feature something new and even more dastardly for the cyclists: not one, but two climbs to the summit of legendary Mont Ventoux. In one day. Maybe.

The route of the Tour is different every year, and the last time it visited the Ventoux was 2016. The Mistral was in full force that day, especially angry, with 125km gusts of wind pummelling the treeless, rocky peak. This made it too treacherous for the riders – the greatest bike handlers in the world – to race to the summit. They would have been tossed about like kites in a hurricane. Instead, the stage ended at Chalet Reynard, the café that’s 6km from the 1,910m summit, and a couple of kilometres below the memorial to Tom Simpson, the British rider who collapsed and died here during the 1967 Tour.

© ALAIN HOCQUEL

The riders didn’t seem to mind the abbreviated finish in 2016. Especially Chris Froome, the yellow-jersey leader and eventual winner. A few kilometres below Chalet Reynard, the crowds surged and closed in on the riders. Froome crashed into the back of the cyclist in front, who crashed into the back of the motorbike (carrying a cameraman) which had been forced to come to an abrupt stop by the mass of people. Froome tossed aside his broken bike and started running up the steep road until help – and a new bike – arrived. The video of the frantic cyclist running up a mountain, surrounded by thousands of screaming fans, went viral and attracted 284,000 views (and counting) on YouTube.

Cycling fans have come to expect the unexpected, the dramatic and even the tragic when it comes to Mont Ventoux. “The Ventoux is a god of evil, to which sacrifices must be made. It never forgives weakness and extracts an unfair tribute of suffering,” is the famous quote from French philosopher Roland Barthes (1915-1980), who was an avid cycling fan.

When the route for the upcoming Tour was first announced, the big news was the two ascents of Ventoux in a single day. Stage 11 promises to be the most gruelling, and quite possibly the most exciting and important day of the Tour. What would Barthes have to say about two climbs in one day? Oh, the sacrifices and suffering.

2002 tour by Christopher Voitus. © Wikimedia

TO THE MOON

The peak of the Ventoux – the Giant of Provence – is 1,909m high and is often, and aptly, described as moonlike. It’s covered with white, limestone rocks… and nothing else. The Mistral often awaits to punch cyclists in the face when they round a corner and meet it head on. Unlike the Tour climbs of the classic cols of the Alps and the Pyrenees , which are surrounded by other high peaks, the Ventoux stands alone. Towering over Provence , its white peak is visible from many miles away in every direction.

There are three routes to the top, roads from each of the base towns: Bédoin, Malaucène and Sault. The Bédoin route is considered the most difficult, the one traditionally ridden in the Tour. The Malaucène route is a little less difficult, while the Sault road is the “easy” one – until it hits Chalet Reynard and meets up with the Bédoin route for the final six kilometres.

Tom Simpson, 1966.© Wikimedia/ Panini

Thousands of non-professional cyclists from around the world come to Provence every year to take on the Ventoux. If they make it to the top, they hold their bikes aloft in front of the summit sign for the mandatory photo to be shared on social media.

A PROVENCE TOUR

The 199-mile Stage 11 of the upcoming Tour starts in Sorgues, and meanders through Provence: Gordes, Roussillon, Apt and Saint-Saturnin, before the riders reach Sault and the first ascent. This would be a wonderful, two- or three-day route for a cycling holiday, filled with hilltop villages, vineyards, cherry orchards, fields of lavender and leisurely café lunches.

After the 24km climb from Sault, the riders will fly down to Malaucène, then ride around the base of the mountain to Bédoin. From here, it’s 21km back up to the summit, and then back down to Malaucène for the finish. Twice up the mountain adds up to 835m of climbing. This is the equivalent of climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower an exhausting eight-and-a-half times. But as gruelling as the two ascents promise to be, the descents may be even more riveting to watch on television. Be prepared to cringe and gasp as the riders fly down the mountain at speeds as fast as 100kmh, wobble and skid around tight corners, coming perilously close to the edge – and disaster.

A LOT OF TOUR HISTORY

A stage of the Tour has finished atop the Ventoux 10 times, if you include 2016, the most recent summit finish (or, near-summit finish, in this case). Seven other times riders have climbed the Ventoux, and then ended the stage in a town down below.

1907 amateurs Fanfarigoule. © Wikimedia

The first summit finish was in 1958, a time trial, from Bédoin. This meant the riders set off one-by-one one, a couple of minutes apart, with no teammates to help them. The nickname of Luxembourg’s Charly Gaul was ‘Angel of the Mountains’, and he certainly lived up to his moniker. Gaul won the time trial in a record-setting time of 1:02:09, a big step on the way to his one-and-only Tour victory.

THE CANNIBAL CRUMBLES

Belgium’s Eddy Merckx was known as ‘The Cannibal’, in honour of the way he devoured the competition. A five-time winner of the Tour, Merckx is considered the greatest cyclist them all. And yet, the Ventoux left the Cannibal with a bad taste in his mouth during the 1970 Tour. He attacked early on the climb, leaving his competitors far behind as he raced up the mountain, seemingly invincible, immune to the sacrifices. And then, the god of evil exacted its toll. The mighty Merckx struggled to turn the pedals as he neared the finish, crossed the line first… and either collapsed or fainted, saying, “No, it is impossible,” according to various accounts. He was then rushed off to an ambulance and given oxygen.

PIRATE WARS

The 2000 race up the Ventoux became a two-man contest: Lance Armstrong, gunning for his second consecutive Tour victory, and Marco Pantani, the 1998 winner, nicknamed ‘The Pirate’ for his bald head and ever-present bandana. While it was later discovered both riders took illegal, performance-enhancing drugs, their battle to the peak was nevertheless legendary – and controversial. Armstrong, the yellow-jersey leader, urged Pantani, who was well behind in the overall standings, to work with him to distance themselves from the rest of the contenders to pad the American’s overall time advantage. Near the top, Armstrong eased off a bit, allowing Pantani to get the prestigious stage victory, perhaps as a thank you for working with him. Pantani resented the ‘gift’, saying he could have beaten Armstrong on his own. Armstrong said: “I also feel like it was a mistake to give the gift. He’s a great rider, a great champion and great climber, but he wasn’t the best man on Ventoux. Anybody who watched that race knows that.” Pantani later dropped out of the 2000 Tour due to illness. He died in 2004 from a drug overdose.

Eddy Merckx Molteni 1973 IMAGE © Flickr Nationaal Archief

PUT ME BACK ON MY BIKE

In March 1967, Tom Simpson, the 1965 world champion, won the Paris-Nice race. When the Tour set off at the end of June that year, he was a favourite. But a couple of kilometres past Chalet Reynard, he collapsed and fell to the side of the road. A doctor rushed to his side, but failed to revive him. According to legend, Simpson’s last words were, “Put me back on my bike”. The cause of Simpson’s death has been attributed to the excessive heat that day, combined with dehydration and his use of amphetamines.

The Tour returned to the Ventoux in 1970 and, during his breakaway stage win, Merckx threw a salute to his friend and former teammate as he rode past the memorial to Simpson, which is located close to the spot where he collapsed.

It has become a time-honoured tradition for the non-professionals who climb the Ventoux to stop, on their way up or down, at the Simpson memorial. And to leave a token – a water bottle, cycling cap, or a nearby rock – as a way to pay their respects. To the man, and to the mountain.

Tour de France at Bédoin in 2013 IMAGE © PANINI VIA Wikimedia

THE LOWDOWN TOUR BASICS

The first and most important thing you need to know about the Tour de France is: yes, it’s confusing! It’s several races within the race for the famed yellow jersey, with numerous overall and daily winners, so many strategies, ways to win, ways to lose and to crash. Rather than trying to explain everything, a task as Herculean as climbing Mont Ventoux twice in a day, here are a few pearls to help you better understand and enjoy the 103rd edition of the world’s greatest sporting spectacle.

STAGES: There are 21 stages over 23 days from June 26 to July 18, with two rest days. Think of each stage as an individual race. Winning even one stage is a career highlight for many riders. That’s why so many cry tears of joy as they cross the finish line – unless they’re too dehydrated to produce tears.

DISTANCE: A total of 3,383 kilometres (2,102 miles) this year.

YELLOW JERSEY: The rider wearing the iconic yellow jersey is the one who has completed the cumulative number of stages in the least amount of time.

FAVOURITES: It could be a duel between 2020 winner Tadej Pogacar and runner-up Primoz Roglic, the current world’s number-one ranked rider. Past winners Egan Bernal (2019) and Geraint Thomas (2018) could also be contenders. And then there’s Chris Froome, the four-time winner (2013, 2016-18), trying to make a comeback after two injury-plagued years.

GREEN JERSEY: The rider who has accumulated the most sprint points. Must have humongous thighs.

POLKA-DOT JERSEY: The rider with the most climbing points. Must be extremely thin and enjoy suffering.

WHITE JERSEY: The under-26 rider with the best cumulative time.

TEAMS: 23 teams of nine riders , a total of 207 riders. At the start. By the end, far fewer.

PELOTON: The name for the pack of riders, bunched together, seemingly so close their wheels will touch at any instant. Riding together reduces the wind resistance and makes cycling at 40kmh or 50kmh a lot easier.

DOMESTIQUE: A rider whose job is to help the team’s best overall rider, sprinter or climber win a stage or compete for one of the ‘colourful’ jerseys.

WHEN IN DOUBT: Sit back and take in the scenery that rolls by. The Tour de France is a three-week advertisement for the breathtaking beauty of France.

From France Today magazine

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The Tour de France and Mont Ventoux - Gallery

A look back at some of the best racing photos from 'The Giant of Provence'

Mont Ventoux has taken its place in the folklore of the Tour de France since it first featured in the French Grand Tour back in 1951, when Lucien Lazarides led the peloton over the summit.

Since then, the race has returned only 15 times but the 'Giant of Provence' has nevertheless - and perhaps also as a consequence - acquired a mystical reputation. From triumph to tragedy, with battles like Armstrong-Pantani and Contador-Schleck, and of course a yellow jersey literally running up, the 'bald mountain' has always served up the biggest storylines.

Seven years ater its first visit, Mont Ventoux hosted its first ever summit finish with Charly Gaul taking the win in a time trial and Raphaël Géminiani riding back into the yellow jersey.

Having made return visits to Mont Ventoux in 1952 and 1955, the Tour de France's second summit finish came in 1965 with Raymond Poulidor taking the stage win.

Stage 13 of the 1967 Tour, Marseille to Carpentras, is etched into the history book of cycling as it witnessed the death of English champion Tom Simpson at just 29. Simpson collapsed on the upper slopes of the climb, asking spectators to put him back on his bike before collapsing for a second and final time just half-a-mile from the summit. A memorial has been erected at the site of Simpson's collapse which has since become a shrine for cyclists riding up the mountain who leave tokens of remembrance such as bidons.

The Tour returned to Mont Ventoux three years later with Eddy Merckx taking the win in the yellow jersey on stage 14. Bernard Thévenet won the stage to Mont Ventoux two years later with Merckx also wearing the yellow jersey. The Tour then returned in 1974, only passing over the Ventoux, with a wait until 1987 before it featured again in the race.

The 1987 Tour featured a second time trial of Ventoux, starting in Carpentras, with France's Jean-François Bernard taking the victory and moving into the yellow jersey which he would lose the following day. It would be another seven years before Ventoux returned with Eros Poli the first rider over the summit and taking the stage win at the finish line in Carpentras.

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In 2000, Mont Ventoux played host to the battle between Marco Pantani and Lance Armstrong with the Italian winning the stage in controversial circumstances. France enjoyed a fourth win on the Giant of Provence with Richard Virenque winning the stage from Lodève in 2002 with Armstrong wearing the yellow jersey.

Seven years later, Juan Manuel Gárate won the stage to Mont Ventoux from a breakaway while behind Alberto Contador, Andy and Franck Schleck, Lance Armstrong, Roman Kreuziger, Franco Pellizotti, Vincenzo Nibali and Bradley Wiggins were engaged in the fight for the overall. Contador wouldn't be broken though as the then-Astana rider sealed a second overall victory.

To celebrate the 100th edition of the race, Mont Ventoux served as the denouement to the longest stage of the 2013 race with Chris Froome soloing to victory in the yellow jersey and Nairo Quintana announcing himself as the Team Sky's rider biggest rival in the race.

In 2016, Froome and Quintana will be favourites to contest for the stage win again with the former in position to become the first dual-winner atop the 'Géant de Provence'. However, with weather conditions shortening the race this year, the riders won't encounter the 'moon like' upper layers of the climb.

Click or swipe through the gallery above for a close look at some of the best racing images of Mont Ventoux over the years.

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CIC Mont Ventoux Route, Stages and Results 2022

CIC Mont Ventoux 2023: The Route

[The 2023 CIC Mont Ventoux was shortened at the eleventh hour. The second ascent of the ‘Windy Mountain’ was cut from the route due to the risk of storms. The new route amounted to 98.3 kilometres.]

The race sets off from Vaison-la-Romaine, a place northwest of the Mont Ventoux. The fastest route to the summit is 30 kilometres long, but the riders take a detour instead. They circle around the Bald Mountain before going to the top.

Shortly after the start the riders enter the Col de la Madeleine, which is a gentle warm-up climb of 5.6 kilometres à 2.2%. The route moves through Bédoin and continues onto the Col de Gabelle. This is a 10 kilometres climb with an average gradient of 4.2%. After the descent and a false flat of approximately 20 kilometres the first haul up the Mont Ventoux begins in Sault.

Perched on a rocky outcrop and amidst fields of lavender, the fortified village is the start of the sweetest route up the Beast of the Provence: 24.3 kilometres at 5%.

The riders fly down the Ventoux towards Malaucène. The race moves through the village and re-enters the first part of the route. So the Col de la Madeleine reappears and 7 kilometres after the summit the riders reach Bédoin for the second time.

This is where Mont Ventoux begins for real. On this side the ascent is 21 kilometres long and the average gradient sits at 8.7%. The first section through the woods is extremely tough – 3 kilometres at 10% – before it ‘levels out’ to 7.5% in the ensuing 7 kilometres. After Chalet Reynard the scenery changes to a lunar landscape without any vegetation, as if climbing the moon. This section is roughly 6 kilometres long and climbs at almost 8%. The last 1.5 kilometres go up at almost 10%.

The winner succeeds Jesús Herrada, Aleksandr Vlasov, Miguel Ángel López, and Ruben Guerreiro. The Portuguese finished off a solo last year, while his team mate Esteban Chaves and Michael Storer finished in second and third.

CIC Mont Ventoux 2023: route & profiles

Click on the images to zoom