Tour de France: “There were dramas”, “the wind that whips you”, an endless final … why the Ventoux scares runners

“There have been dramas up there and the landscape is incredible, lunar. Meanwhile, We are in another world. Similarly, This is why this collar is scary the runners.” In a few well-chosen words. Consequently, Jean-François Bernard sets out the decor and synthesizes the reasons for fear that hold the guts of the peloton before an appointment with the Ventoux.

Apparent part of a sleeping monster – Tour de france: "there dramas",

The Nivernais knows what he is talking about. Meanwhile, he who tamed “the scarecrow” on the 1987 Tour to adorn himself with yellow at his top. Furthermore, But it was in the tour de france: “there dramas”, time-trial exercise. Nevertheless, sparing this almost mystical procession which sees 160 runners approach almost backwards from this monumental bump planted in the middle of Provence, an apparent part of a monster that seems to be asleep.

An irrepressible fear that echoes the night on Mount Chauve. Consequently, this poem by Nicolas Gogol, set to music by Moussorgski about these mountains where the devil would be venerated by his disciples … Furthermore, The turn fed this legend of severe discomfort and poisonous memories. Moreover, The failure of Malléjac. Nevertheless, the madness of Kübler in 1955, that of Merckx placed in an oxygen tent after his victory in 1970, the drama Paul Simpson in 1967, this English victim as much of amphetamines as of any pact sealed with the underworld. 1.5 km from the summit. the stele paying tribute to him reminds the reckless that it is still possible to fall so tour de france: “there dramas”, close to the goal.

Voeckler: “There is no worse ascent”

“There is a mystical side. it certainly does not exist worse ascent” recognizes Thomas Voeckler. Fear could have dropped if Marco Pantani had not died prematurely. at 34, less than four years after his last prestige success at the top of the giant, in 2000. It is mainly based on the real and unique difficulty of the ascent. “The hardest collar that exists in France, assures the former world champion Luc Leblanc. By Bedouin, it’s super hot. We say that it will be tour de france: “there dramas”, better when arriving at the Reynard chalet. but no because there is the mistral side that happens to you. And this lunar landscape that never ends, these pebbles to the top with the wind that whips you. A collar where we are still taking for 20 kilometers. “

Caritoux: “This heat that suffocates you”

Child of the country. former climber Eric Caritoux, who won a stage in Paris-Nice, remembers that “From Saint-Estève to Chalet-Reynard, it’s so hard that a in five car left its cylinder head gasket thirty years ago.” He still evokes this rising heat “which makes you experience a terrible feeling of asphyxiation”. this endless final: “Two kilometers from the finish, we see the tower, we believe that we can touch it but it’s still very long.” His advice? “Above all, do not attack the foot. Knowing how to manage, otherwise you never recover. It is better tour de france: “there dramas”, to lose 20 seconds and then climb at your own pace.”

Thévenet: “The Ventoux is scary but pushes you to surpass yourself”

What Bernard Thévenet had applied to the letter. one of the few French people to have imposed himself there, in 1972 on the Grande Loop. “I had been won at the start of the ascent but without losing ground then I came back slowly on the favorites. the Merckx, Ocana, Poulidor, remembers the double winner of the Tour … And when I took them back, I attacked immediately and they marked. I grabbed my luck but I remember the terrible reverberation of heat on the road with puffs at more. than 45 degrees. This character which is a little afraid of the runners. but which at the same time pushes them to surpass themselves, carried by the crowd. “

Bernard: “If you win up there. you tour de france: “there dramas”, stay in the Annals”

Jean-François Bernard had won the mythical time trial of 1987, which allowed him to adorn himself with gold before burning the wings the following days. A victory that marks an indelible life: “If I was no longer told, I wouldn’t sleep. From the moment you win at the top of the Alpe d’Huez. Tourmalet or Ventoux, you necessarily stay in the Annals. That day, I knew that I was going to win. I am not nostalgic. but I have a stone of the Ventoux on my desk and my yellow jersey is framed on the wall.

A place sanctified by the poet René Char as “the tomb of a god”.