In 1336, the Italian poet Petrach claimed to have been the first person since antiquity to have climbed Mont Ventoux, the Géant de Provence, the mountain that towers over southern central France, to look at the view. 500 years later the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, in his seminal book The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, claimed that Petrarch was a “truly modern man” for his sensitivity to nature, and the episode is sometimes used as a beginning point for the Italian renaissance.
Visma-Lease a Bike are looking for their own renaissance at this Tour de France, their own rebirth, and that quest began on Mont Ventoux on stage 16, as Jonas Vingegaard sought to claw back some of the four minutes that he trails Tadej Pogačar by. The team sent Tiesj Benoot and Victor Campenaerts up the road, and after the peloton had been softened, Vingegaard repeatedly attacked, first to his teammates, and then forged on alone.
News editor at Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly opinion on the goings on at the upper echelons of our sport. This piece is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. As ever, email adam.becket@futurenet.com – should you wish to add anything, or suggest a topic.
