Witchdoctor.. I'd use Google to locate shops that rent bikes of a higher quality.. Here in adjacent Roussillon, there are plenty of bike rental shops- but, I've never seen a rental shop that carries the quality of bike I'd want for a climb up Mt. Ventoux..
Local rental shops pretty much rent city bikes for the bike around town crowd.. I have known American friends who located decent quality bikes for bike tours, but they located the bikes on the net from organizations that sponsored international , multiple day bike tours..
Should you choose your airline carefully and research their bike policy in advance, some don't screw you over as badly as say does Delta. Or 300 dollars one way..