Mont Ventoux, the ‘Géant de Provence’, is a climb that, despite only featuring at the Tour de France on 18 occasions, has become nothing short of iconic. The reasons for its legendary status are plentiful and varied: the tragic death of Tom Simpson in 1967, Eddie Merckx conquering the beast three years later, Pantani vs Armstrong in 2000, and Chris Froome running up its slopes in 2016, to name but a few.

Today at the Tour, the beast saw a French winner in Valentin Paret-Peintre (SOQ), who pipped Ben Healy (EFE) on the line. Just seconds behind was Bahrain Victorious’ Santiago Buitrago, still coming back from the crash which dashed his GC hopes on stage 7.

The Colombian was joined in the breakaway by Fred Wright, and the two worked well together to ensure Santi was in the right place to follow the select group which was to go clear on the lunar slopes of Ventoux’s gruelling denoument (15.6km @ 8.7%).

Although the 25 year old climber couldn’t quite match the explosive finish of Paret-Peintre & Healy, it was a herculean effort from a rider who has been suffering since hitting the deck 11 days ago. 

Lead Sports Director Roman Kreuziger was as impressed by Santi’s apparent return to form:

“Santi was brave to make the move with Fred. It was nice to see him fighting for win after his setback on stage 7.

This should be huge booster for him to get back confidence and get ready for the last 5 stages where we as a team see him as someone to potentially deliver a stage win.”

Wednesday is the last of the flatter stages of this edition, with two fourth category ascents along the 160 km route from Bollène to Valence. Although they offer just a single point each towards the mountains jersey, as Lenny Martinez and Tadej Pogacar are tied on 60 pts in the climbers’ classification, it does provide an opportunity for the Frenchman to move back into a clear lead.