Stele dedicated to Tom Simpson

Every cycling fan knows the sad story of Tom Simpson, who officially heralded the sad story of doping in cycling: Simpson collapsed during the 1967 Tour de France due to heart failure. Later it was determined that he was pumped full of amphetamines and alcohol. At the point where he collapsed, there is a memorial stone, where many cyclists stop and leave something behind, for example a water bottle.

If you are interested in the history of the Tour de France and cycling in general, you should stop here for a moment. The then world champion Tom Simpson died there under the influence of some prohibited substances.

The stele dedicated to Tom Simpson is located 1.5 km from the summit of Ventoux, where the convict of the road, victim of the slope and amphetamines on July 13, 1967, felt he was falling to his death. The 29-year-old British cyclist, victim of a heart attack while climbing Mont Bald, will die in Avignon hospital (Vaucluse). For the thirty years of his death, in 1997, a copper plate was riveted to the gray marble of the stele by his daughters Jane and Joanne Simpson: "There is no mountain too high" ).