Tour de France: Legendary climbs - For Tom Simpson, the climb ended fatally

Hautacam, Col du Tourmalet, Mont Ventoux – the Tour de France riders will be tackling legendary passes in the coming days. On Thursday, the French Pyrenees will be the first truly tough stage of the 2025 Tour.

Hautacam: The twelfth stage features 3,850 meters of elevation gain. The final stage climbs to Hautacam, starting at kilometer 166. The riders, including top favorites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, have to cover 13.5 kilometers with an average gradient of 7.8 percent.

Vingegaard, a Dane, brings fond memories back to the French ski resort. In 2022, he took more than a minute off his rival for the yellow jersey, Pogacar, on the way to Hautacam, thus deciding the battle for the Tour victory. Before the climb to Hautacam, Pogacar from Slovenia crashed on a descent while trying to escape Vingegaard. The Dane waited for him afterward. Pogacar thanked him with a handshake.

Alone in yellow on the way to victory: Jonas Vingegaard, after Hautacam, also drove away from Tadej Pogacar in 2022.

Source: IMAGO/Photo News

On the final climb, Vingegaard benefited from his teammate Wout van Aert riding ahead in a breakaway group. As Pogacar and Vingegaard closed in on van Aert, the latter took over the pace of the group of three. At some point, Pogacar could no longer keep up, and Vingegaard pulled away solo. The Dane celebrated at the finish, while Pogacar shook his head, completely exhausted, 64 seconds behind. "It's unbelievable. I told my girlfriend and my daughter this morning that I wanted to win the stage for them," said a proud Vingegaard. The Tour was decided.

Col du Tourmalet: On Saturday, the Tourmalet, the second-highest mountain of this year's Tour de France, awaits. It climbs to 2,115 meters. The climb is 19 kilometers long, with an average gradient of 7.4 percent. Unlike Hautacam, the Tourmalet is not the finish of the 14th stage; after that, three more climbs await the riders. A special feature: The first rider to complete the 19 kilometers will receive a €5,000 prize, the so-called "Jacques Goddet Souvenir." It is named after Jacques Goddet, a French sports journalist who was the second director of the Tour de France.

The duel between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck on the 17th stage of the 2010 Tour is legendary. Back then, the summit of the Tourmalet was also the finish line. Overall leader Contador started the race with an 8-second lead over Schleck of Luxembourg. The two attacked each other constantly on the final climb in adverse conditions, but neither was able to establish a decisive gap. Contador ultimately conceded the stage win to Schleck. The overall victory went to the Spaniard. However, the title was later revoked because he was subsequently banned for doping. Schleck became the official winner.

Mont Ventoux: Three days after the ascent of the Tourmalet, the 16th stage takes us up Mont Ventoux. With a gradient of 8.8 percent over 15.7 kilometers, the climb is considered one of the toughest ever.

One of the most tragic stories of the Tour occurred in 1967 on the way to the 1,910-meter-high summit. Briton Tom Simpson, one of the contenders for the overall victory, collapsed on the 13th stage shortly before crossing the mountain. He died a few minutes later.

The stage had already demanded everything from the riders, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. Simpson took amphetamines during the race and reportedly drank cognac before the final climb. On the way to Mont Ventoux, his body became dehydrated, and Simpson rode in a zigzag pattern before crashing about two kilometers from the summit. Since 2017, a memorial stone has commemorated the deceased Briton along the route.