Givors, July 14: Riders set off on the 15th stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, the longest of the race and finishing with an epic climb up Mont Ventoux.
Tour leader Chris Froome defends the yellow jersey over the 242.5 kilometres (151 miles) stage starting from Givors — in the wine-making Rhone Valley — and ending with a mammoth 21-kilometer (13-mile) ascent of Ventoux in the Provence region.
Ventoux has become known as one of the most famed climbs in the 110-year history of the Tour. Britain's Tom Simpson collapsed and died on the famed climb during the 1967 Tour.
Froome leads Dutchman Bauke Mollema by two minutes and 28 seconds, and the two-time former champion Alberto Contador — his main rival — is 2:45 back in third.
