The Belgian rider completed seven ascents of the iconic mountain to raise money for a charity close to her heart
You will know Mont Ventoux by its austere landscape. By that beating sun and howling wind relentlessly tormenting an expanse of barren white ground, the striped weather station looming proudly at its summit. Those lunar-like slopes tell stories. No one leaves Mont Ventoux without their own unique experience of the climb, but few have felt it like Margot Vanpachtenbeke. For her, this mountain means more.
It began with a phone call. The Belgian rider’s sports director had news: Vanpachtenbeke was a reserve for the Tour de France Femmes this year. She would likely not take part, and now had nine free days in August when she had originally hoped to be at a bike race.
“I was thinking, what can I do with those unexpected nine days? I wanted to do something useful,” the Belgian rider states.
“Being a cyclist, you don’t have a lot of time for family things, and my dad unfortunately had a cancer relapse in February.”
Time is very precious for us. I thought going on a trip with him, father and daughter, would be really nice. The idea to go to Ventoux came quite at the last minute.
Vanpachtenbeke started making calls and sending emails, motivated by the idea of raising money for those who suffer from cancer by doing the thing she does best: riding a bicycle. With the help of the Kom op tegen Kanker, a non-profit organisation which funds scientific cancer research, palliative care and support networks, the 27-year-old had a plan. She would travel with her father to the Giant of Provence and summit the mountain as many times as she possibly could.
“We drove there overnight and I woke up at four in the morning on Wednesday to start riding in the dark. It was pretty cool because it was so quiet and I saw the sunrise at the top. I rode back to the camper where my dad was standing to refill bottles, then back up to the top,” Vanpachtenbeke recalls.
“My aunt was on holiday nearby so she came and drove behind me for two climbs with fresh water bottles as it got hot in the afternoon.
I rode until it was too dark to continue anymore. I just wanted to raise awareness for this cause and give it some attention. My dad was very emotional.
In the end, Vanpachtenbeke covered over 295-kilometers, riding for 15-and-a-half hours, and ticking off 10,614 meters of elevation gain. It was seven ascents of one of cycling’s hardest climbs, but the Belgian rider says she barely felt any pain. She was fuelled by a greater cause, her watts coming directly from the heart.
“I didn’t have a number in mind before but I just went up and down, doing as many as I could. I never thought about quitting, I even wanted to continue after dark but it wasn’t safe on the downhill anymore. I just knew why I was doing it, and that drove me.
I’d slept three hours for two nights in a row, so that should have made me exhausted, but I was just so driven.
The following day after completing her mammoth ride, Vanpachtenbeke cheered on her teammates who were racing up Ventoux on the Queen stage of the Tour de France Femmes. They were writing their own stories on the magical mountain.
“It’s so iconic and completely mythical when you are there,” she explains. “It was nice to be there to see the race from a different perspective too. Normally you’re in the circus yourself but it’s cool to see it from the other side. Sleeping on the mountain in the camper with my dad and seeing the stars at night with him – that was a special moment.”
Vanpachtenbeke’s trip to Ventoux has so far raised over €14,000, a number she is both surprised and delighted by. This climb will always hold distinct memories for both her and her father – the stars and sunrise are etched in the mind of the Vanpachtenbekes, locked away in a precious part of their beings. The impact Margot’s ride has had is not lost on her.
“Besides the money, I got a lot of messages from people I don’t know who are in same situation. To have this reaction, it’s really nice to be able to share with other people,” she smiles.
“It’s been a huge moment in my life, it wasn’t something that was pre-planned or especially organised, it was impulsive and last-minute, but it’s been incredible. I feel like I’ve done something special.”
You can still donate to Margot’s fundraiser here: https://www.komoptegenkanker.be/acties/margot-vanpachtenbeke-beklimt-de-mont-ventoux
