Check this website out. A hotel I use near the base of Ventoux sent me this great promotional website put together by the Vaucluse to promote their region to cyclists and others coming to the Tour just for this stage. It's a brilliant piece of marketing. Click on History for information on the stages that have gone up Ventoux beginning in the 50's. You also get great pictures that you can conjure up in your stage description - they literally will be riding through fields of lavender through the middle section of the stage.
And here are 11 things to know about Ventoux from a cycling blog called Cyclefit (someone I follow on Twitter).
In 1967 Tom Simpson died about 2km from the top on a very, very hot day (over 100 degrees farenheit). His famous last words were, "Put me back on my bike!" Back then they didn't know much about the effects of drugs and dehydration. He didn't have enough water - Tour rules at the time were such that they could only have 4 bottles! (Those rules were changed after his death). In an autopsy, they found amphetamines in his system. Apparently one of his teammates recently came out and said he definitely drank brandy that morning!
Above is the memorial that was erected to Simpson, a photo I took in 2004, the last time I climbed it. To this day, cyclists leave water bottles and other mementos to honor the fallen cyclist. This memorial will play into my own Ventoux profile which is coming, I promise! I'm planning on posting it this afternoon, so come back soon!
(On a personal note, I've got to first get my house ready for an open house for realtors - they'll be parading through here in a few hours - cross your fingers a few of them have buyers in mind. I need to sell my house, and a LOT of stress will be lifted!)
BTW, thanks for the comments! It really does help, just like the applause helps riders get to the top. No one likes teaching Spinning to an empty room - it helps to know you're there and appreciating this!
I won't blow today's Tour if you haven't watched it yet, but I will say this:
It was frickin' amazing, exciting as hell, and as I predicted, so far the most exciting stage of this tour. I practically needed CPR afterwards!
(But wait, Ventoux is coming)!
4 comments:
Fun, great, our class has done 7 stages, finishing up with the time trial tomorrow and Ventoux on Friday. We had stage wins for each ride (after we "pee" in the cup) and pull a name for the win. We have a yellow jersey (old yellow t-shirt) that has been passed around, I do an email blast before each "stage", and we have had a bunch of fun. thanks for all the great music!!
What a GREAT idea! Pee in a cup! I'm going to have to do that on Friday for our Ventoux stage!
I have a couple of Livestrong bracelets I'm going to give out. My club had good prizes last year but this year it wasn't possible.
Yes, stage 17 was so exciting! I was holding my breath watching Lance's performance. He is my favourite.
I agree that Contendor is a great rider but is he a team player? What was the purpose of his attack (w/out desire to win the stage)? To me it made his teamates worked so hard and dropped to 4th and 5th places now! Just my 2 cents :>)
What are your thoughts on this?
Le
I did my Ventoux ride last night and read into the link on your blog right before class... thanks for the extra little tid-bits of info! The class loved my stories and descriptions about the "God of evil". Thanks again:)
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