The teams racing the first Mont Ventoux one-day race have been announced, including WorldTour outfits.
Taking place on June 17, the race will be a gruelling 185km challenge with 4,400 metres of climbing.
The Mont Ventoux Denivelé Challenge, being held for the first time this year, will be a UCI 1.1 categorised race with some top-tier teams lining up.
French WorldTour teams Ag2r La Mondiale and Groupama-FDJ will take to the start, along with EF Education First from the US.
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Familiar professional continental teams will also be involved, including Direct Energie, Cofidis, and Vital Concept-B&B Hotels.
The start list has not yet been published, but Frenchmen Nans Peters (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa Samsic) are expected to sign up.
Organisers have published the profile of the new race, which features seven climbs before the dreaded and legendary Mont Ventoux.
The race will kick off with a 5km, easy 3.7 per cent climb, followed by Col des Aires at 3km and 5.4 per cent.
After that comes the first real test for the peloton, the 11.6km Col de l’Homme Mort with an average of 4.9 per cent.
Over the next 80km there are a few smaller tests, before cycling’s most iconic test appears.
Mont Ventoux, which has featured in the Tour de France 16 times, is steeped in cycling history, both glorious and tragic.
In 1967, Brit Tom Simpson died on the slopes of the 21km climb.
The climb first featured in the Tour in 1951, but not as a summit finish.
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A Ventoux finish line first appeared in 1958, with an individual time trial from Bédoin to the top won by Charly Gaul.
There have been 10 summit finishes atop Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France’s history.
At 8.7 per cent, it is a brutal finale to the new one-day race.
The race will take the classic ascent up Ventoux from Bédoin, with a total elevation of 1612m.
Teams for the 2019 Mont Ventoux Denivelé Challenge
Ag2r La Mondiale
Arkéa Samsic
EF Education First
Delko Marseille Provence
Groupama-FDJ
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
Direct Energie
Vital Concept-B&B Hotels
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
Manzana Postobon
Wanty-Gobert
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