[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"header-nav":3,"footer-nav":29,"article-queens-of-the-climbs-tour-de-france-femmes-takes-on-ventoux":82,"category-counts-nav":96,"related-queens-of-the-climbs-tour-de-france-femmes-takes-on-ventoux":106},[4,8,11,14,17,20,23,26],{"label":5,"to":6,"exact":7},"Home","\u002F",true,{"label":9,"to":10},"World Cup","\u002Fworldcup",{"label":12,"to":13},"Standings","\u002Fstandings",{"label":15,"to":16},"Football","\u002Fcategory\u002Ffootball",{"label":18,"to":19},"Basketball","\u002Fcategory\u002Fbasketball",{"label":21,"to":22},"Tennis","\u002Fcategory\u002Ftennis",{"label":24,"to":25},"F1","\u002Fcategory\u002Ff1",{"label":27,"to":28},"Long Reads","\u002Fcategory\u002Flong-reads",{"brand":30,"columns":32,"tagline":80,"copyright":81},{"description":31},"In-depth sports journalism covering football, basketball, tennis, F1, and beyond. Daily analysis, long reads, and expert opinion.",[33,51,59],{"heading":34,"links":35},"Leagues",[36,39,42,45,48],{"label":37,"to":38},"Premier League","\u002Ftag\u002Fpremier-league",{"label":40,"to":41},"La Liga","\u002Ftag\u002Fla-liga",{"label":43,"to":44},"NBA","\u002Ftag\u002Fnba",{"label":46,"to":47},"Formula 1","\u002Ftag\u002Fformula-1",{"label":49,"to":50},"Champions League","\u002Ftag\u002Fchampions-league",{"heading":52,"links":53},"Content",[54,56,57],{"label":55,"to":16},"Analysis",{"label":27,"to":28},{"label":58,"to":16},"Data & Stats",{"heading":60,"links":61},"Company",[62,65,68,71,74,77],{"label":63,"to":64},"Terms of Service","\u002Fservice",{"label":66,"to":67},"Privacy Policy","\u002Fprivacy",{"label":69,"to":70},"Editorial Policy","\u002Feditorial",{"label":72,"to":73},"Contact Us","\u002Fcontact",{"label":75,"to":76},"About Us","\u002Fabout",{"label":78,"to":79},"Website Disclaimer","\u002Fdisclaimer","Built for the love of sport","© SportPulse. All rights reserved.",{"title":83,"slug":84,"category":85,"badge":24,"author":86,"excerpt":87,"date":88,"readTime":89,"image":90,"imageAlt":83,"tags":91,"body":94,"_path":95},"Tour de France Femmes Faces the Bald Mountain","queens-of-the-climbs-tour-de-france-femmes-takes-on-ventoux","long-reads","Elena Rossi","The women's peloton rolls out of Lausanne on Saturday with a first-ever ascent of Mont Ventoux on the route.","2026-07-31 15:53:23","2 min read","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fqueens-of-the-climbs-tour-de-france-femmes-takes-on-ventoux.webp",[92,93],"Tour de France Femmes","Cycling","The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift starts Saturday in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the route climbs Mont Ventoux for the first time in the event's short history. For the women's peloton, the Giant of Provence is not a footnote. It is the stage that will decide the general classification.\n\nProfessional cycling runs on seconds. On a climb of Ventoux's severity, time gaps measured in heartbeats can settle a stage race. Race director Marion Rousse and her team designed the 2024 route believing the women's field has the strength and tactical depth to produce a worthy contest on the mountain. That belief reflects how quickly the event has grown since Zwift backed the relaunch in 2022.\n\nThe Ventoux from Bédoin covers **21.5 kilometres** at an average gradient near **7.5 percent**. The averages deceive. The middle section through the forest ramps above **11 percent**, forcing a rider to measure her effort from the lower slopes. Above the tree line there is no shelter, only wind that compresses against the exposed limestone.\n\nA team hoping to deliver its leader to the base of the climb in contention must manage the approach roads and the fight for position. A bad day on a **false flat** or a mistimed feed zone can isolate a favourite before the road turns upward for the final time.\n\nLausanne gives the race a cross-border arc. The peloton leaves Switzerland and cuts through the Rhône valley, where the early stages favour sprinters and opportunists. But the Ventoux dictates the tempo from the start. A rider who chases glory in the opening days risks reaching the mountain with empty legs. The classification contenders will treat the transitional stages as exercises in preservation, avoiding crashes and splits that can bleed time before the foothills.\n\nWhether the pre-race favourites can produce acontest that lives up to the climb's severity is the question race direction has bet on. The women's Tour has acquired its own commercial weight and competitive gravity across two editions. Ventoux tests that bet directly.","\u002Farticles\u002Fqueens-of-the-climbs-tour-de-france-femmes-takes-on-ventoux",[97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,85,105],"analysis","basketball","cricket","f1","football","general","golf","mma","tennis",[107,119,132],{"id":108,"stem":108,"path":109,"title":110,"category":85,"badge":15,"badgeType":111,"author":86,"authorRole":112,"authorInitials":113,"date":114,"readTime":115,"image":116,"imageAlt":110,"tags":117,"excerpt":118},"joe-cordina-assault-charge-career-implications","\u002Farticles\u002Fjoe-cordina-assault-charge-career-implications","Cordina Charged With Assault: From Ring Glory to Legal Peril","category","SportPulse Contributor","ER","2026-06-25 13:32:40","6 min read","https:\u002F\u002Fichef.bbci.co.uk\u002Face\u002Fstandard\u002F976\u002Fcpsprodpb\u002Fef1a\u002Flive\u002F6233e710-7096-11f1-86cf-0fd142c2b6fb.jpg","Boxing, Super-Featherweight, Long Reads","Former super-featherweight world champion Joe Cordina faces assault and weapon threat charges, threatening to derail a career built on razor-thin margins.",{"id":120,"stem":120,"path":121,"title":122,"category":85,"badge":123,"badgeType":111,"author":124,"authorRole":125,"authorInitials":126,"date":127,"readTime":128,"image":129,"imageAlt":122,"tags":130,"excerpt":131},"claudia-sheinbaum-mexico-sport-power-political-long-read","\u002Farticles\u002Fclaudia-sheinbaum-mexico-sport-power-political-long-read","Sheinbaum's 80% Approval and the Political Sport of Mexican Power","Feature","James Chen","Senior Football Analyst","JC","2026-07-06 04:45:58","5 min read","https:\u002F\u002Fi.guim.co.uk\u002Fimg\u002Fmedia\u002F1166de4e13abff8bbe98f215c16747cefc154a73\u002F315_0_4850_3880\u002Fmaster\u002F4850.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=a538a70672efd5e10ec06e40bfa1ad15","Long Reads, Politics","Claudia Sheinbaum's record-breaking popularity mirrors a tactical masterclass in political statecraft.",{"id":133,"stem":133,"path":134,"title":135,"category":85,"badge":15,"badgeType":111,"author":86,"authorRole":112,"authorInitials":113,"date":136,"readTime":137,"image":138,"imageAlt":135,"tags":139,"excerpt":140},"infantino-autobiography-fifa-power-fantasy","\u002Farticles\u002Finfantino-autobiography-fifa-power-fantasy","The Gliding President: What Infantino's Book Reveals About FIFA's Soul","2026-07-01 23:27:04","7 min read","https:\u002F\u002Fi.guim.co.uk\u002Fimg\u002Fmedia\u002Ff3785d30ffadd28050456f23aa489e87093d4f7d\u002F0_0_3543_2835\u002Fmaster\u002F3543.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=cc15102e60e969883ee06487886e4a6d","FIFA, World Cup, Football Governance","Gianni Infantino's biography is less autobiography and more symptom of FIFA's deeper identity crisis."]