Animated “La Reine” Route Details (France) Map
Animated map provided by ZwiftHacks
Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, La Reine (translated “The Queen”) is the Queen Stage of the vTDF, taking riders up Mount Ventoux to the Chalet Reynard banner. It’s also the only route that isn’t listed in the France map’s route picker, indicating that La Reine will continue to be event-only even after the France map is added to the guest map rotation. This route is an alternative way to ride Mount Ventoux, but be warned: it bypasses the Mount Ventoux KOM start line, so if you choose to ride all the way to the top, you won’t be listed on the leaderboard or Strava segments for the climbs! (If you want to ride the KOM start to finish, select the Ven-Top route.)

Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, La Reine (translated “The Queen”) is the Queen Stage of the vTDF, taking riders up Mount Ventoux to the Chalet Reynard banner. It’s also the only route that isn’t listed in the France map’s route picker, indicating that La Reine will continue to be event-only even after the France map is added to the guest map rotation.

This route is an alternative way to ride Mount Ventoux, but be warned: it bypasses the Mount Ventoux KOM start line, so if you choose to ride all the way to the top, you won’t be listed on the leaderboard or Strava segments for the climbs! (If you want to ride the KOM start to finish, select the Ven-Top route.)

Route Basics

Length: 22.8 km (14.2 miles)
Elevation: 1181 m (3,875‘)
Lead-In: 0 km ( miles)
Map: France

Start & Finish

Begins from start pens, ends at Chalet-Reynard KOM banner partway up Ventoux.

Restriction: Event Only

Banners and Leaderboards

(in order of appearance)
Ballon Sprint
Petit KOM

Strava Strava Segments

La Reine

Bike Selection

Looking to get your fastest time up this climb? The Specialized Tarmac Pro frame with Lightweight Meilenstein wheels is your best bet! Check out Fastest Bike Frame and Wheelset for Climbing Alpe du Zwift for more tips.

See Upcoming Events on This Route >

Route Description

We begin by traveling west from the start pens, then taking the first right to ride along the twisty river road toward the hot air balloon fields and Ballon sprint. Enjoy your 8km of flat warmup, because you’ll soon turn right and begin the Petit KOM climb – and your climbing won’t end until you reach the KOM banner at Chalet Reynard over 14km (and 1100 meters) later!

The climb up to Chalet Reynard is beautiful, with the landscape morphing from lowland rolling hills to granite-strewn pine forests. You’ll pass the Didi (aka “El Diablo”) balloon 1km from the finish line. Got anything left? Push it to the end!

Keep Going?

For those unfamiliar with Mount Ventoux’s layout, Chalet Reynard is located 6km before the finish line at the very top of Mount Ventoux. If you choose, you can continue riding after finishing the La Reine route, climbing for another 6km to the summit.

A bit of TDF History

In 2016, Tour organizers cut the Mont Ventoux stage short due to high winds, deciding to end it at Chalet Reynard. Race leader Chris Froome crashed into a stopped moto and famously elected to run his way across the final ~1km since he couldn’t ride his broken bike! (He was eventually given a neutral service bike.)