MONT VENTOUX: THE MAKING OF

We have so many photos to share with you from our trip to shoot the new Triebwerk CR that we decided to share it with you here.

In early July, a handful of the Standert Family piled into two vehicles and drove from Berlin, Germany to Caromb, France for cycling Mont Ventoux. Fifteen hours drive through the night, we approach Caromb on a Monday morning, the infamous Mont Ventoux a welcome beacon in the distance.

We cheers one quick celebratory beer, roll into our accom, then get to work right away with our riders (turned models) filming on the rooftop in the afternoon sun: "I've never been to Mont Ventoux..." (You can see the product of this shoot here).

Our first meal altogether is spaghetti and caprese salad made by Maxe on the terrace. The next morning is an early one. Three of us in the Standert bus, three of us by bike, we set out at sunrise for what will be a day of shooting on Mont Ventoux.

We pass vineyards on the way to the base of Mont Ventoux. And so begins the climb...

Our first meal altogether is spaghetti and caprese salad made by Maxe on the terrace. The next morning is an early one. Three of us in the Standert bus, three of us by bike, we set out at sunrise for what will be a day of shooting on Mont Ventoux.

We pass vineyards on the way to the base of Mont Ventoux. And so begins the climb...

The wind blows mist across the roads, and the higher altitudes get colder by the metre. We're all cold and exhilarated. A crew of motorbikes speed up and back down the mountain as we climb.

For race day, we decide to hike. We climb Ventoux on foot this time: weaving through the pines and rocks to a switchback a little down the mountain from Le Chalet Reynard, where we waited eagerly for the competitors to ride by. Helicopters overhead, a drunken Lance Armstrong fan waving a flag in front of us, and plenty of fans as eager as we were.

We hand out cans of coke to the riders. Get a wave from Lukas Pöstelberger and a smile from others. We wander up the mountain slowly as the riders go by, and arrive at the Chalet to see the bulk of the riders speed past, past the same mountain Tom and Anja climbed the day before.

As for the descent from the mountain, we'd rather not talk about it. Let's just say a pin was dropped in the wrong place and we got our cross-country hiking boots on. We're looking at you, Kadir.

Even with the cross-country hiking, this trip was truly memorable. The tour, tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes, late night pizza when nothing was open after our shoot days, and sunset on one of the most famous and beautiful mountains in France. I guess now we've been to Mont Ventoux!

Footnotes

All photos by Savannah van der Niet