Early Sunday morning on 9 June, 4000 French and 200 foreign cyclists departed from Vaison-la-Romaine with a goal of reaching the famed summit of France’s mythical Mont Ventoux at the 9th Granfondo Mont Ventoux.

First to reach the blustery summit finish, just below the indelible red/white radio tower that defines Mont Ventoux, was Brit Ed Laverack in the 118km race, with Aurore Pauchet first for the women.

The 29 year-old Laverack (BACKPEDAL) finished in 3:53:33, with the former British National Hill Climb Champion blasting up Mont Ventoux in just under an hour (58:21). Three French riders were next: Julien Berard (3:54:08), Leo Belchi (3:54:17) and Tim Coppens (3:54:44). Belgian Niels Merckx (3:55:48) completed the top five placings.

Afterwards, a thrilled Laverack posted on social media, “What! A! Day! An amazing place and what a finish location (this is one of the biggest Tour de France climbs)! My climbing legs showed up and I creeped away from the main bunch of 30 at the very bottom of the giant 20km climb to slowly chip away at the advantage of the leaders in the breakaway, finally catching the leader with 1.1km to go.” 

In the women’s race 29 year-old Aurore Pauchet (CSM PUTEAUX) of France reached the summit in 4:21:27 to claim the champion’s title by 13 minutes. 2022 UCI Gran Fondo World Champion Martha Maltha (4:34:09) from the Netherlands was next, followed by Marion Revault (4:44:09), also of France.

French riders Gustave Blanc (JEGG-DJR Academy U19) and Delphine Reinert, 38, won the shorter (100km) medio fondo race to the summit in 3:17:48 and 3:54:06 for the men and women, with 17 year-old teenager Blanc the fastest up Ventoux in 1:02:00.

In total, 3680 cyclists reached the 1900m summit of Mont Ventoux, with some collapsing from exhaustion after crossing the finish line.

Complete Granfondo Mont Ventoux results HERE

Photo Credit: Jean-Luc Blatière

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