School stage trip to Mont Ventoux

Mont Ventoux has already broken many cyclists: Flickering black-and-white shots show Tom Simpson creeping up the road in serpentine lines before falling off his bike and dying. In many photos of the Tour de France, riders pull helplessly on the handlebars in the heat and stare blankly at the ramp ahead. Nobody underestimates the Ventoux - it is a cycling myth. And 23 pupils from the Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium in Erlangen also want to conquer it. They are part of the project seminar "Road Bike Stage Ride", which starts on their school doorstep and leads to the summit of Mont Ventoux. You could also call their project "From zero to Ventoux": Nobody in the group has any road cycling experience.

Road bike stage ride or "from zero to Ventoux"

Organiser Christian Jechnerer, his racing bike buddy Benny Wagner and sports teacher Verena Löffler want to make sure that everyone reaches the summit. From a purely visual point of view, the 23 pupils look like a well-rehearsed racing bike team: at the start of the school stage ride in Erlangen, they all wear the standardised team outfit and ride out of the schoolyard in an orderly line of two. Parents and younger pupils bid the group farewell with applause. The stage trip to France has been taking place every two years since 2013 - only coronavirus forced a break. Jule Baier still remembers well how she watched as a fifth-grader when the "big ones" set off - today the 17-year-old is there herself. The inventor and driving force behind the stage ride is French teacher Christian Jechnerer - his love of France and racing bikes inspired him to start the project. In the P-seminar, the work begins months before the start: planning the route, looking for accommodation, recruiting and visiting sponsors, ordering jerseys - and, above all, training on the bike. The students who apply for the seminar are completely normal, not experienced racing cyclists.

Pupils discover the racing bike

Just like Sophia Becker: the 17-year-old plays handball as a competitive sport and is able to use her strong body to good effect. Although she is well trained, the small climbs on the way to Pforzheim make her break out in a sweat. There are parched fields to the left and right of the road, the sun burns down from the sky and heats up the tarmac - the bike computer shows more than 40 degrees. Stitches with double-digit gradients loom up again and again. Sophia's respect for Mont Ventoux grows. If the small hills hurt so much, what will it be like on the big mountain? She sits on an older aluminium racer that she bought second-hand from a classmate who rode with her four years ago. Used bikes are standard on the student stage race, as are aluminium frames and rim brakes. Suddenly Sophia calls out loudly to the front: "Flat tyre - again. Her 23-millimetre narrow tyres are pretty worn, but she knows what to do: take the wheel out, change the inner tube and pump it up again. The students have learnt manual skills and teamwork in preparation. Naturally, someone hands over their pump and another passenger holds the bike.

Student stage trip as an intensive course

As an experienced racing cyclist and teacher, "Directeur sportif" Christian Jechnerer naturally knows that you can learn for life through sport, especially cycling. The ability to work in a team, communication skills and empathy are "soft skills" that will not only be useful to the students later in their working lives. In this respect, the racing bike adventure is also an intensive course in social skills - in ten stages. Raphael Rogner likes that. He trained in judo for years, but then became fed up with the ego culture in the sport. Cycling in a group, on the other hand, "is great fun", he says happily. He is one of the fittest in the group, often rides at the front and for long periods in the wind. He reliably gives hand signals when road damage or obstacles appear. When the route goes uphill, he drops back and sees if weaker cyclists could use a hand. On the third stage, the road winds gently uphill through Alsatian vineyards. At the end of the peloton, the panting gets louder. Sophia falls behind, Benny Wagner pushes her a little from time to time. He has been racing for years and is there to accompany her. After the past few hot days, the sky is cloudy. The support vehicle is waiting in a car park with lunch: Fruit juice, bread, cheese and sausage as well as fruit are ready for refreshment. It is cold and the girls wrap themselves in blankets. Around 50 kilometres to Strasbourg.

Education and recreation day

At the seat of the European Parliament, the following day is both an educational and recreational day. From their accommodation in a youth hostel, the group cycles to the EU Parliament, where a guided tour has been booked. In order to take nice photos for the sponsors, the young people take the tour of the Parliament in cycling jerseys. In the afternoon, the students have free time. So far, they have coped with the physical exertions without any major problems - only one had to drop out with a cold. However, after the third stage of the school stage tour, it is not the legs that give out, but the engines: both accompanying vehicles have problems. While the students enjoy their free time, the supervisors are constantly on the phone trying to organise a solution to the problem. The P-seminar's budget is tight, so simply booking a hire car is not an option. Fortunately, the parents of one of the students finally make their car available - but it has to be picked up in Erlangen.

Little support for the school stage trip

The fact that the project has to be economical is also evident in Mulhouse: the hotel on the edge of the industrial area is a large residential container, with men in vests peering curiously at the group from the open windows. In the evening, the boys and girls eat in the car park - couscous from the supermarket, cheese and sausage they have brought with them. In the morning, they have muesli and bread in the same place. Low budget is the basic principle of the school trip - there is no other way. Christian Jechnerer tried again and again to get subsidies, mostly in vain. While theatre performances or train journeys to Berlin follow familiar patterns and receive financial support, the school trip to France is not even worthy of support from the Franco-German Youth Office. So the only option is to collect sponsorship money through jersey advertising and to plan as cheaply as possible. Private cars from parents or company cars from sponsors and volunteer chaperones are a prerequisite - the two teachers even have to pay the participation fee of 500 euros themselves. No one compensates them for the additional work that goes beyond their regular teaching hours. The two drivers of the accompanying cars also work on a voluntary basis: they transport the luggage and set up the catering point at lunchtime.

School stage trip with an educational mission

In addition to sport, organiser Jechnerer also pursues his educational mission quite consistently. A tour of Strasbourg's historic city centre, a visit to the birthplace of Albert Schweitzer, a detour through historic Colmar, the Romanesque abbey church of Saint-Philibert in Tournus or the Roman temple in Vienne - not all of these things are met with enthusiasm by the exhausted students. But the tiredness is wiped away when the first group realises that the Tour de France is just around the corner. After a 30-kilometre diversions, they are actually standing on the route, the advertising caravan and professional peloton within their grasp. But the sight is hard-earned: 175 kilometres instead of the planned 140 are on the speedometer by late evening. So far, the stages have been between 93 and 155 kilometres long and led over up to 1450 metres in altitude. None of the cycling students had ever covered so many kilometres on a bike before. The cycling classroom is usually divided into a slightly faster "Group 1" and a slightly more social "Group 2", which is orientated towards slower cyclists. However, both groups equally need the rest days interspersed between the ten stages. Especially after - minor - crashes have cost additional energy. The recovery programme: strolling around town, cooking or eating together, a dip in the campsite swimming pool, listening to music or simply lying in a hammock. "Above all, I slept a lot," says Raphael.

Final of the school stage tour on Mont Ventoux

He does the same on the morning of the last stage and arrives late for breakfast, which has rarely been so quiet on previous days. Sophia and Jule look intently at the table, their thoughts focussed on just one thing: today we are going to Mont Ventoux. Two days ago, the "Géant de Provence" had already loomed on the horizon as a solitary mountain giant - today the ultimate climbing test awaits. Three climbs lead up to Mont Ventoux; the students choose the longest but flattest route via Sault and Chalet Reynard. It is around 25 kilometres and 1200 metres in altitude to the highest point. Most of them were worried that their legs would give out, but now it's the tyres that are running out of air. Twelve students pull tacks out of their tyres - one can only assume that the explosive growth in road bike tourism in the region around the Ventoux is the reason for the sabotage of tacks. Another break at the foot of the climb. The next 19 kilometres run through the forest and are not too steep. The students are now allowed to ride at their own pace. Raphael seizes the opportunity and sets off with three others. "I was even able to ride on the big leaf," he reports proudly later. Jule also rides far ahead at her own pace and feels fitter than ever. Sophia cycles further back and is consciously controlled.

Wind at Mont Ventoux

The group meets up at Chalet Reynard for another refreshment stop. They all want to ride the most difficult section to the summit together. The Ventoux looks just as we know it from photos: the stony slopes to the right of the road, with the white tower of the observatory towering into the sky far ahead. A strong wind is blowing from the front, the leaders have to pedal hard. Raphael rides behind them and feels "as if we are standing still". Sophia is at the back of the group, Verena occasionally pushes her. The gradient fluctuates between five and twelve per cent. The group rides very slowly so that everyone can keep up. They already have 2200 metres of ascent in their legs, then the finish is in sight: After the last steep ramp before the pass sign has been conquered, a feeling of joy and pride spreads through everyone. "The slow pace at the end was a bit annoying, but it was good for the experience as a community," says Jule, as cool gusts chase across the car park in front of the observatory. The joy is displaced by the cold - it's time to leave. The real joy of the achievement only comes when we return to our accommodation. The pressure finally drops.

Positive conclusion of the student stage trip

"Everyone said that the Ventoux was so hard," says Raphael, "but there were more strenuous stages." His conclusion: "It was great with my group and I will definitely continue cycling. I've already arranged a cycling holiday with two friends." Jule has a similar opinion: "I'm very, very glad that I did the ride. The experience in the group is a special feeling." Sophia also looks back positively on the time: "We really grew together." Her highlight was the ride up Mont Ventoux: "At the beginning, I didn't think I could do it, but now I'm proud of myself." No one failed the practical climbing test - everyone made it. The package of ten stages, 1,300 kilometres and 10,500 metres in altitude taught them a lot about communication, team building and practical organisation along the way. If school is supposed to make you fit for life, then the stage trip to France for 22 young people from Erlangen certainly played its part. Christian Jechnerer's most important objective was also fulfilled: "The first goal was for everyone to make it to the top in front of the pass sign. But for me as a teacher, what is more important is what I saw in the evening: lots of smiling faces. The happiness of having made it in the community is the most important thing."

Fancy your own tours in the region? Here are tips for Ardèche road cycling region