Cycling-Peloton ready for lift-off to Ventoux moonscape (Reuters)
It is time for the Ventoux. On Thursday, the Tour de France’s 12th stage will take the peloton up one of the most iconic climbs in cycling, where the greatest have triumphed and where, in 1967, Briton Tom Simpson died. The mythology surrounding the Ventoux, also known as the Giant of Provence, is such that some claim oxygen is rare at the top, even if it peaks at only 1,911 metres, and gusts of wind can reach over 100 kph.