Two feet, two wheels… one mountain, one vest.
To test the Café du Cycliste x Compressport Ultride Evo 8 hydration vest, we sent ultra-trail champion Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz and former pro cyclist-turned-gravel-rider Loïc Chetout to Ventoux, in a head-to-head race to the top.
Our latest collaboration, with trail running specialists COMPRESSPORT creates a truly bike-specific hydration vest, so we set two top athletes a challenge: a running vs. cycling race to the top of Mont Ventoux, starting at our shop in Bédoin. Loïc Chetout on the bike and Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz on two feet. Two athletes, one mountain, one vest.
One takes advantage of the tarmac and the most efficient displacement machine known to humankind; the other, the ancient trails through the forest, the steeper the better. The road is faster at first, as the runner picks over roots and negotiates ridges, a flash of colour through the trees.
Then, at Chalet Reynard, the trees disappear. The red-and-white stripes of the antenna on top indicates the finish line for the first time and scale of the task still to be accomplished in this lunar landscape becomes clear. White hot glare hits them both, but the hydration vest does its job, and the cyclist begins to understand the strength of the winds that may have given the mountain its name.
The two routes converge without ever quite meeting, both are alone now in their own private battle with the mountain. Two different ways of pitting yourself against gravity and the grandeur of nature. Thin air, impossible gradients, one last push to the top. No winner, exactly, only two people united in a quest to push the limits in this incredible playground.
The Café du Cycliste x Compressport Ultride Evo 8 is custom-designed for on-bike hydration and to carry everything you need during even the longest of races. See more here.
Our store in Bédoin is the perfect place to begin and end your adventures on the mountain, which this year has already hosted the French national trail-running championships and in August welcomes the Tour de France Femmes. Come and visit for route advice, coffee, rental bikes and a wide selection of our apparel and accessories.
