Critérium La Provence     

Provence – The French province has it all; beaches in the Côte d’Azur, famous wines and the Maritime Alps. As part of the “Big 3”, the Critérium La Provence takes the peloton through a beautiful scenery; 203 km through a hilly and mountainous landscape, with a grand finale on the top of the highest peak of Provence - Col de Mont Ventoux.

Below the hill upon which the Château des Adhémar is situated in the...

Read more

Provence – The French province has it all; beaches in the Côte d’Azur, famous wines and the Maritime Alps. As part of the “Big 3”, the Critérium La Provence takes the peloton through a beautiful scenery; 203 km through a hilly and mountainous landscape, with a grand finale on the top of the highest peak of Provence - Col de Mont Ventoux.

Below the hill upon which the Château des Adhémar is situated in the town of Montélimar, the Peloton begins today’s race. It is likely that certain riders in the pack will attack early to gain some distance to the specialists prior to the final ascend. Col d’Ey, Col de Fontaube and Col des Abeilles keeps the riders busy before the leader group reaches Bèdoin for the final climb of Mont Ventoux. This difficult ascend of 21,8km, elevates the riders 1617 m with an average gradient of 7,43%. Until the Saint-Estéve the climbs is fairly easy but for the remaining 16km the average gradient will raise to 8,9%. Here the potential winner will be part of the front, here the early morning breakaways may be caught, and it is indeed here that every rider will be most troubled.

To reach the finishing line first will have taken months of preparation, good support from his team and a rider with immense willpower. Winning here can be considered as cornerstone of any teams season and any riders career.