Why was Mont Ventoux deforested?
Flora and fauna Originally forested, Mont Ventoux was systematically stripped of trees from the 12th century onwards to serve the demands of the shipbuilders of the naval port of Toulon.
Why are there no trees on Mt Ventoux?
The deforestation had a massive ecological impact on not only the mountain, but also the surrounding flora and fauna in the Provence region of the southern France. It was due to these concerns that an effort to reforest the mountain took place in the nineteenth century.
How hard is it to climb Mont Ventoux?
While Barthes’s soundbites make for handy — if hyperbolic — quotes, if you get the right weather and pace yourself well, climbing Mont Ventoux is not intrinsically any more difficult than riding any other 20km, high mountain ascent. On a clear day you might see Ventoux from over 100km away.
How was Mont Ventoux formed?
230 million years ago, Provence is flooded by the seas. The sediments accumulate at the bottom and form the white limestones that will become the Mont Ventoux, the Massif du Luberon, the Sainte Victoire, the Calanques… Around 110 million years ago, the seas deepened.
Why is Mont Ventoux white?
White with snow in winter, and almost as white in summer due to its sun-bleached rocks – a ‘moonscape’, as it’s so often referred to – the Ventoux can be seen from a long way off. Such is Mont Ventoux’s magnificence that it inspires not only cyclists to conquer it, but poets and writers too.
What is the hardest cycling climb in the world?
Mauna Kea
The hardest bike climb in the World is Mauna Kea, Big Island, Hawaii, and is also by far the most difficult bike climb in the world. Mauna Kea has it all: length (42.5 miles), altitude (sea level to nearly 14,000′), and gradient (the last 10 miles are from 8,120′ to 13,779′ at 10.7% average grade).
What cyclist died on Mont Ventoux?
Tom Simpson
Tom Simpson (30 November 1937 – 13 July 1967) was a British professional cyclist, one of Britain’s most successful of all time. At the time of the 1967 Tour de France, he was the undisputed leader of the British team. In the 13th stage of that race, he collapsed and died during the ascent of Mont Ventoux.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHTKbb1nF5o
