Puck Pieterse rode Mont Ventoux at age 10 – now she aims to beat her time while chasing the Tour de France Femmes polka-dot jersey

Puck Pieterse - 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift — (Image credit: Getty Images)

The first time Puck Pieterse climbed Mont Ventoux, she was just 10 years old, riding a mountain bike up one of cycling's most iconic ascents.

Ahead of Friday's summit finish at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the Dutch rider looked back on that childhood ride and set herself a target.

"I rode it up when I was 10, I think, on my mountain bike," Pieterse told Australia's SBS after Stage 5. "I looked it back. My time was one hour and 58 minutes, so I hope to break that."

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Fourteen years later, Pieterse returns to the Giant of Provence under very different circumstances. By the time she reaches the foot of Mont Ventoux on Friday, the peloton will already have covered almost 884 kilometres of racing across the opening seven stages.

In Bédoin, the 24-year-old hopes to arrive wearing the coveted polka-dot jersey, which, for the first time this week, she has openly admitted she is targeting.

Earlier this week, Pieterse was quick to play down suggestions she was chasing the mountains classification, insisting that Fenix-Premier Tech's priority was stage wins and that "the polka-dot jersey is secondary."

Friday's Stage 7 marks the first-ever Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift summit finish on Mont Ventoux, with the peloton tackling the mountain via its legendary Bédoin ascent (south side).

British hill-climbing specialist Illi Gardner currently holds the QOM on Strava's verified Bédoin segment with a time of 1:09:29, set during a dedicated record attempt in 2025. The Tour riders, however, won't have that luxury. Before reaching the foot of Ventoux, they must first tackle the Col de la Grande Limite, Col du Colombier and Col de Suzette, arriving in Bédoin with more than 127 kilometres already in their legs.

Once there, the road climbs relentlessly for 15.7 kilometres at an average gradient of 8.8% to the 1,910-metre summit. After the sheltered opening slopes through the forest, the road emerges above Chalet Reynard onto Ventoux's barren and windswept landscape.

The mountain is expected to shape both the general classification and the Queen of the Mountains competition.

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Cycling Weekly's North American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.

Originally from the Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon, she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a journalist for two decades, including 14 years in cycling.