This post recounts the eleventh day of my English Channel to the Mediterranean cycle tour in France with Peak Tours in June 2025. Read Day 10: Grospierres to Vaison la Romaine.

The mood at breakfast was quiet. This was our day of destiny, our appointment with an ascent that truly deserves that overworked adjective: iconic. Ventoux was calling us. This subdued mood was very similar to that at breakfast before climbing Bealach na Bà on the Highland 500 in 2022.

As we ate on the terrace of our lovely hotel, Hostellerie le Beffroi, the sun was rising over the peaks of Provence. We set off over an hour earlier than usual so we’d have cooler temperatures on the 21 kilometre, 1,700 metre climb. (Ventoux is 1,910 metres over sea level, but we weren’t at sea level when we started, hence the ‘missing’ metres.)

We were tackling the ascent from Malaucene, which was about nine miles from our start. Soon after leaving Vaison a large group of us missed the planned Peak Tours route to Malaucene. This was a classic case of group think: Pat was leading the way, and we followed him and ignored the Garmin beeps to turn left. To be fair, my Garmin had given me so many false turn alerts that I was almost conditioned to ignore them. As a result, we had a fast ride to Malaucene along a busy road. Some of the faster riders reached the town after us, having taken the ‘proper’ route. ‘What kept you?’ we joked.

We had a brief stop in the town to top up water and snacks. I could have bought a Ventoux jersey or teeshirt here, but I didn’t want to grab a memento of a famous ride before I’d even started it!