2021 was the last time the Tour de France rode over Mont Ventoux on stage 11 - twice in one day. The stage, which ended in Malaucene, was won by Wout van Aert. Jonas Vingegaard showed for the first time that he could put Tadej Pogacar under pressure.
Four years later, the mythical mountain in Provence could once again be part of the most important cycling race in the world. The newspaper La Marseillaise writes that there will be a mountain finish there next year at an altitude of just under 1900 metres. "There is a very good chance that we will have the Tour de France next year," Dominique Santoni, President of the Vaucluse department, is quoted as saying.
Mont Ventoux at the Tour de France 2016 - when Chris Froome had to jog
The last Tour de France mountain finish on Mont Ventoux took place in 2016, although the finish was moved to Chalet Reynard, almost 400 metres below the summit, at short notice due to strong winds. The stage, which was won by Belgian Thomas De Gendt, ended in chaos: the overall leader at the time, Chris Froome, had to walk a few metres after an incident - images that made cycling history.
Three years earlier, the Brit had already won the last Tour de France stage to date on the summit of Mont Ventoux, where he broke away from the competition with a spectacular attack. Four years earlier, Tony Martin narrowly missed out on victory on Mont Ventoux against Juan Manuel Garate.
Mont Ventoux becomes sadly famous
The name Mont Ventoux is also closely associated with the fate of Tom Simpson. The Briton fell off his bike three kilometres below the summit in 1967, pumped full of amphetamines and alcohol. Spectators helped him up again, but a short time later he crashed again and died - the issue of doping in connection with cycling appeared in a different light. To this day, a memorial stone stands at the spot on Mont Ventoux where Simpson collapsed.
Presentation of the Tour de France 2025 at the end of October
If Mont Ventoux really is back on the programme in 2025, it should be one of the highlights of the route presentation, at which the complete Tour de France 2025 will be officially presented on 29 October. The first three stages with the Grand Depart in Lille were already presented by the organiser ASO at the end of November 2023.
