LAND OF THE GIANT

Every cyclist’s bucket list and every cycling guide worth its salt lists Mont Ventoux, the Giant of Provence, either at the top, or very close to the top, of the world’s most feared and revered climbs. The huge peak rises up out of the plains of Provence, from the olive groves and vineyards, like a whale breaking the surface of the ocean. The Ventoux summit, used as a reference point by pilots flying down to the French Riviera, nudges 2000m and, on first sight, always puts the fear of God into most cyclists.

Unlike the majority of the most notorious mountain climbs, the road to the Ventoux summit is not a pass strung between peaks. The long climb, both from the north side and the more famous south side, snakes its way upwards until finally, dramatically, it reaches the very peak, the highest point on the humpback ridge.

MYTHOLOGY OF THE MONT

From the summit you can look south towards the Luberon hills, home of film director Ridley Scott, and beyond towards Aix-en-Provence, the Bay of Marseilles and the Mediterranean. To the east, is the wild