3 Days in Provence – Tour de France and Mont Ventoux Special

🚴‍♂️ Tour de France Stage 16 on Mont Ventoux! | Riding, Spectating & Insta360 Chaos 🇫🇷

Join me in Provence for an unforgettable 3-day adventure built around Stage 16 of the 2025 Tour de France, featuring the legendary climb of Mont Ventoux from the Malaucène side. This one has it all – epic roads, wild fans, pro riders up close, and a bit of tech carnage.

📍 Day 1: I take on Mont Ventoux from Malaucène—one of the toughest climbs in France—before heading back to the Rocacorba château. (Yes, it’s as good as it sounds.) Not before witnessing a wild crash right in front of us on the descent…

📍 Day 2: We head back up the mountain to watch Stage 16 of the Tour live with the Rocacorba crew. Expect next-level fan energy, roadside chaos, and a front-row view of the world’s best riders.

📍 Day 3: We finish the trip with a stunning loop around the base of Ventoux, riding through postcard-perfect Provençal roads—until my Insta360 flies off mid-ride and doesn’t survive. Oof.

GPX File: https://www.strava.com/routes/3382837657156376564

This one’s got everything: legendary climbs, Tour de France drama, beautiful group rides, and the kind of moments you just can’t script.

🎥 Sponsored by Rocacorba – Use code Sam15 here: https://www.rocacorbagirona.com/discount/Sam15

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[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Okay, greetings everyone. Welcome back to the channel and for this special tour to France edition. Uh I am in Bedwan or just outside Bedwan for the tour to France. So tomorrow it is stage 17 or 16 actually uh where they’ll be going up Mon 2. So I am with friend of the channel let’s call him Mr. Tom Hassan. They uh famous for his F art Sakalobra. You’ll all remember. Yeah. Attempt two probably in the not too distant future. There you go. Um so we are Yeah. We’re here basically courtesy of Matias uh at Rocka Corora. So it’s very exciting. He’s got this wonderful I don’t know whether you call this a chatau something like that. Um especially for for the event. Um so we’ll be staying here. We’re just building up bikes now. It seems like they’ve made it here in one piece. Um but we won’t know just yet. So yeah, the plan is get the bikes ready. We’re going to head up vonu via Malisen side because apparently it’s absolute chaos uh on the Bedwan side. Uh and then there’s a little shindig going on at Pista Cafe in partnership with Rocka Corba. So, the fun starts here and we’ve got pretty much a week of it. It’s properly warm, man. It’s hot. Uh, but yeah. Peace. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Right. So, we’re a few kilometers in to the climb up onto from Malisen. First impressions versus the Bedawan side. It’s a bit less shaded. Road’s a lot more open compared to the forest on the other side. does mean you get some nice views pretty early on. Just heard someone yelling around a corner. There is uh a lot of cyclists coming down. Some looking a lot more confident than others. But yeah, you having a nice time? Yeah. Tripping along. First impressions. Are we there? Yeah. Well, we got 17 km according to this little sign. [Music] I’ve got a horrendous sound coming from my rear wheel. I have been able to temporarily fix it, I think. Spokes rubbing together. Sounds awful. [Music] Okay, got about 8 km to go. For the first time in the trip, I’ve kind of dropped Tom. He’s back there. [Music] 2 km left to go. The uh summit sneaks up on you a lot more on this side. Over on the bed ascent, you kind of see it two/ird of the way up or just over half here. It’s all the way kind of, you know, just pops out of nowhere at the end. Wonder how Tom’s getting on. [Music] Pretty much at the top now. You can see the little spherical number over there. There’s a herd of sheep up here. There’s a shepherd and sheep dogs. Who thought? [Music] So, I’ve made it to the top. Still waiting on uh Tom to arrive. I think probably a few minutes. I could see him winding his way up as I was coming around the last bend. So, shouldn’t be too long. Very busy up here. Much busier than when I was here last time. Ali. Ali. Ali. Oh man. What a beast. That was good. So, talk me through your experience on the climb. I enjoyed it. It’s just long. Yeah, like sustained 11%. Um, yeah, he’s got a chip away. It was nice. And then you come around the corner and you see the tower and you’re like, “Yes, here we are.” Yeah, it’s just long, but you need gears for it. Um, yeah, good fun. Good. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] [Music] [Music] Look at that guy. very shallow. Okay, morning. It’s the uh the morning of stage 16. Uh there’s a carnival atmosphere here at the the Rocka Corba house. Everyone’s getting their bikes ready, trying to see how many beers they can fit in their frame bags. It’s all good. The wind has picked up a little bit, which should be uh entertaining, but super excited. It’s going to be a really fun day. [Music] [Music] Nothing is sleeping. [Music] Find a way to bring you Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Okay, we’re outside carport in Bedwan. We’ve just got our supplies. Team in the background there. uh Coca-Cola. I’ve got baguette. I’ve got some ham and I’ve also got flat DI too. So, uh hopefully I can make it up the mountain. Talk me through your uh your food choice. I figured uh we got a good nutrient score. We don’t have to cook it. Easy to take up the mountain. And it’s got a ring. It’s got a easy open. Yeah. Perfect to go. Yeah. Amazing. And maybe some sodium, some carbs. Bash you want. [Music] I’m [Music] [Music] Okay, team’s about halfway up the climb. I don’t think we’re going to go all the way to the top, but yeah, what a vibe. So many people. Everyone having a wonderful time. Here he comes. Okay, about 7 km from the top at Chalet Renard. Absolute chaos here. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. I can’t let go. Okay, we found our spot. We’re 3 km from the top of Vontu. We made our climb up, but they closed the road about 500 m from the top. So, we’ve turned around. We’re on this nice little corner here. So, we’ve got a good view as they’re coming up the road there. And then we’ll see them heading up there. Got lots of space. Got a good group. Got a beer. All is well. He’s a big sexy man. A big sexy man. Made for climbing. Made for climbing. But one two bonuses in two days. Hey, good one. No thanks. What an image. [Music] Okay, we’re in a long queue for some water. Tom’s got himself a shirt. I have it. I’ve sort of turned it into some sort of sun shade. I think it looks really fetching. It’s doing the job. There you go. King of the mountains. I don’t know about you, Tom, but I really, really love those little costumes where people have got their legs, you know. Well, looks like they’re getting a piggy back. [Applause] [Music] So, the uh the road is now closed to cyclist, but this chap here is responsible for uh stopping people riding. So people who do a little pretend one, get a little bit past and then on they go. [Music] [Music] So, the unthinkable has happened after an hour and a half waiting for water. I had to leave cuz there was no water. So, just had to come back. Still had a beer, but [ __ ] crazy. So, make sure you bring water if you’re coming. [Music] [Music] [Applause] Okay, so the caravan has now finished, which means that the race is going to be coming through fairly soon, maybe half an hour or so. I did pretty well, as you can see. items that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. Not at all, Tat. Yeah, vibes are skyhigh. Loving it. Okay, not long now. People are starting to get excited. Looking at their phones. Maybe five five minutes maybe. Very excited. Very excited. Have no idea what’s going on in the race. No phone signal up here. So, could be a young breakaway or not. [Applause] [Applause] [Music] Oh my god. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Applause] Heat. [Applause] [Music] What a guy. Not not only doing daily press ups, he’s also actually got a uh a resistance band. every morning this year. 40 press ups, 40 rows, and then 30 second plank each side. Wow. Before I can have my coffee, I’ve got to do that. Whereas I’m a piece of [ __ ] Morning everyone. Uh Tom and I are heading out on a beautiful ride this morning. Well, I expect it’s going to be beautiful. We’ve decided not to do Vonu for a third day in a row and instead explore some of the other roads uh around the area which I’ve heard are spectacular. So it’s about 60k about 1,200 m climbing. So just yeah decent solid ride. Um I think there’s like some kind of gorge that we’re going to see. Um but yeah, we’ll be good. Let’s go and explore. See what we can find. How are you feeling this morning, Thomas? Yeah, I feel good actually. Yeah, it’s been a couple of big days, but surprisingly feeling all right. So, and uh did I snore last night? You actually didn’t. I didn’t. See, that I realized before though. Yeah. Tom and I sharing a sofa bed for these first couple of nights. And uh yeah, I’m not always the most uh amanable bed fellow. He falls asleep in like 3 seconds. Don’t know how he does it. Yeah. Turn asleep and then turn up the snoring. Uh anyway, enough about that. Heading out. Right, Tommy going left here. See you. Yeah, real nice. [Music] [Laughter] [Music] We’re barely 15 minutes into this ride and it’s already just blowing our minds with how spectacular it is. [Applause] [Music] [Music] rolling through a valley at the moment. Lots of uh interesting kind of rock formations jutting out through the trees. It’s about 9:30 in the morning, so still relatively low sun, so just, you know, everything just looks amazing. Thanks to Lorenzo, who is a friend of the Glock Corba bunch, for helping us plot this route. I think we’re in for a real treat. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] [Music] Okay, we’ve done about 15 20k and we stopped for a coffee. Only had a small one this morning. And it’s a beautiful French theme here. It’s market day. There’s a man over there playing the accordion. What more could you want? [Music] [Music] Okay, we’ve had our coffee. We’ve been around the market, practiced our French. We done very well. And uh yeah, time to crack on. Look at this lovely doggy. Uh yeah, one of these. I made Tommy a banana just after Harry burn. It’s not even midday. So, uh, four teeth. They’re they’re Cavendish bananas, apparently. So, hopefully your sprint power will improve your equipment. There you go. [Music] Enjoy [Music] all you can cuz nothing will last forever, baby. Nothing going to last forever. Don’t know what’s your plan. But nothing last forever, baby. Nothing last forever. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] It’s 5 a.m. again and nothing going to last forever. Baby, nothing last forever. [Music] I’ve got to learn this cuz nothing last forever, baby. Nothing last forever. [Music] I for weeks I’m for you. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Right, 2 hours into the ride. Probably another 15k to go. Absolutely fantastic. Lots of cyclists. The tour to France was here yesterday. Um, yeah, truly spectacular. Bumped into some of the guys from Rocka Corba. Tom’s got his Harry bow and uh, yeah, brilliant. highly recommend this route. I think we got a climb now and then uh and then we’re done. It has clouded over a little bit uh since this morning, but I don’t think we’re going to get rained on. Thumbs up. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Oh no. Welcome. It’s broken. Yeah. Sorry. That’s okay. Well, there we go. It was that that went. I imagine it was those speed bumps. Well, a sad day for your boy SK. The Insta 360, I think, is no more. The lens is well, we’ll have to see, but I’ve had small scratches on the lens before that have kind of ruined the image quality, and it’s it’s kind of [ __ ] to be honest. The French seem to be very good at building speed bumps and uh I think it just Yeah, one of them was just one of these bumps just snapped the pole. Yeah, there we go. So, Insta 360, if you’re watching, please send me a new one and [ __ ] Okay, so there we go. That’s the ride done. I mean, kind of took a bit of a [ __ ] turn at the end there, but otherwise it was absolutely spectacular. But that’s the end of my 360 footage for this trip potentially. Oh, chance to die on this gravel. [ __ ] Anyway, thanks for watching. I’ll put the uh GPX file in the road description. Peace and love. Professional