In 1336, the Italian poet Petrach claimed to have been the first person since antiquity to have climbed Mont Ventoux, the Géant de Provence, the mountain that towers over southern central France, to look at the view. 500 years later the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, in his seminal book The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, claimed that Petrarch was a “truly modern man” for his sensitivity to nature, and the episode is sometimes used as a beginning point for the Italian renaissance.
Visma-Lease a Bike are looking for their own renaissance at this Tour de France, their own rebirth, and that quest began on Mont Ventoux on stage 16, as Jonas Vingegaard sought to claw back some of the four minutes that he trails Tadej Pogačar by. The team sent Tiesj Benoot and Victor Campenaerts up the road, and after the peloton had been softened, Vingegaard repeatedly attacked, first to his teammates, and then forged on alone.
The only issue was, Pogačar stuck with him all the way up the climb, and ended up taking two more seconds on his rival in the final sprint atop Ventoux. While Pogačar was on the back-foot, responding to attacks, this ended up being a comfortable place for him to be.
Adam Becket
News editor at Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly opinion on the goings on at the upper echelons of our sport. This piece is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. As ever, email adam.becket@futurenet.com - should you wish to add anything, or suggest a topic.
“We went with confidence into this race, we were realistic to the situation we had this morning, but we also want to battle until the end,” Visma sports director Marc Reef said post-stage. “We had a good plan, having two guys in front, and Jonas himself is still ready to go to battle. We are still confident.
“Jonas fired the boys up towards Ventoux. He made a really strong attack, Tiesj was ready, then Victor, and then he kept on going. That's the only way to still try to create a situation where we take some time back. We want to fight for every chance that's still there.”
In his rest day press conference, Vingegaard had vowed to go on the attack in the final week, risking his second place in order to try and win a third Tour overall, and he seemed true to his word on Ventoux, attacking repeatedly. Pogačar’s four minute-plus lead remains, however.
“I think we have seen a really strong Jonas, but now he's putting Pogačar under pressure and that was not the case yet,” Reef continued. “In that way, it has strengthened our confidence.
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“There are still two [GC] stages to come, one with 5,500m of altitude. Not one climb like here, but three climbs. The weather will likely change, so a lot is still possible, and we want to fight until Paris.
“Today, Jonas could really attack, and Pogačar had to follow,” Reef concluded. “Until this moment, this was not possible.”
Perhaps there is confidence to be taken from Ventoux, as Vingegaard appears back to his best after his bad days in the Caen time trial and on the Hautacam, where he shipped significant time to Pogačar, but there are just two days left. Pogačar has imploded before in 2022 and 2023, and lost minutes to Vingegaard, but this simply has not been the impression he has given at this year’s race, that something like this is possible.
However, Visma and Vingegaard have to continue with their attacks and the aggression, otherwise there is no point – all out attacks from the men in yellow might make Thursday and Friday’s stages in the Alps incredible days.
“He looked really good,” Benoot added. “I was impressed that he could still accelerate after I had done my turn. It's crazy how fast they go.”
All fans will be hoping there is more of that speed left, more of that desire to take the fight to Pogačar. The race isn’t over yet.
Stage 18 will see 5,642m of climbing as the Col du Glandon, the Col de la Madeleine and then the Col de la Loze are tackled, the scene of a Vingegaard triumph over Pogačar in 2023. That’s followed by 4,629m of climbing on Friday’s stage 19, including the Col du Pre and a finish at La Plagne. There is road left in this race.
Petrarch’s claim of being the first person since antiquity to climb Ventoux was apocryphal, and Burckhardt’s repetition of it was untrue, but the Renaissance is still seen as the moment that culture blossomed across Europe, however arguable this is, and Petrarch was part of its beginning. Visma will hope that their own renaissance sparked into life on Ventoux. Two more stages will decide it.
This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.
Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.
Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes.
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