'It's just a mind trip' – Riders from the Tour de France Femmes peloton recount their racing experiences of Mont Ventoux

The Tour de France Femmes tackles another legendary mountain on Friday afternoon as Mont Ventoux follows the Col du Tourmalet, L'Alpe d'Huez, and the Col de la Madeleine in hosting a queen stage of the modern race.

It's been 68 years since the men's Tour first visited the Giant of Provence when Charly Gaul won a mountain time trial from Bédoin en route to the yellow jersey. Since then, the climb has hosted 17 further stages, the latest coming last summer when Valentin Paret-Peintre scored a breakaway victory.

In contrast, appearances at the top level of women's racing have been few and far between, with Nicole Cooke's four-minute solo win in the yellow jersey at the Grand Boucle Féminine Internationale in 2006 among them.

Since then, the women's peloton has faced the Giant of Provence on two further occasions, a decade ago at the Tour de l'Ardèche, when Anna Kiesenhofer won by four minutes, and four years ago at the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge, won by Marta Cavalli.

Neither rider is present at this year's Tour de France Femmes, however. In fact, only a handful of those who raced Ventoux in 2016 or 2022 are here. So, Cyclingnews spent some time at the stage 6 start in Montbrison tracking down some of them to get that key rider's-eye perspective of the 15.7km, 8.8% climb.

'You can see a long way in front of you, so mentally that's quite challenging'

"I don't exactly have fond memories of that day!" said New Zealander Ella Harris, now working as a press officer at Canyon-SRAM. She raced the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge in 2022, finishing in 36th place, 13 minutes down on Cavalli.

"That wasn't a particularly... let's just say I wasn't really going there to ride it hard or actually feel like I barely made it up the mountain, actually, because I had surgery on my hip socket three months before. It was my first race back."

Harris, who will be rooting for her team leaders Kasia Niewadoma-Phinney and Antonia Niedermaier on Friday afternoon, said that the race to the top is "long and unrelenting", also noting that the exposed roads through the lunar landscape after Chalet Reynard are about more than just the usual cross/headwind that blows.

"I just remember it being really long and unrelenting. It's one of those climbs where the road is really wide, and you can see a long way in front of you, so mentally that's quite challenging," she said.

"I think especially in the exposed section at the top, the final 5km, it might be quite negative and quite passive if it's a headwind. When the road is wide, and the landscape is so vast and expansive, and you can see for miles, mentally I think that's a lot more challenging."

In addition to temperatures reaching the mid-30s once again on Friday afternoon, the wind is set to blow from the northeast, meaning riders will be racing into a headwind from Chalet Reynard onwards.

Among those hitting that headwind will be Volkerwessels rider Eline Jansen, who was in the same peloton as Harris in 2022. At this year's Tour, Jansen made the break on stage 2, racing to 11th in Geneva. However, four years ago she had yet to turn pro and, dauntingly, Ventoux was among her first-ever major races.

"I think it's really hard because first you don't feel the wind at all, but you have some shadow," Jansen said of the climb's changing nature. "Then you come into the sun, and there's a lot of wind. So, yeah, I think it's hard to race alone there, so I think for the GC, yeah, there will be a big battle."

She'll be hoping to avoid a similar experience this time around, when she was among 24 riders to miss the time cut, having started the climb already at a disadvantage after getting caught in a crash earlier in the day.

"There was a crash in the first feed zone area. So, then I already was behind," she said.

"But I could enjoy the view! It was actually really nice. It was one of my first races, but yeah, it's a lovely climb.

"I think we did it from the other side and not from this side, so it will be different tomorrow before the top."

'The wind makes it a little bit different'

While Jansen came to a different conclusion from Harris about the mental challenge of the exposed section, saying "I think that makes it easier because you see when it stops," Uno-X Mobility rider Katrine Aalerud, who raced to 29th place on the 2016 Tour de l'Ardèche stage, had a nuanced view.

"I think it depends where you are. If you have good legs, then when you see the finish line, of course, it's not that hard," said the Norwegian racer, who made the breakaway on Thursday's stage to Montbrison.

"But if you are on the limit, then it will take forever. I think it's just a mind trip. It just depends. If you have good legs, then it's OK, but if you don't, then it takes forever."

Aalerud said that the final slopes of the climb may play into the hands of Tour leader Marlen Reusser, who will be hoping to defend yellow from the likes of Demi Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney, with the wind possibly aiding her.

"Ventoux is steep at the beginning, like 8km. You have to do your own effort with what you can in the first part. In the forest, it's covered, but [later] it's more beneficial to be on the wheel because of the headwind. It’s quite strong, and I think tomorrow will be a strong headwind as well," she said.

"The wind makes it a little bit different. I think Marlen Reusser, being the favourite there, could be on the wheel after that, so it will be quite interesting. It will be really beneficial to be on the wheel and then maybe go for the attack on the 2km there for the favourites."

Harris hinted that any winning moves might have to go before the final stretch towards the top, though that is, of course, a huge undertaking on such brutal slopes.

Regardless of what unfolds on Friday afternoon, she said she's happy not to be among those racing up, even if "It's pretty amazing to be up there. It's one of a kind," she said.

"I think it's a lot more challenging to be able to get away in those final 5km, because the gradients are a lot steadier and, as I said, it's more mentally challenging as well, which can work both ways.

"If you're attacking, then you might feel not so inclined to do so, but if you're being attacked, then it might be tougher to feel like you can respond to it.

"There's only so much you can know, and perhaps it's better not to know too much – to go in naive rather than having a really clear idea of what to expect at the top! Better not knowing!"

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