I wrote about Tadej Pogačar’s near record-breaking performance on the Hautacam climb of stage 12 of the 2025 Tour de France, on which he climbed dramatically faster than every Tour rider had in the 2022, 2014, 2008, and 2000 tours. In doing so, he also came within half-a-minute of Bjarne Riis’ famous (or infamous, given later revelations about how he climbed so fast) rampage up Hautacam in the 1996 Tour de France. I was inspired to write that earlier article, despite not watching the Tour live this year, because I had referenced Mr. Riis’s 1996 Hautacam climb in a January 2024 article on contextualizing the performances of doped road cyclists against doped competition. I did not plan to cover another climb in the 2025 Tour, but my Hautacam article performed unexpectedly well and then the peloton decided to light up the stage 16 summit finish on Mont Ventoux. I figured we might as well return to the 2025 Tour for a second climbing article.
A Brief Introduction For the Uninitiated
The Tour de France is a three-week stage race. The 2025 edition of the Tour has 21 stages. In every Tour, there are several “summit finishes” where a long day of racing terminates atop a high mountain. Stage 12, which I covered in my previous article, was one such summit finish — culminating on the Hautacam climb.
Most riders at the Tour de France are not competing for the overall victory or even a high placement in the final overall standings. Many riders are there for team support, to try to snag a stage win in a breakaway, in sprinting stages, or in other minor classifications. The riders competing for general classification placements, that is, the best aggregate time across all the stages, generally target the summit finishes and individual time trials to make the difference against their rivals. It is not always the case that the best climber wins the Tour de France, but it suffices to say that one must climb at a high-level climber to wear the iconic yellow leader’s jersey into Paris and the finish line.
Stage 16 of the 2025 Tour de France terminated on Mont Ventoux. Mont Ventoux is a 20.8 km (apx 12.9 mile) climb with an average gradient of 7.7% and a maximum gradient of 13.3%. It first appeared in the Tour de France in 1951 and, counting 2025, has appeared in 18 Tours, with 11 of those 18 appearances being summit finishes (the others came in the middle of a stage). As we will see when we look at the fastest ascents of Mont Ventoux, it has also appeared in other stage races – namely the one-week Critérium du Dauphiné which takes place in June and is regularly raced by prospective Tour contenders (see French Wikipedia page for more detail about its appearances outside the Tour).
Fastest Ascents of Mont Ventoux Before 2025
I noted in my 2024 article about Lance Armstrong that 1994-98 produced many of the fastest climbing performances in Tour history by many power estimates, at least prior to 2024. Mont Ventoux was not used as a summit finish in that period. It was a summit finish in the 1958, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1987, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2013, 2016, and now 2025 Tours de France. Thus, we will never know how some of the fastest climbers of the era would have flattened the nearly 13 mile climb at the Tour. But fear not – the Mont Ventoux records prior to the 2025 Tour were still impressive. Before continuing, we must clarify two points. Firstly, with two exceptions, the fastest climbing performances on Mont Ventoux prior to the 2025 came in various editions of the one-week Critérium du Dauphiné. Secondly, several of those performances came in individual time trials – where the entire stage consisted of individual riders climbing Mont Ventoux against the clock – instead of full stages, where the Peloton partook in a long stage which only ended on Mont Ventoux. I present the best 23 climbs prior to 2025 below, courtesy of an archived capture from a 2013 Climbing-Records.com and a 2025 Cycling Flash report by Mihai Simion:
| Rank | Year | Race | Stage Type | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2004 | CDL | ITT | Iban Mayo | 55:51 |
| 2 | 2004 | CDL | ITT | Tyler Hamilton | 56:26 |
| 3 | 1999 | CDL | ITT | Jonathan Vaughters | 56:50 |
| 4 | 2004 | CDL | ITT | Oscar Sevilla | 56:24 |
| 5 | 1999 | CDL | ITT | Alexander Vinokourov | 57:33 |
| 6 | 1994 | TDF | Road | Marco Pantani | 57:34 |
| 7 | 1999 | CDL | ITT | Wladimir Belli | 57:34 |
| 8 | 2004 | CDL | ITT | Juan Miguel Mercado | 57:39 |
| 9 | 1999 | CDL | ITT | Joseba Beloki | 57:42 |
| 10 | 2004 | CDL | ITT | Lance Armstrong | 57:49 |
| 11 | 1999 | CDL | ITT | Lance Armstrong | 57:52 |
| 12 | 2021 | MVD | Road | Miguel Angel Lopez | 57:55 |
| 13 | 2004 | CDL | ITT | Inigo Landaluze | 58:14 |
| 14 | 1999 | CDL | ITT | Kevin Livingston | 58:15 |
| 15 | 1999 | CDL | ITT | David Moncoutie | 58:31 |
13 of the 15 fastest ascents of Mont Ventoux prior to 2025 came not in the Tour de France, but instead in the 1999 and 2004 Critérium du Dauphiné Libre races. Moreover, both of those stages were individual time trials instead of full stages, which were conducive to faster times.
The record was set by Iban Mayo, a Basque climbing specialist, who posted a blazing 55:51 in winning the stage 4 individual time trial, 35 seconds clear of second place (and second fastest ascent ever), Tyler Hamilton. The third fastest ascent was by Jonathan Vaughters in the 1999 Critérium du Dauphiné, where he won the stage with a 56:50 ascent of Mont Ventoux. Readers may notice the presence of Lance Armstrong (a teammate of Mr. Vaughters and 14th place Kevin Livingston) at 10th and 11th for his Mont Ventoux time trial performances in 1999 and 2004 respectively. While he did not win either of those editions of the Dauphiné, Mr. Armstrong would win his next race both years – the 1999 and 2004 Tours de France (or so he did before the results were retroactively annulled). For whatever it is worth, to the best of my knowledge every rider in the top-15 save for Wladimir Belli and David Moncoutie (see interesting comments from Mr. Moncoutie about competing against doped riders), either had a positive test, admitted to doping, or were implicated in the 2006 Operation Puerto (note however that not everyone implicated or otherwise named in Operation Puerto were sanctioned and some deny having used illicit substances, including Messrs. Sevilla, who is still active, and Beloki))
The only top-15 times posted outside of the 1999 and 2004 Dauphiné races was Marco Pantani at stage 15 of the 1994 Tour de France and Migel Ángel López at the one-day Mont Ventoux Dénivelé (the only non-Tour and non-Dauphine time in the top-15). Mr. Pantani’s time is subtly remarkable in that Ventoux was not a summit finish in 1994, but instead appeared in the middle of a longer stage. Moreover, a breakaway was ahead of the main group which included Mr. Pantani. While we will never know for certain, it is possible (if not likely) that the 1994 Tour may have produced times close to Mr. Mayo’s record had Mont Ventoux been a summit finish that year. I submit as evidence some of the spectacular performances in the 1994 Tour on Hautacam.
Prior to 2025 stage 16, the Tour de France assaults on Mont Ventoux did not register in the upper echelon of the best times on the climb. Below, I note some of the notable Tour times. (Note: I watched the 2009 and 2013 Tours live, so some of my discusson of those comes from my recollection.)
- 2009: Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador (58:45)
Mont Ventoux was a summit finish on the penultimate stage 20 of the 2009 Tour de France. The stage was won by a breakaway, but a small group of contenders including Andy Schleck, Alberto Contador, Frank Schleck, Lance Armstrong, and Roman Keruziger who finished within a few seconds of each other to lead the contenders. Mr. Contador had a commanding lead overall going into the stage for what would be his second Tour win, but the group climbed fast with podium positions still on the line. - 2013: Chris Froome (58:47): Chris Froome won the stage, and eventually the Tour, with a commanding 58:47 performance on Mont Ventoux.
- 2002: Lance Armstrong (59:00): Richard Vireqnue won the 2002 Mont Ventoux summit finish from a breakaway, but Mr. Armstrong, who was en route to what would be his second biggest winning margin at the Tour, road the contenders off his wheel in posting the fastest ascent in the 2002 edition of the Tour.
- 1994: Richard Virenque, Armand De Las Cuevas, Luc Leblanc, Miguen Indurain, and Roberto Conti (59:02): Marco Pantani was not the only rider who flew up Mont Ventoux on the mid-stage ascent of the mountain in 1994. Several other riders from the main group, including the eventual winner of the 94 Tour, Miguel Indurain, flew up the mountain at 59:02, supporting my theory that we may have seen some blazing times had Ventoux been a summit finish that year.
- 2000: Marco Pantani and Lance Armstrong (59:05): Mr. Armstrong was in command of the 2000 Tour de France and followed an attack by Mr. Pantani (who was by that point not in the running to win the race) from the main contenders. Mr. Armstrong insisted he gave the stage to Mr. Pantani, a gesture/claim which was not appreciated by stage winner Pantani. (7.25.25 Update Note: Added link and slightly modified bullet to clarify uncertainty about the circumstances of the finish.)
Before we look at the 2025 Tour, I note an X post from cycling writer and time chronicler Mihai Simion (account @faustocoppi60), who I referenced in the above lists and will be referenced again in the next section. Prior to the 2019 Ventoux stage, Mr. Simion tweeted (it was then tweeting): “Iban Mayo holds the thermo-nuclear record: 55 min 51 sec. It won’t be beaten this century.” He reposted that message after 2025 stage 16 with the message “LOL, 2019 seems SOOOO far away.”
The New Mont Ventoux Records
Before looking at the records, we must consider the race context since stage 16 of the Tour de France was a road racing stage. Stage 16 was a 171.5 km (apx 106.6 miles) stage. It profiled as mostly flat prior to the final ascent to Mont Ventoux (see stage profile). The defending Tour winner, Tadej Pogačar , held a commanding 4:13 second lead over second place Jonas Vingegaard, which at this stage all but signaled the race for the overall was over barring disaster for Mr. Pogacar (especially in light of his current form).
A large breakaway got away from the Peloton — and four riders from the breakaway had enough of a margin to stay ahead of the top contenders for the overall victory on the stage. They would certainly need a big margin going into the Mont Ventoux climb, because the times we saw were certainly something. I now present the new top 16 fastest ascents of Mont Ventoux, courtesy of Mr. Mihai Simion’s excellent article in Cycling Flash:
| Rank | Year | Race | Stage Type | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025 | TDF | Road | Tadej Pogačar | 54:30 |
| 2 | 2025 | TDF | Road | Jonas Vingegaard | 54:32 |
| 3 | 2025 | TDF | Road | Primoz Roglic | 55:38 |
| 4 | 2025 | TDF | Road | Florian Lipowitz | 55:40 |
| 5 | 2004 | CDL | ITT | Iban Mayo | 55:51 |
| 6 | 2025 | TDF | Road | Oscar Onley | 56:16 |
| 7 | 2004 | CDL | ITT | Tyler Hamilton | 56:26 |
| 8 | 2025 | TDF | Road | Carlos Rodriguez | 56:49 |
| 9 | 1999 | CDL | ITT | Jonathan Vaughters | 56:50 |
| 10 | 2004 | CDL | ITT | Oscar Sevilla | 56:24 |
| 11 | 2025 | TDF | Road | Felix Gall | 57:20 |
| 12 | 2025 | TDF | Road | Adam Yates | 57:25 |
| 13 | 2025 | TDF | Road | Kevin Vauquelin | 57:29 |
| 14 | 2025 | TDF | Road | Sergio Higuita | 57:32 |
| 15 | 1999 | CDL | ITT | Alexander Vinokourov | 57:33 |
| 16 | 1994 | TDF | Road | Marco Pantani | 57:34 |
Before 14 of the 15 fastest times on Mont Ventoux came in the 1999 and 2004 individual time trials at the Dauphiné. Now 11 of the top 15 times come from the 2025 Tour de France, with the two fastest well over a minute faster than the previous record of Iban Mayo. Unsurprisingly, the new record-holder is the three-, and likely soon to be four-time winner of the Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar, who in last year’s 2024 Tour had shattered climbing records (based on popular power estimates) that had existed since the 1990s.
Although stage 16 of the Tour de France was relatively flat leading up to Mont Ventoux, which certainly made it more amenable to a a fierce assault on the climb than if Ventoux had been preceded by several high mountains, other factors make the obliteration of Mr. Mayo’s now-former record more remarkable. As I noted, Mr. Mayo’s record came on a stage four individual time trial in a one week stage race. As Mr. Simion noted, stage 16 of the Tour “was by far, the fastest ascent on this terrible mountain despite coming after 2 weeks ridden at record-breaking speed, 44 km/h since Lille.” Kārlis Ozols, writing for Lanterne Rouge, provided additional context:
Despite an inconsistent pace and multiple attacks, the Mont Ventoux record was destroyed.
Indeed. Mr. Vingegaard did most of the pulling on the mountain with Mr. Pogačar, racing in poll position, following. Both Messrs. Pogačar and Vingegaard tried to drop the other to no avail before Mr. Pogačar picked up a couple of seconds with a sprint to the finish. Based on the estimated W/Kg used by Lanterne Rouge, Mr. Ozlos described Mr. Pogačar’s climb as “the best long climbing performance ever.” Between their powerful performances on Mont Ventoux and Hautacam in 2025 and stunning shows of force in the 2024 Tour on Plateau de Beille and other high mountains, it seems fair to say that Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard are peaking at a climbing level hitherto unseen in professional road cycling, or at a minimum largely not rivaled since some of the performances turned in by the top riders of the mid-to-late 1990s.
NBC posted lengthy highlights from stage 16 on YouTube, featuring the epic battle between race leaders Pogačar and Vingegaard.
