Provence · Sports & events

The classic ascent of the D974: 21.8km averaging 7.5% for 1,598m of climbing. Malaucène is 21km at much the same gradient, and Sault is the soft option at 25.6km and 5%. All three finish at the same summit.

From about mid-November the pass is closed to everything, bicycles included: barriers go up beyond Chalet Reynard on the southern side until mid-April, and beyond Mont Serein on the Malaucène side until mid-May. Both points stay reachable with proper winter equipment, and Mont Serein is the small ski station.

A signed loop right around the massif, reckoned at six days' riding with 2,620m of climbing, on asphalt with some short steep pitches you can walk. Because it is a loop you can start at Cavaillon, Forcalquier or any village on it; anticlockwise is the recommended direction.

45km between Robion and Le Castellet on the old railway line through Apt, Coustellet and Cabrières-d'Avignon, nearly all of it traffic-free greenway with only about 2km on public road. Flat and hard-surfaced enough for a pushchair, which makes it the one ride here that works with small children.

Nothing in the Vaucluse plays at the top level. Olympique de Marseille at the 67,000-seat Vélodrome is the closest first-division football and a short TGV ride from Avignon, with stadium tours on non-match days; for rugby, Provence Rugby play Pro D2 at Aix-en-Provence.