The valley approaching Sault with Ventoux in the back ground - the perfect way to start our day.
We set off from home at 10am and parked on the road up from Sault at 10.55am.
After a two hour walk carrying our picnic we took our place surrounded by cheerful folks literally from all over the world, many of whom had been camping out for several nights beforehand to get the best pitches.
There were literally hundreds if not thousands of cyclist making the ascent, people of all ages, shapes and sizes! and some bikes that were no more than you would you as a shopping bike!
Estimates of the crowds on Ventoux were between 650 and 850 thousand people!
The caravan starting coming through about 14.30
The excitement was building as the camera helicopters circled over head so we knew they were on the approach from Bedoin.
About 96,000 cycle up Mont Ventoux each year. there are three routes, and the most popular route, as taken by the tour, is from Bedoin .
The weather on Ventoux can be as much as 20 degrees cooler than somewhere like Apt,
and the wind can blow - in 1967 a speed of 320 kilometres was recorded in the February.
In all it took about 20 minutes for the riders to come through.
Where for a wile it all ground to a halt!
But by 19.30 I was home and in the pool with memories of a very special day.
1 comment:
Such fun! Never knew there was so much pageantry surrounding the tour, we never see all the preliminary events. Thanks for sharing. Another great reason to visit and plan a wonder stay chez Taylor.
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