Aperitif - the best french word yet (meaning alcohol before a meal to stimulate appetite)!
Carpentras - A medium sized town in Provence (Southeastern France), close to Mont Ventoux and the finish of Stage 12 of this years Le Tour de France. Hence the reason we are here.
Things to take to a mountaintop finish of Le Tour de France:
Australian flag - something we didn't bring with us and haven't been able to buy :(
Sunscreen
A warm coat (Amy's protip)
****A pushbike is the only way to truly enjoy the day - ride the climb, easy access and quick departure from the event. They don't (or didn't) have public transport supporting the day - maybe because it was a public holiday (Bastille Day)
Lots of food, snacks and water
Beer or wine - doesn't matter if you can't keep it cold you will still enjoy it
A hat
Spray paint - something else we unfortunately did not take
Things to do on a mountaintop stage of Le Tour de France:
Ride the climb - puts the Pro's ability into perspective
Get amongst the finish line an hour or so before the riders come to enjoy the atmosphere
Get up there early, there is plenty of entertainment on the way up and throughout the day
Mont Ventoux by GCN - **click to watch for some cycling facts on the climb**
Our GoPro footage of the day - CLICK BELOW
Unfortunately there was plenty of windy weather the days surrounding the stage which meant for safety reasons the stage was shortened by 6km. The top of the mount is fully exposed and a very harsh environment (something that makes the climb so unique), winds have been noted to reach 300km/hr at the summit.
We had booked our trip to Carpentras a while ago, sorted accommodation before we left Australia and had transport sorted a few weeks before arriving. One thing I didn't organise was bike hire - one, because there didn't seem to be any in Carpentras and two because I hadn't really planned out the day or plan of attack 100%. I thought public transport might be an option. Stupid... but i really thought we'd arrive, I could go to a neighboring town where I knew you could hire bikes and waltz right out of the shop no worries with a bike for Amy and I....
Thankfully there was a local bike shop who replied to a last stitch effort email requesting bike hire, and we were there the next day picking up two brand new bikes ready to rumble - crisis averted.
9.8km to the shortened summit
Amy and the famous devil Didi Senft - think he's been at it since 1993!
A packed lunch - baguette of course.
5km markers
I rode the last 5 or 6km of the climb at a pretty good tempo, it was tough going an really put the effort that these guys do into perspective. It would have been significantly harder if the finish was the extra 6km further than it was on the day. I was pretty upset that we couldn't get to the actual summit due to weather conditions but overall being able to ride the climb on such an important day, that it is a stage of Le Tour is definitely something I won't forget. Maybe a highlight of the trip and well worth traveling to Carpentras especially.
Amy's idea to bring a coat to the top was one of the best decisions of the trip (protip) - sun was out and we were quite sheltered from the wind but it was still a little chilly. Amy rode 80% of the climb on a heavy hybrid (the only bike that fitted her at the hire shop in Carpentras), a backpack, not much cycling condition, and still was smiling. A top effort :D
Snagged some merch'
Trying to catch people's 'pain face' it was tough going
We were reppin' the cats jumper hoping to get noticed on the telly. It was a good idea to wear the jumpers because a lot of aussies on the climb would yell out. There were a lot of hawthorn jumpers out and about.
We had about a 3 hour wait from grabbing a spot about 1.5km from the summit. It went pretty quick because there were constantly characters walking/riding past and entertainment.
Froomdog with his typical head down chicken wing style. This must of been 500 or so metres before he fell off and ran until his bike was replaced. We didn't know what had happened until we got back to our AirBnB at Carpentras.
*photo from google*
Greg Van Avermaet and not sure.....
Fabian Cancellara
Daryl Impey and Ruben Plaza
The moment Leigh Howard (Aussie rider and geelong resident) noticed we had our Geelong Cats jumpers on! He gave us a Hi5 each - really put the cherry on top of our day!!! Peter Sagan in the green sprinters jersey to the right....
This close to snagging a bidon - that kid with the bandana grabbed it.
Some of the scenery about 3/4 of the way down.
A brand new Trek Domane Aluminium with Shamino 105 was my bike for the day - hired at 35Euro per day (including helmet, bottle, spares, pedals) from Velo Centre Carpentras. Amy was on a brand new Lapierre hybrid for 25Euro per day.
To cap off the day, I'd have to say that this day was the highlight of the trip so far! Looking forward to the next :D
We are Amy and Brendan from Australia currently travelling throughout Europe. The intention for this blog is to document our adventure for family and friends. We hope you enjoy it!
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