Mont Ventoux

From Bédoin: about 21.4 km at around 7.5%, summit near 1,910 m, top road closed from mid-November The hardest classic on this list for most riders, because the Bédoin side gives you a long, steep forest section before the bare limestone moonscape near the summit, where there is no shade and the wind can be brutal. Tom Simpson died near the top during the 1967 Tour, and his roadside memorial is a place many riders stop. The top road shuts each winter and reopens around mid-April on the south side and mid-May on the north; the closure applies to bikes too. Malaucène and Sault offer two more ways up, Sault being the gentlest.