Cycling Mont Ventoux:
Bédoin route

Highlights of Mont Ventoux (Bédoin)

Leaving the forest and coming out into the white lunar landscape, is incredible. The sun on the white rocks is dazzling after the relative dark of the forest. You can see the hairpins stretching ahead of you, and it feels both exhilarating and daunting.

Route notes

1. The easy warm-up: 0-5.5km:

You leave Bédoin on an open, relatively gentle road through vineyards, olive groves and cherry orchards. After about 3.5km you pass through Saint Colombe, an attractive village with some hotels/B&Bs and a few restaurants.

2. The forest: 5.5-16km

After Les Bruns and the St Estève bend, you head up into the forest on a wiggly, merciless road through the forest.  The gradient rarely drops beneath 9%, the road is quite narrow, and sightlines are poor.

3. The lunar landscape: 16-21.5km

At Chalet Reynard, you leave the forest for an unforgettable six kilometres through the white rock to the summit. The gradient reduces for a few hundred metres as you leave Chalet Reynard, but be prepared for wind as you leave the trees; if you don’t get a brutal headwind, you’re lucky!

At around 20km, you pass the memorial to Tom Simpson, and many choose to make a stop here.

4. Descent

The road down can be hair-raising. The gradient is severe, the road is often wet, there are multiple hairpins and strong gusts of wind.

Café stops

There are quite a few choices in Bedoin, at the start and end of your ride. Dylan from Mont Ventoux Cycling Club says his favourites are: 

• Pista Cycling Café (map) – for a relaxed vibe and nice garden. 
• Le Flandrien (map) – perfect for a Belgian beer or two after the ride! 

On the way up Ventoux, Chalet Reynard is a popular place to stop. It’s about seven kilometres before the summit, and it’s impossible to miss: there are some post-boxes at the side of the road, followed by wooden cabins and a sign for Chalet Reynard.

• Chalet Reynard has a bar-restaurant with a decent indoor area with an open fireplace. There are also outdoor terraces. It serves simple food and drinks to predominantly cyclists and hikers and is open seven days a week.
• Non-road cyclists might be interested in the Ventoux Bike Park at Chalet Reynard. It has a ski lift up to the start of three mountain biking trails. You can hire bikes at the restaurant. It’s open at weekends during the summer, weather permitting and is suitable for adults and children over the age of ten.
• There is a reasonable amount of car parking outside the restaurant.

Lots of riders choose to pay their respects at the memorial to Tom Simpson, a few kilometres from the summit (on the righthand side). There is a water fountain near the Tom Simpson memorial.

At the summit, there is a restaurant that serves basic meals.

Accommodation

The town of Bédoin is the starting point for this route up Ventoux, and it has lots of accommodation options. You can find our hotel suggestions and tips on where to stay to ride Ventoux here.

Dylan from Mont Ventoux Cycling Club says “Some of the outlying villages around Bédoin are also worth considering as bases as they’re quieter and less touristy. For example, Mormoiron and Villes-sur-Auzon are particularly well positioned as they are a good springboard to the Luberon, Gorges del la Nesque and yet within easy reach of Bédoin.” 

Tips

Read our tips for cycling Ventoux before you set out.

Check out our complete guide to planning a holiday to Provence and Ventoux. This includes details of Mont Ventoux location velo/bike hire in Bedoin.

If once up Ventoux isn’t enough of a challenge… take a look at our Q&A on the Cinglés du Ventoux: three times up and down in 24 hours!

What’s next?

• We’d love to hear from you – comment below or drop us a line.
• Check out our complete guide to planning a holiday in the Ventoux and Provence region plus other articles on the region, below.
• Don’t miss our ride guides to the Sault and Malaucène routes up Ventoux.
• Of course Ventoux features in our list of the best climbs in Europe – check out the other climbs here!