Colnago GF Mont Ventoux Gravel

The gravel day of the Colnago GF Mont Ventoux deliberately stays off the Giant of Provence itself: the organisers chose to show riders landscapes they find just as grand but better suited to gravel bikes.

From Vaison-la-Romaine the loops thread through the limestone spires of the Dentelles de Montmirail on tracks that swing between fast rolling sections and more playful ones, pass beneath the cliffs of the Clapis and drop into the AOC Ventoux vineyards of the Comtat plain. The longer course links hilltop villages such as Crestet before wandering the quiet valleys at the gates of the Baronnies, on farm lanes through apricot orchards and fragrant pine woods.

The gravel rides open a festival weekend in Vaison that continues the next day with the road gran fondo up the Ventoux, run by the team behind the GF Series Colnago events.