TOUR TAKES ON LEGENDARY VENTOUX
GIVORS, France, July 14, 2013 (AFP) - Drama is expected on the Tour de France on Sunday when the 15th stage takes the peloton up to a finish on the legendary Mont Ventoux.
To mark France's national Bastille Day holiday, Tour organisers have set up stage 15 to be the longest on this year's race at some 242.5 kilometres.
Starting in the town of Givors, just to the south of Lyon on the River Rhone, the stage features three category four climbs early on and the third-category ascent of the Cote de Bourdeaux just past the halfway point.
It will then pass through the town of Nyons, one of France's biggest producers of olive oil, before attacking the mighty, unclassified, Mont Ventoux, whose bare, lunar-like, summit sits at 1,912 metres.
The near-21km ascent at a gradient of 7.5 percent makes it a climb like no other, and it has taken its toll on Tour riders in the past.
In 1967, Tom Simpson, who was the first British rider to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, died on the ascent during stage 13 of the race.
Today, a memorial to Simpson sits close to where he fell, reminding the members of the peloton who will tackle the climb on Sunday just how challenging it can be.
In 1967, Tom Simpson, who was the first British rider to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, died on the ascent during stage 13 of the race