Sorry guys - but you have the hight of the mountains wrong. Ventoux is 1912 and alpe d'huez 1850. Biiiig mistake. 😊 Other than that, ventoux is clearly themost difficult climb of the two...
You're right. But then, what is the correct height of Mont Ventoux? While 1912 meters seems to be the most common number, the sign at the top says 1911 meters and the sign in Bedoin at the roundabout by the tourist office currently claims Mont Ventoux to top out at 1909 meters.... Isn't that mythical enough for Mont Ventoux to definitely take the win :-)
It is elevation from sea level. If you have a 1800m mountain where the bottom is at 300m you have 1500m of climbing. If you only have a 1700m mountain that starts at 100m you have 1600m of climbing, so it is easily possible to have more length and gradient on a smaller mountain if the start is at diffrent elevation levels. Despite all that they really mixed them up :D
I guess the Alpe D'Huez is used more as a hilltop finish rather than an earlier part of a stage because there is only one nice road to the top. The descend they did in 2013 was considered pretty dangerous. The Mont Ventoux on the other hand has got multiple fine roads leading to the top if I'm not mistaken.
Initially Alpe d huez, but overall Mont Ventoux. But Alpe d'huez prettiest. Did Ventoux via both sides and nearly died (if not for helmet ) on descent to Bedoin - ended up in Carpentras hospital. Both iconic climbs
Hi guys, I think you switched altitude at the beginning : Mt ventoux summit is at 1912 m. I vote for ventoux because once there you dominate everything (yourself included). Cheers
Mont Ventoux, Chris Froome in 2013, that stage got me into cycling proper. As a Brit, I was just a casual observer the year before to see Bradley Wiggins win it, when Froome left Contador and then Quintana in his wake in 2013 I was hooked.
Ventoux, the hardest as it usually comes at the end of a 200km stage, Alpe D'Huez is the more iconic and discussed as it is often occurring closer to the end of the tour!
I did both last year and although Ventoux is more mythical, Huez was harder imo. It gets very steep right away compared to Ventoux where you have time to get into your rhythm.
I rode it during Marmotte last week and had also heard that it levels of after the first 4/5 hairpins so I was bitterly disappointed to find that it doesnt...unless going from 11/12% down to 10% is leveling off!? It just never gives in and is steep the whole way!
Ventoux is more difficult but Alpe d'Huez is a better climb experience. The switch backs make it great. Ventoux is a giant slogging suffer fest. Fortunately the Earth has both of them.
Alpe D'Huez is used as it looks so good on TV and it creates a great arena for the crowds. Before TV coverage started on the TdF it was hardly used (only once I believe)
Having done most of the 'epic' TDF mountain climbs (Galibier, Lautaret, Tourmalet etc) as well as Alpe d'huez itself - IMHO Mont Ventoux is easily the hardest. Not only is brutally steep, it rises from a near pan-flat terrain - unlike many of the Alpine/Pyrenean climbs. So you have to endure the ominous sight of Ventoux looming in the distance literally hours before you reach it! (there's good reason for it being referred to as 'the beast of Provence!) Once you are on the climb itself and managed to survive the wooded section you emerge into the 'lunar landscape' part - and are often confronted with howling winds of over 100kph! (again, you don't really get this on the other climbs I mentioned). There is also the 'wind-chill' factor to contend with - when I climbed it in 2000, the temperature in the valley at Bedoin was balmy 28 degrees C - yet at the top of Ventoux it was just 1 degree! (they actually had to cancel 'Les tape du tour' that year due to the wind speeds and low temperatures - 7 cyclists were hospitalized with hyperthermia!) All of the climbs mentioned - and Alpe d'huez itself - ARE extremely hard, but to repeat Ventoux is just something else!
Ventoux has a body count, Pantani vs Lance in their primes, and in light of what happened today on the tour, one of the craziest moments in tour history.
I rode Ventoux on friday and Huez on saturday. It was windy on the top of Ventoux making the climb and also descending pretty hard. Since Ventoux has three routes to the top it must be the winner of this fight. On Alpe d'Huez it's possible to rest a little bit when the route is not that steep in corners. Can't do that on Ventoux. For me Mont Ventoux is the most legendary climb.
Mont Ventoux! Did you guys consider the epicness of how you can film a stage and there Mont Ventoux definately wins with great Helicopter shots from the side!
I've succeeded two out of three ascents of Mont Ventoux... I'm heavy, and it's mostly constant pitches are killer for me (built, back then, more like Mario Ciapollini :) ) From the fountain in Bedoin, across the vinyards of France's (possibly) tiniest wine region "Côtes du Ventoux", to the restaurant hairpin turn, up into my 'Magic Forest' and its forever GS weave of minor bends, mostly constant 9° grade... to Chalet Reynard, wow... Then you leave our planet, on the exposed upper slopes; where I compared my heart-rate to Tom Simpson's ~ and conquered each concave-convex mountain flank, always forgetting there's at least one more to come, up to where you see the last hairpin, the Summit house and glory... Never did l'Alpe d'Huez so of course Ventoux is epic. And it has wine you can buy. ❤️❤️
allowing that it is July and the Tour, even if you combined the two into a single stage of something like 280kms, the Mortirolo would laugh at it's simplicity. and then the Angliru would laugh at all three.
why you guys always avoid talking about Lance Armstrong. Just because he admitted he was doping makes him a cheater and a liar? What about all the other riders today being on the gear. You simply cannot keep up naturally in pro peloton.
Ventoux is definitely a more savage climb, but since Huez in the Alps, and Tour organizers love to have the final week in either the Alps or the Pyrenees, Huez makes for a more exciting moment of the Tour. Ventoux does make for a great place for the GC guys to distance each other, but I'd love to see it feature in the final week sometime soon.
Was this a "Where were you when Froome ran Ventoux" moment ??!! I'm sorry for being pushy but even though it's not part of your caption competition I think it deserves a prize!!
I guess one thing you have to take into consideration is that when they finish up Alpe d'Huez they usually climbed already a few cols earlier in the stage. So that might make Alpe d'Huez 10% harder which brings it on the same level as Ventoux. Draw it is. :)
You kids settle down. They're both great climbs and they both create great spectacle. And because of fan involvement great controversy. I would make sure to watch either every time their included in the Tour. It would be great if we could see the same riders racing both climbs in the same Tour someday.
Lance Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins are both on the record saying the Galibier is the hardest. I think Jens Voigt and Andy Schleck said so too, but I'm not as confident on those two.
How many times did they skip the last piece of the Alpe d'Huez? The Mt V has something special when you arrive on the moonscape. The memorial of Tom Simpson makes it a mysterious mountain as well. How many books are written about each mountain? And how many movies do they have?
We want a GCN Presenters Race - Who's the fastest climber (of Mont Ventoux AND Alpe D'Huez)? I think that's the only reasonable way to answer this metaphysical question.
Having been lucky enough to ride both climbs, the Ventoux in my opinion us the harder of the two. It's unrelenting, only chalet reynard being the one area of sime respite. Seeing the summit for so long on the Ventoux too, it plays with your mind, let alone the weather conditions. Alp d'huez is tough but Ventoux is harder.
Alp D'Huez is just so famous and iconic with its many twists and turns...Mont Ventoux famous as well but I think it's a real basturd with the wind blowing and higher grade. Can't wait to see the climb up Ventoux tomorrow, we'll see who the real contenders are.
I've ridden ventoux, not alpe duez, so can't say which is more epic untill i've ridden duez, time to plan a trip. I do like that there are 4 routes to ascend ventoux, don't know if duez has such options?
Matt failed to mention the legendary 21 hair-pin bends, each with a name of a stage winner! Now that is real history. Also, I just love roads with hair-pins.
This sounded like 2 drunk guys in a pub having an argument who had notes to back themselves up. They couldn't even count to 29, if you need any more proof
Já tive a oportunidade de subir os dois, Mont Ventoux sem sombra de dúvidas mais difícil e mistico, Alpe d´Huez é mas fácil porém ambos são fantásticos
I give the nod to the Alpe. there isn't anything as iconic as those 21 switchbacks south the names of previous winners on each corner. those first two steps are crazy.
Sounds like another GCN video is coming up. The whole GCN team should ride up each mountain and decide which one is the toughest, most legendary. This would be a more "scientific" way to determine it.
I reckon a better comparison would be Mont Ventoux vs Bola Del Mundo of the Vuelta. Both very similar in landscape and length, both are notoriously difficult. For me Bola Del Mundo is harder because of the constantly increasing difficulty as you go up the climb with the last kilometers being all over 15% which belies the 6.2% average gradient over 22 km.
Maybe not as legendary, but col de la bonette is the toughest. I never went up it, but I did the mtb trail down from the very top and boy were my arms tired :D
You missed the fact, that Ventoux starts at 283 meters and has 1639 meters of accenting, where Alpe d'huez starts at 744 meters and "only" has 1071 meters of accenting. I climbed them both last year, and Ventoux is the hardest.
D'Huez possibly better for all out viewing spectacle, but Ventoux for the mystery and intrigue of its landscape, the spectre of being able to view the top from so far away and for so much of the climb. Not to mention its history, RIP Tommy Simpson. Gutted the top has been cut off Stage 13 this year.
Mount Ventoux was and still is the most challenging! I did the climb prior to the race in June of 2000. The Giant will crush you if you don't pace yourself!
I think Ventoux as a finish on its own is more difficult but Alpe d'Huez has generally used with other very hard climbs beforehand in the TDF. So the question needs clarification ;)
Mont Ventoux. It's more mythical.
Both are mythic in different ways. Ventoux has the sad and savage history, but Alpe D'Huez is emblematic of modernity in cycling.
Let Lasty climb both of them and let the suffer meter decide.
This!! When will this happen? #torqueback
Definitely the best way to determine things.
#torqueback
Mont Vetoux is better because not only is it a climb it's also has a running section
Sorry guys - but you have the hight of the mountains wrong. Ventoux is 1912 and alpe d'huez 1850. Biiiig mistake. 😊
Other than that, ventoux is clearly themost difficult climb of the two...
I vote Ventoux. Pantanni vs. "he who shall not be named" was great drama
Alp d'Huez is 1850 meters high and Mont ventoux is 1912 meters high. You mixed them up!
Yeah, I couldn't understand how shorter ride with higher average gradient could lead to lesser elevation !
elevation is another thing, this is the hight above see level
You're right. But then, what is the correct height of Mont Ventoux? While 1912 meters seems to be the most common number, the sign at the top says 1911 meters and the sign in Bedoin at the roundabout by the tourist office currently claims Mont Ventoux to top out at 1909 meters....
Isn't that mythical enough for Mont Ventoux to definitely take the win :-)
+Janpeter Lassen, It's because some've take the measure up on the bike.
It is elevation from sea level. If you have a 1800m mountain where the bottom is at 300m you have 1500m of climbing. If you only have a 1700m mountain that starts at 100m you have 1600m of climbing, so it is easily possible to have more length and gradient on a smaller mountain if the start is at diffrent elevation levels. Despite all that they really mixed them up :D
guys, you got some stuff wrong. ventoux = 1912m
Mont Ventoux is the only one that turned the Tour in to a triathlon though!
wheres the swimming
I guess the Alpe D'Huez is used more as a hilltop finish rather than an earlier part of a stage because there is only one nice road to the top. The descend they did in 2013 was considered pretty dangerous. The Mont Ventoux on the other hand has got multiple fine roads leading to the top if I'm not mistaken.
Initially Alpe d huez, but overall Mont Ventoux. But Alpe d'huez prettiest. Did Ventoux via both sides and nearly died (if not for helmet ) on descent to Bedoin - ended up in Carpentras hospital. Both iconic climbs
Just in: Mont Ventoux won't be the finish tomorrow due to wind conditions (120 km/hour near the top). I guess one toppled arch is enough for one TdF.
but they'll go until Chalet renard
Predicted wind conditions during the stage are under 70km/h ???
+Marta we'll see tommorow..... :(
I hope it happens, that climb is great to watch
that's not true because they will check it tomorrow if it is possible to ride
Alpe d'huez cos I've climbed it - when I've done Ventoux I'll probably change my mind!
Hi guys, I think you switched altitude at the beginning : Mt ventoux summit is at 1912 m. I vote for ventoux because once there you dominate everything (yourself included). Cheers
Mont Ventoux, Chris Froome in 2013, that stage got me into cycling proper. As a Brit, I was just a casual observer the year before to see Bradley Wiggins win it, when Froome left Contador and then Quintana in his wake in 2013 I was hooked.
The Beast of Provence.
The Giant of Provence.
The Bald Mountain.
All nicknames of my ex girlfriend.
Ventoux. But it would be easier if you include a poll
Mont Ventoux! Epic climb and the most important: when you finish the climb you are really at the top :) everything is under you
Ventoux, the hardest as it usually comes at the end of a 200km stage, Alpe D'Huez is the more iconic and discussed as it is often occurring closer to the end of the tour!
Both! if Alpe D'Huez and Vontoux are my backyard, I'd probably ride it almost every weekend.
How can you forget to mention the 21 curves of the Alpe d'Huez? And what about the weather conditions on Ventoux : heat and wind!
Alpe d'Huez for sure! The atmosphere on the Alpe d'Huez unsurpassed.
I did both last year and although Ventoux is more mythical, Huez was harder imo. It gets very steep right away compared to Ventoux where you have time to get into your rhythm.
Yeah it's steep straight away but then it levels off quite a bit. I've never ridden it but going by the TV that's what they say.
I rode it during Marmotte last week and had also heard that it levels of after the first 4/5 hairpins so I was bitterly disappointed to find that it doesnt...unless going from 11/12% down to 10% is leveling off!? It just never gives in and is steep the whole way!
Ventoux is more difficult but Alpe d'Huez is a better climb experience. The switch backs make it great. Ventoux is a giant slogging suffer fest. Fortunately the Earth has both of them.
Did Ventoux with a Touring Bike in 4hrs.. I know exactly what that suffer fest meant xD
Alpe D'Huez is used as it looks so good on TV and it creates a great arena for the crowds. Before TV coverage started on the TdF it was hardly used (only once I believe)
Having done most of the 'epic' TDF mountain climbs (Galibier, Lautaret, Tourmalet etc) as well as Alpe d'huez itself - IMHO Mont Ventoux is easily the hardest. Not only is brutally steep, it rises from a near pan-flat terrain - unlike many of the Alpine/Pyrenean climbs. So you have to endure the ominous sight of Ventoux looming in the distance literally hours before you reach it! (there's good reason for it being referred to as 'the beast of Provence!) Once you are on the climb itself and managed to survive the wooded section you emerge into the 'lunar landscape' part - and are often confronted with howling winds of over 100kph! (again, you don't really get this on the other climbs I mentioned). There is also the 'wind-chill' factor to contend with - when I climbed it in 2000, the temperature in the valley at Bedoin was balmy 28 degrees C - yet at the top of Ventoux it was just 1 degree! (they actually had to cancel 'Les tape du tour' that year due to the wind speeds and low temperatures - 7 cyclists were hospitalized with hyperthermia!) All of the climbs mentioned - and Alpe d'huez itself - ARE extremely hard, but to repeat Ventoux is just something else!
Ventoux has a body count, Pantani vs Lance in their primes, and in light of what happened today on the tour, one of the craziest moments in tour history.
I'm going Alpe D'Huez, but I'm a little biased since I'm Dutch
La Plagne 1987 Roche comes back to win the tour nearly making up a three minute deficit on Delgado. LEGEND! On his way to the Triple.
I rode Ventoux on friday and Huez on saturday. It was windy on the top of Ventoux making the climb and also descending pretty hard. Since Ventoux has three routes to the top it must be the winner of this fight. On Alpe d'Huez it's possible to rest a little bit when the route is not that steep in corners. Can't do that on Ventoux. For me Mont Ventoux is the most legendary climb.
The only way to decide is to send the brick up both, the one he makes the funniest faces on is the hardest. Gogogo Lasty!
Having cycled both, Ventoux is by far the greatest climb.
Mont Ventoux! Did you guys consider the epicness of how you can film a stage and there Mont Ventoux definately wins with great Helicopter shots from the side!
I've succeeded two out of three ascents of Mont Ventoux... I'm heavy, and it's mostly constant pitches are killer for me (built, back then, more like Mario Ciapollini :) )
From the fountain in Bedoin, across the vinyards of France's (possibly) tiniest wine region "Côtes du Ventoux", to the restaurant hairpin turn, up into my 'Magic Forest' and its forever GS weave of minor bends, mostly constant 9° grade... to Chalet Reynard, wow...
Then you leave our planet, on the exposed upper slopes; where I compared my heart-rate to Tom Simpson's ~ and conquered each concave-convex mountain flank, always forgetting there's at least one more to come, up to where you see the last hairpin, the Summit house and glory...
Never did l'Alpe d'Huez so of course Ventoux is epic.
And it has wine you can buy. ❤️❤️
The last 7km of Ventoux are brutal, especially after 4 ascents in a row!
Lasty!!!....go ride them and report back tomorrow!
allowing that it is July and the Tour, even if you combined the two into a single stage of something like 280kms, the Mortirolo would laugh at it's simplicity.
and then the Angliru would laugh at all three.
Done both last month I fear the most the Mont Ventoux, hands down!
the bromance level between these two are higher than both alps
why you guys always avoid talking about Lance Armstrong. Just because he admitted he was doping makes him a cheater and a liar? What about all the other riders today being on the gear. You simply cannot keep up naturally in pro peloton.
Someones been watching too much durianrider.
you know, omerta :-)
Cycling in general avoids talking about Lance, it's become an unwritten rule. Can't blame GCN for following suit--we all do it.
+Gianni Verschueren Lance watched this video and now he's pissed off!
Was it 'windy' for you also today?
My cycling club has done trips to both in recent years and those who did both say Ventoux is harder, although Tourmalet is harder than both.
I'm climbing both next week. I'll let you know!
how was it?
So?
I think I would go with Alpe D'Huez, it has an airport so I can arrive to it quickly and start riding, its part of my bucket list
Hmm, why is there picture of Dumoulin after finishing stage 20 of the Vuelta when they talk about the Ventoux...? Oh, and the Ventoux!
Ventoux is definitely a more savage climb, but since Huez in the Alps, and Tour organizers love to have the final week in either the Alps or the Pyrenees, Huez makes for a more exciting moment of the Tour. Ventoux does make for a great place for the GC guys to distance each other, but I'd love to see it feature in the final week sometime soon.
Was this a "Where were you when Froome ran Ventoux" moment ??!! I'm sorry for being pushy but even though it's not part of your caption competition I think it deserves a prize!!
I guess one thing you have to take into consideration is that when they finish up Alpe d'Huez they usually climbed already a few cols earlier in the stage. So that might make Alpe d'Huez 10% harder which brings it on the same level as Ventoux. Draw it is. :)
Those two presenting together crack me up
You kids settle down. They're both great climbs and they both create great spectacle. And because of fan involvement great controversy. I would make sure to watch either every time their included in the Tour. It would be great if we could see the same riders racing both climbs in the same Tour someday.
Lance Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins are both on the record saying the Galibier is the hardest. I think Jens Voigt and Andy Schleck said so too, but I'm not as confident on those two.
How many times did they skip the last piece of the Alpe d'Huez? The Mt V has something special when you arrive on the moonscape. The memorial of Tom Simpson makes it a mysterious mountain as well. How many books are written about each mountain? And how many movies do they have?
the switchbacks on Alpe du huez add to the challenge
We want a GCN Presenters Race - Who's the fastest climber (of Mont Ventoux AND Alpe D'Huez)? I think that's the only reasonable way to answer this metaphysical question.
Climbing the Mont Ventoux from Bedoin is most heroic, from Sault fantastic and really enjoyable
If Matt and Tom were to have a fist fight, I would put money on Matt.
Having been lucky enough to ride both climbs, the Ventoux in my opinion us the harder of the two. It's unrelenting, only chalet reynard being the one area of sime respite. Seeing the summit for so long on the Ventoux too, it plays with your mind, let alone the weather conditions. Alp d'huez is tough but Ventoux is harder.
Alp D'Huez is just so famous and iconic with its many twists and turns...Mont Ventoux famous as well but I think it's a real basturd with the wind blowing and higher grade. Can't wait to see the climb up Ventoux tomorrow, we'll see who the real contenders are.
I've ridden ventoux, not alpe duez, so can't say which is more epic untill i've ridden duez, time to plan a trip.
I do like that there are 4 routes to ascend ventoux, don't know if duez has such options?
I think we should've asked the pro's on this one! I've climbed neither but through watching Tour's Ventoux strikes more fear in me than Alpe D'huez.
Matt failed to mention the legendary 21 hair-pin bends, each with a name of a stage winner! Now that is real history. Also, I just love roads with hair-pins.
This sounded like 2 drunk guys in a pub having an argument who had notes to back themselves up. They couldn't even count to 29, if you need any more proof
Já tive a oportunidade de subir os dois, Mont Ventoux sem sombra de dúvidas mais difícil e mistico, Alpe d´Huez é mas fácil porém ambos são fantásticos
most legendary: d huez most brutal: Ventoux
The altitude isn't what's important but the vertical feet of the climb. Ventoux is a monster. The Alpe though is amazing with it's switch backs.
I think a race Lasty vs Matt shortest time up their respective favourite mountain wins. Could be fun if done side by side on a interactive trainer.
I give the nod to the Alpe. there isn't anything as iconic as those 21 switchbacks south the names of previous winners on each corner. those first two steps are crazy.
I've climbed both (Haute Route) and Mt Ventoux is by far the toughest climb I've ever done.
Mont Ventoux because you can see my house from up there ^^
21 switch backs. I would love the opportunity to climb either or both.
Sounds like another GCN video is coming up. The whole GCN team should ride up each mountain and decide which one is the toughest, most legendary. This would be a more "scientific" way to determine it.
Watching Matt and Lasty fighting was super funny, but the only person that can really throw a punch is Chris Froome.
Bet you'd have to reconsider which has led to the most thrilling finale now.
Alto de l'Angliru
Both are good as each other, both are great climbs
I reckon a better comparison would be Mont Ventoux vs Bola Del Mundo of the Vuelta. Both very similar in landscape and length, both are notoriously difficult.
For me Bola Del Mundo is harder because of the constantly increasing difficulty as you go up the climb with the last kilometers being all over 15% which belies the 6.2% average gradient over 22 km.
How could a climb named (supposedly) Alpie not be the clear winner. Matt, best comeback yet 👍
lasty's 'ow' really hit me hard. RIP @me
Maybe not as legendary, but col de la bonette is the toughest. I never went up it, but I did the mtb trail down from the very top and boy were my arms tired :D
I flew down to the Med a couple of years ago and I could clearly see Mont Ventoux from 29,000 ft, Legendary
You missed the fact, that Ventoux starts at 283 meters and has 1639 meters of accenting, where Alpe d'huez starts at 744 meters and "only" has 1071 meters of accenting. I climbed them both last year, and Ventoux is the hardest.
Watching Lasty and Matt slap AT each other cracked me up!
It's Alpe d'huez. Nothing is more fun to watch.
Btw. one of the best episodes!
The debate is over which is tougher not better. Ventoux is higher altitude, longer and higher average gradient.
D'Huez possibly better for all out viewing spectacle, but Ventoux for the mystery and intrigue of its landscape, the spectre of being able to view the top from so far away and for so much of the climb. Not to mention its history, RIP Tommy Simpson.
Gutted the top has been cut off Stage 13 this year.
Mount Ventoux was and still is the most challenging! I did the climb prior to the race in June of 2000. The Giant will crush you if you don't pace yourself!
Mont Ventoux obviously
Nice to see that both Matt and Lasty have gone with peaks up. #rightway
If that intro taught me anything, it's that Tom would lose a boxing match against a balloon.
I think Ventoux as a finish on its own is more difficult but Alpe d'Huez has generally used with other very hard climbs beforehand in the TDF. So the question needs clarification ;)
Froomey keeps yellow and thats important!
Ventoux wins, its the most feared by the pros.
Monte Zoncolan :D
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Zoncolan
had the Dutch mountain ever killed anyone? the beast has, that's for sure.
the Netherlands is not known to have mountains. And: who cares?
Ventoux, Lance and Pantani!
how about Lance caught Basso in the ITT on Alpe D'Huez??
How about Froome running with no bike up Mount Ventoux?
If you apply a steady headwind to an already hard climb that 8,8% gradient is going to feel significantly harder.
Why didn't they put a poll in the side of the video so we could vote?
I miss these two ! :'(
LeMond and Hinault finish arm in arm means alpe d'huez wins
Alpe d'Huez hands down
You guys forgot to compare which one had the most scenic view!
there's just something a bit more mythical, more romantic about The Ventoux, maybe it's the exposed top or maybe that it stands alone
As a Dutchman, I am going to have to go with l'alpe D'Huez