Smets wants to cycle backwards onto the Ventoux
Former motocross rider Joël Smets turns 50 in April and the Belgian wants to celebrate this in a special way. The five-time world champion from Dessel will climb Mont Ventoux by bike. Smets does this backwards, on an upside-down saddle and with mirrors on his bicycle.
“I'm turning 50 this year and people sometimes do crazy things,” says Smets at Sporza. “The idea arose between a few drinks to climb Mont Ventoux with my good friend Marc Herremans.” Herremans, a well-known triathlete who became paralyzed in a cycling accident in 2002, does so on a hand bike. “That will be a feat. He has to pull himself up on his arms,” says Smets. “I will accompany him, sitting backwards on my bicycle. My saddle will be mounted upside down on my stem. And where the saddle normally sits, I will mount two mirrors. We do this because it is difficult for me to look back on such a bicycle.”
The two former top athletes will climb the illustrious, barren mountain of over 1900 meters in the south of France on June 15 during a 'challenge' for charity. They want to raise as much money as possible for the foundation To Walk Again, founded by Herremans. Smets and Herremans also conquered the Mont Ventoux in their remarkable way in 2006. Back then it took them three hours.
Posted: Steven van Kempen/KEMCO
Photos: shotbyBavo
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