Sorgues—Malaucene, 198km
Today’s stage served as confirmation that we are well and truly in the Second Golden Age of cycling as the peloton tackled the Giant of Provence not just once, but twice.
There is such history, legend, and myth surrounding this geographical anomaly. So much so, this Giant of Provence, this Mont Ventoux, has a character of its own. This slag-heap of limestone rocks has cultivated such a larger-than-life personality over the years, truly it could seamlessly be woven into J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. But were Aragorn to dare approach it and desire to navigate its innards, surely he know he would not find the hardy Dwarves of Durin’s Folk that live under the similarly majestic Lonely Mountain. No, beneath the Mont Ventoux is surely a refuge for a ghostly army, goblins, orcs, and demons. I dare conjecture with its white, bald, and barren menacing pinnacle: this Mont Ventoux was the real-world setting for that unforgettable nightmare Bald Mountain number at the end of Disney’s groundbreaking theatrical cartoon, Fantasia. ‘Tis an evil mountain, to be sure—perhaps the most menacing and evil in all of cycling. From the traditional Bedoin side, the gradient is steady and unrelenting—between 7-10% constantly—and the mountain shall show no sympathies for the rider’s agonizing struggles. There is little to nothing to boost a brave climber’s morale: there is no shade, it is always hot and even arid, and there are no switchbacks. Surely, endless switchbacks can become stale very quickly, but they do allow one to compartmentalize better and give an alternate landscape perspective. But here on the Ventoux, on the hot slow slog upwards amidst almost desert shrubbery, the unforgiving road has little weave to it; for the much of the climb the riders see exactly where they are going…and it is not going to get any easier—save the hundreds of meters past the solitary café stop at the Chalet Reynard 6km from the top. That last café marks the end of any sort of civilized safety and even life. From there, even the hostile shrubbery that looks perpetually parched completely ends. The top of Mont Ventoux is truly otherworldly; hence it is commonly referred to as the Moonscape. Nothing can live there, nothing would want to either. Yes, yes, here is where the bare white-rocked top begins properly, the top seen menacing mile upon mile in every direction all around it. There is even less of a prayer of any sort of shade, the gradients reach their steepest, and the winds kick up to extreme levels. For both better and worse, now the riders have the clearest view of what they are aiming for: a great industrial-looking observatory tower at the very top of the climb. There is no beauty to the building, and it fits perfectly with this evil climb. It reminds of an early 20th Century factory, but what need to be produced in this remotest and evilest of places? Cinderblocks? But sticking with the Moonscape theme—which is the most appropriate comparison—with the building’s white and red color pattern, it does hearken back to the images of an Apollo space shuttle sitting fully prepared and anxiously anticipating a launch from Cape Canaveral to the Moon. This is the Mont Ventoux, and for a century certain cyclists have audaciously dared scale it with the pioneering in-trepidation of Sir Edmund Hilary summiting Mt Everest.
And finally, in 1951 in the First Golden Age of cycling, the Tour de France scaled it for the first time. So many of the larger-than-life characters were present for this first scaling: Jean Robic and Raphael Geminiani among others for the French; Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali, and Fiorenzo Magni for the Italians; that Tour’s winner Hugo Koblet for the Swiss; and Stan Ockers for the Belgians. But it was Lucien Lazarides that was the first to summit Ventoux that day, and it was Louison Bobet that won this stage that finished into Avignon. In 1958, Charly Gaul, the Angel of the Mountains, won a mountain time trial from its base to summit. Most infamously and sorrowfully, it was within a mile from the summit in 1967 that the great Tom Simpson suffered from a heart attack and died having pushed beyond his limit to stay competitive in the Tour. The video footage of Eddy Merckx riding solo to the top in 1970 is iconic, truly it looks to be filmed on the same grainy and horrible black-and-white camera the Apollo 11 crew used for landing on the Moon—in fact were the Moon Landing to have been faked, here on Ventoux would have been a great place to forge the footage. Raymond Poulidor has won to the top of this ferocious summit. Marco Pantani il Pirata and the controversial Texan’s duel to the top in 2000 is well remembered. And the scenes of Chris Froome running up the climb in the Yellow Jersey in 2016 was one of the most iconic Tour moments of the decade—for better or worse. That 2016 affair was a such cluster— from top to bottom, it was not until now—five years later—that Tour organizers even attempted to go up this most legendary French climb again. Mont Ventoux really is a shoe-in for that most legendary top-echelon of cycling climbs, in the same highest class with Alpe d’Huez, the Stelvio, the Tourmalet, and the Angliru. Thus, after a five-year absence, the Tour came back in force: for the first time in history, the Giant of Provence would be scaled twice in one stage.
With the character and history described, hopefully the myth and legend of the Ventoux starts to romantically conjure in your minds. At the very least, hopefully the gravitas of such a pinnacle has been imparted, and the stakes and glory of being the winner of a double-scaling can begin to be perceived. The fact that the first passage up Mont Ventoux was from the less traveled slightly-easier side, and after the second passage up the traditional Bedoin side there would still be a descent down to the bottom of the climb did little to lessen the significance of the stage. Many of the top riders of this generation wanted to get in the breakaway today if they were low enough on the General Classification to escape. But surely, on a stage of this magnitude, the peloton containing the GC favorites would want to keep them close so that they too would have a chance to win over this legendary climb.
And this is what transpired. It was warm day for racing, but not exceptionally hot for Ventoux standards—apparently, it was over 110 degrees Fahrenheit when Tom Simpson died—because there was significant cloud cover mistily shrouding the top of the evil mountain. Despite the clouds, there were at least a dozen casualties today that would drop out of the race. It was a very demanding day, all knew it would be, all tried to brave it, but at this high peak exactly halfway through this Tour, Mont Ventoux proved too much for some. Early on, a breakaway formed under the impetus of the showman all knew would be in it to win it, Quickstep’s Champion of the World Julian Alaphilippe the Musketeer. The breakaway was large, but the peloton rode them close. Interestingly, it was not Tadej Pogacar’s UAE team setting the pace on the front, but the Ineos Grenadiers surely in service of Richard Carapaz. Perhaps the Grenadiers wanted to keep the breakaway in check for a Carapaz win, more likely they wanted to shell out as many of Pogacar’s UAE teammates as quickly as they could to isolate this Young Beowulf who firmly wears the Yellow Jersey. Of the little historical data available on Pogacar, perhaps he does not love racing in the heat. As the large breakaway began the first passage up Ventoux from the Sault side, a more select breakaway formed. Julian Alaphilippe was once again the driving impetus; Trek-Segafredo was best represented with Frenchmen Julien Bernard and Kenny Elissonde, and fellow Dutch teammate Bauke Mollema would smoothly soon bridge up at the optimal time; BikeExchange had Luke “Turbo Durbo” Durbridge in the move; Alpecin had Xandrio Meurisse and Cofidis had Anthony Perez in the move; and would you believe it, after finishing second to Quickstep’s Cavendish yesterday in the full bunch sprint, The Swiss Army Knife of the peloton Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) was in this move as well. That first time up Ventoux, Alaphilippe was the most active, for he was taking quite a fancy in the King of the Mountains Points throughout this stage. The easier Sault-Ventoux route, merged with the traditional Bedoin route at the famous Chalet Reynard café right as the Moonscape began, thus that barren and hellish and otherworldly landscape would be traversed twice. The cloud cover was mysterious. Perhaps because they had just conquered the easier side or perhaps because they were not being scorched by the Sun, this breakaway seemed to be going at a very steady clip for this whole first passage up. Alaphilippe crested the top of Ventoux first for that first passage, and then the breakaway began the technical descent. This would be the same descent into the finish after the second passage, so it was helpful to get a good look at it before a presumable final faster and more crucial descent at the very end. 5 minutes later, the Ineos-led peloton containing Tadej Pogacar and all the other top GC favorites crested the climb as well and followed down the snaking descent.
The breakaway crossed the finish line in the town of Malaucene, right at the foot of the third route up the Mont Ventoux they had just descended. From there, the race skirted its way around the solitary Giant of Provence to the town of Bedoin where they could then make the second ascent of the day from the more traditional, most iconic approach. As stated, Trek-Segafredo outnumbered all the breakaway rivals, surely they had triple-circled this stage with a master plan to execute. Their three riders—Julien Bernard, Kenny Elissonde, and Bauke Mollema—were working very well together, which did not seem entirely a given when the breakaway was forming. Mollema has the best GC pedigree so he was on paper the most reliable performer for high mountains. But Kenny Elissonde is one of those small in stature riders born to be a climber, a French mountain goat if ever there was one. And Julien Bernard was the most wildcard of all in my opinion: for he is the son of Jean-Francois Bernard who won to the top of Mont Ventoux in 1987 while riding for the iconic La Vie Claire team. Should Bernard ever have the opportunity to have a free hand to ride solo and strike out on his own for renown glory and fame, I figured this would be the day. But, Bernard was the team player on the day, on the flat to Bedoin and up the lowest slopes, he emptied the tank for teammates Elissonde and Mollema. It was a great performance in service of his teammates, surely he was motivated around this Giant of Provence that is so significant to his prestigious cycling family. Cofidis’ Perez was already suffering or out the back by the time Bernard swung off job done. And as soon as Bernard pulled off in that classic full-stop nothing-left scene of selfless agony, the spritely Kenny Elissonde immediately went on the attack. Ah! It was excellent numerical planning from Trek, Elissonde would be off the front free to give it everything, while Mollema would sit back and let the others in the break chase Elissonde back. Should Elissonde be brought back or caught, Mollema would then immediately counterattack the group. Trek did not put a toe wrong…but on high mountain stages like these: you can have the best strategy in the world and still be bested by the strongest man on the day.
With Elissonde’s attack, the rest of the break immediately ratcheted up their pace as well. Instantly, Meurisse and Turbo Durbo rapidly faded from view. Thus on the lower slopes of the Ventoux, Julian Alaphilippe wearing the Rainbow Jersey and Wout Van Aert in the Belgian Dri-Color were hunting after Kenny Elissonde as his teammate Bauke Mollema stalked their every move. It was a three-way battle between excellent team execution from Trek-Segafredo vs one of our favorites, the top French showman Julian Alaphlippe the Musketeer vs another top showman, another one of our favorites, the only Mighty Ace left in the Tour Wout Van Aert fully proving why he is The Swiss Army Knife of the peloton. Speaking of the peloton, they were still some 4:30 behind, and with less than 15km of climbing left these four breakaway riders were liking to stay away over the top and down the final descent into the finish. Ah! Surely, based on how active he was, Alaphilippe was the on-paper favorite among the quartet: a winner of the Polka-Dot Jersey, significantly lighter than Van Aert and Mollema, and a Frenchman riding in the Rainbow Jersey on one of the most iconic climbs in the country and cycling. How Wout Van Aert was here was still fairly baffling to many, despite his proven versatility. Should people have earmarked certain stages for Wout Van Aert to win, he could have been considered a strong favorite for about 15 of the 21, and this Double Ventoux stage was definitely one of the 6 he was unsuited for. But we are in the Second Golden Age of cycling because the generational stars, the top showmen of the sport like this Wout Van Aert still surprise us. Yes, yes, it was Wout Van Aert that put in the stunning attack. He had been coy for much of the stage until now, only following, never attacking or ramping up the pace. He thoroughly dropped Alaphilippe and Mollema. They would struggle on, but they would not come back. Wout Van Aert The Swiss Army Knife of the Peloton would bridge incredibly quickly up to Elissonde. And after a couple of kilometers of Elissonde hanging onto his wheel, the 26kg-heavier Van Aert would put in another digging acceleration that would drop this spritely-but-spent Elissonde as well.
Yes, for the last 10km up Ventoux, we could simply marvel at our ease at the legend Wout Van Aert The Swiss Army Knife of the Peloton is becoming. Ah! I have been following him since 2015 as he was storming the cyclocross world. He was a special sight along with his archrival Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix). But even though they were retiring some of the greatest riders from a generation above them, still they just seemed promising talented studs. In our wildest dreams these two youngsters would leave cyclocross down-TO-the-road in a couple years’ time. There they would ride well in the Spring Classics—especially Strade, a windy and rainy Flanders, or a muddy Roubaix—and perhaps one day they could challenge the Rockstar Peter Sagan for the Green Points Jersey in July at the Tour. Seriously, that was the wildest extent we had dreamed for these two. Some five or six years since those first fairytale daydreams began: both have become The Mighty Aces and totally blown those expectations out of the water. Their victories have been so massive and electric, I have not the space to run through them, nor do I need to: you are all O! too familiar. But still, still today this one surprised us all: if there was a bridge too far for Wout Van Aert, O! surely it was Ventoux. Despite possibly being one of the heaviest riders in the peloton, still Wout Van Aert was up for this. Yes, yes, like I mentioned of Eddy Merckx yesterday: Wout Van Aert too is a jack-of-all-trades…a master-of-all-trades. This is exactly why he has The Swiss Army Knife title that is not a nickname, it is a prized belt to be passed on to the most deserving; but after today it is clear that still not even the Mighty Ace Renaissance Madman Mathieu Van Der Poel can rest that Swiss Army Knife title from his archrival yet. Wout Van Aert has unheralded Range, it is because riders like him, Van Der Poel, Alaphilippe, and even Roglic and Pogacar that I do believe the era of hyper-specialization in cycling is coming to an end. These riders’ strength and confidence lie in their vast range, success breeds success, they have 4 or 5 ways to beat the competition. The unpredictability and dynamism of that is incredibly fun not just for us, but for them as well. Wout Van Aert went toe-to-toe with Mark Cavendish in a pure sprint yesterday, now today he was the first over the top of Ventoux, tomorrow he might mix it up in another bunch sprint as well. Wout would descend down into the finish to take an emotional victory—having followed him for so long, I myself was almost emotional too. Wout knew the significance of the victory for all reasons rifted on in the Ventoux description at the beginning of this recap, he was absolutely right to be emotional.
With the Wout Van Aert victory the cycling world’s day was Made as usual—he is, after all, a keycard-carrying member of that Makes Our Day Club; but still Mont Ventoux threw us another curve ball. In the final kilometers on the Moonscape of the second passage up Ventoux, the Ineos Grenadiers did manage to shell out all of Tadej Pogacar’s teammates. The trade-off of course was that Ineo’s last GC leader left standing, Richard Carapaz the Jaguar of Tulcan, had only Michal Kwiatkowski left to set the pace and support. And when Kwiato finally swung off, tank utterly empty, it was not Carapaz that set the blistering attack for the final kilometers of Ventoux. To everyone’s surprise, Jumbo last GC leader left standing, the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, the last man selected for the Tour team to replace Tom Dumoulin, went on the attack wearing the White Jersey as Best Young Rider on loan from the mighty Young Beowulf Tadej Pogacar! Pogacar in Yellow was immediately on him, and Carapaz was still there too just barely following. But Vingegaard went again within seconds….and so powerful was his attack he successfully dropped Tadej Pogacar the Young Beowulf. Jonas Vingegaard found himself in 4th on GC to begin day, 5:32 down on Pogacar. He had led his own in the first week and especially through the Alps despite a couple crashes. Now with AG2R’s Ben O’Connor on an off day a few minutes behind, with all the other GC favorites unable to respond, and with even the mighty Tadej Pogacar on the ropes, Jonas Vingegaard was having the ride of his life—establishing himself as a great name in the sport and moving up on GC. Vingegaard went over the top of Ventoux over 30 seconds ahead of a clearly struggling Pogacar who was about to be caught by Carapaz the Jaguar and Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo). Unfortunately for Vingegaard, the descent did not play out his way. Perhaps too cautious, perhaps a facet of his game not up to snuff: Vingegaard was caught on the descent by the chasing trio all working together to limit the loss to a now apparent bona fide threatening top GC rival. The four would come across the line together a couple minutes after Wout Van Aert. Pogacar had maintained his GC gaps, but Jumbo-Visma can walk away with two victories today. The most Swiss-ly Army Knife victory of Van Aert’s career thus far, and upstart Vingegaard finding a chink in what was thought to be the impenetrable armor of Tadej Pogacar. Perhaps, Pogacar still has a complete handle on this Tour, perhaps he doesn’t. Time will tell. But in the meantime, should these riders, a part of this great Second Golden Age of cycling, continue producing compelling dramas like this every stage to Paris, then I cannot really say I care that the battle for Yellow is already wrapped up.
Cycling Odysseys 