Readers’ own stories · France · 2003

The white wilderness
and the chicken farmer’s thirst

The bottle was empty on Mont Ventoux. Water waited at the roadside, but a Danish Tour rider from 1958 intervened in the decision.

Illustration of a tired amateur cyclist climbing Mont Ventoux in the summer heat — Contemporary, AI-generated illustration of an amateur cyclist on Mont Ventoux in 2003. Not a photograph of the ride described.

The empty bottle

The bottle was empty, and the summit still lay higher in the white landscape.

It was July 2003. The sun beat down on Mont Ventoux, and the final kilometres crossed the limestone with little shade. French spectators stood along the road with containers, offering water to the riders.

I needed it. Even so, I rode past.

In the heat, I thought of Hans Edmund Andresen, the Danish rider known as the Chicken Farmer. He rode the Tour de France in 1958 and became the first Dane to finish the race.

That year’s 18th stage was a 21.6-kilometre mountain time trial from Bédoin to Mont Ventoux. Andresen was no natural climber. He was short and stocky, had built his strength on the track and rode the Tour with modest Danish support.

The day after the time trial, he told the newspaper Aftenbladet that people had continually offered him drinks. He had not dared accept them. He feared they would make him “weak at the knees”, and therefore waited before quenching his thirst.

I knew perfectly well that water was the sensible answer. But at that moment, an old Tour story was allowed to decide.

At the summit

Cold water

So I declined, gritted my teeth and continued. It was not the textbook advice on hydration in hot weather. It was simply the decision I made on the mountain.

The road continued through the bright, almost bare landscape towards the observatory. Near the summit, I passed the memorial to Tom Simpson, who died on Ventoux during the 1967 Tour. Cycling stories lie close together on this climb. Some are tragic. Others are small and personal.

I reached the summit and dismounted. There was no red wine, although Andresen said many years later that a litre after a stage could ensure a good night’s sleep.

I had cold water. It has rarely tasted better.

The story behind the memory

The Chicken Farmer from Høsterkøb

Hans Edmund Andresen acquired his nickname at the six-day races in Forum. At home in Høsterkøb, his family ran a poultry farm while he earned his living as a professional rider on the winter tracks.

Four Danes started the 1958 Tour. Andresen was the only one to reach Paris, finishing 62nd. His remark about the water on Ventoux appeared in Aftenbladet on 14 July 1958 and survives through the collections of the Royal Danish Library.

The reader’s ride took place 45 years later. Advice to avoid water had long since become obsolete. Yet old cycling stories can appear at peculiar moments — including when the bottle is empty.

Told by a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. Edited by The Evolution of Bikes.

Sources and image note

The 2003 ride, the heat, the empty bottle and the encounter with spectators are the reader’s recollection. Information about Hans Edmund Andresen and his statements is based on the Royal Danish Library’s review of contemporary newspapers and later interviews. The illustration is a contemporary interpretation and is not used as documentation.

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The Chicken Farmer from Høsterkøb

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