The day Tom Simpson met his death under the scorching sun of Mont Ventoux

Maybe the Mont Ventoux there is no popularity of other fabricated climbs. Its slopes and ramps may not be as daunting as other climbs that elevate your hair. ‘Big Loop’but giant of Provence, the bald mount or the hill of the storms – three of the nicknames for which it is known – was one of the most feared harbors within the platoon, then and now. A mountain that does not reach 2,000 meters, offering a 22-kilometer climb, lunar in appearance due to the absence of vegetation, where the runner is constantly exposed to strong winds and the scorching sun, the same day that may be accompanied by important signs of the British cyclist tom simpsonalso product of a cocktail of amphetamines, died on July 13, 1967, in the 13th stage, between Marseilles and Carpentras that the Dutch would win Jan Janssen.

However, the first runner to reach the top was Julio JimenezThe Avila watchmaker, who died on June 8, always burning in his memory what happened to Simpson, because he lived in the first person. “I saw him fall off the bike, when I first thought he had taken off his shoes, the team directors made him stand back but he fell again a few meters away,” Jiménez recalled.

An event already World of sports narrated in these words the other day: “A dramatic paradox that puts a luxurious border on yesterday’s magnificent stage of‘ Tours ’, run under the blazing sun! Tom Simpson, Britain’s great champion has fallen from the machine -according to the appearance- hit by the sunstroke on Mont Ventoux, and despite the fact that he was treated immediately and evacuated by helicopter, he would die before reaching the hospital dand Avignon. So died a man who above all loved the sun.

A tragic event that took place three kilometers from the top, where there is a plaque in honor and memory of an amazing cyclist-he was the first English road cycling world champion, a title he won in lasarteat first World Cup played in Spain-who is in the lethal stage is 7th overall, having achieved 16 successes as a professional, including the aforementioned Road World Championship, the Giro d Lombardía, the Tour of Flanders or the Milan-San Remo.

THE MOUNTAIN THAT DOES NOT FORGIVE THE WEAK

Tom Simpson isn’t the only cyclist that the Provence giant is scared the hell out of him. The philosopher Roland Barthes wrote in 1955 that Mont Ventoux “never forgives the weak” and he was right. And if not, ask cyclists like Ferdi Kluber, who was warned about the hardness of this lunar mountain, but he didn’t pay much attention when he replied that he wasn’t a cyclist like the others. Without going into comparisons. In fact he fainted and that same night he decided to stop cycling.

The doctor Dumashospital doctor Tour de Franceissued the following statement after Simpson’s death: “Runner Tom Simpson fainted less than three kilometers from the top of Mont Ventoux. Shortly afterwards he fell into a coma. He was immediately treated by the mob. Tour’s medical service, which used all resuscitation methods.The runner experienced slight improvement and was transferred by helicopter to the Avignon hospital, where the resuscitation process continued, under the direction of Dr. Macorig. Arriving at the hospital, Tom Simpson was in a state of apparent death and the hospital doctors also used resuscitation techniques on him, but with no success. Tom Simpson died at 5:40 p.m. The responsible doctors agreed to deny the necessary permission to bury the runner’s body. “

Doctors at Avignon Hospital refused permission to bury the body until autopsy was learned, indicating that an explosive mixture of amphetamine and alcohol caused the heart to collapse. At the time, doping was an issue that was starting to cause concern. A year before, anti-doping controls had begun to be implemented at the Tour de France, with opposition from many cyclists who considered it an intrusion on their private lives. Simpson’s death ‘served’ somehow that controls were not only maintained but intensified.