aixcentric

What happened to the famous sign at the top of Mont Ventoux?

Credit: Cyril Hiely (La Provence) and Sandra Martin

According to le Fils Aixcentric who cycles up there regularly, it has been taken before, and has been replaced, each time with different heights recorded.  The most recent height (see the photo) of 1911m is actually the height of the mountain and not the road which is a little lower at 1897,1m.

But the mayor of Bedoin, the village at the foot of the mountain, is not convinced that it is the work of a souvenir-hunter: he thinks it could be workers from the Vaucluse département wishing to replace it with one carrying the correct height.

This article has lots of background: http://road.cc/content/news/219441-sign-summit-mont-ventoux-reportedly-stolen including an interview with ‘Ventouman’, a local who has cycled up 379 times, plus the Londoner who went up six times in one day.  The things one learns writing blog posts!

Whatever the reason for its disappearance, it’s an incredible feat to cycle up there and it would be a shame if it doesn’t get replaced quickly as it is part of the experience to get a photo beside it.  Perhaps they should adapt the example of London whose Abbey Road signs are now set in concrete on the side of buildings.