Just one kilometre short of the summit of the 'giant of provence', Mont Ventoux, is a small memorial to British cyclist Tom Simpson.
Simpson was at the time of his death one of the most successful British cyclists of all time, becoming the first British rider to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.
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He died agonisingly close to the summit of Mont Ventoux having taken a potent cocktail of amphetamines and brandy as the Tour de France scaled the brutal climb back in 1967.
His death sparked a change in the attitude to doping at the time and in the fight to ban it within the sport. While the debate would give way in time to a continued culture of drug taking, his legacy may well be in serving as a reminder to us all that the pressures to succeed should not be at any cost.
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