Mont Ventoux is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some 20 km northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At 1,910 m (6,270 ft), it is the highest mountain in the region and has been nicknamed the "Beast of Provence", the "Giant of Provence", or "The Bald Mountain". It has gained fame through its inclusion in the Tour de France cycling race; in 2009 it was the scene of the first penultimate-day mountain top finish in the Tour de France, with Alberto Contador sealing his yellow jersey.
Thomas Simpson was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager before taking up track cycling, specialising in pursuit races. He won a bronze medal for track cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics and a silver at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
Alexander Nikolayevich Vinokourov is a Kazakhstani former professional road bicycle racer and the current general manager of UCI WorldTeam Astana Qazaqstan Team. He is of Russian origin. As a competitor, his achievements include two bronze medals at the World Championships, four stage wins in the Tour de France, four in the Vuelta a España plus the overall title in 2006, two Liège–Bastogne–Liège monuments, one Amstel Gold Race, and the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics Men's Road Race. Vinokourov is a past national champion of Kazakhstan, and a dual-medalist at the Summer Olympics. In 2007, he received a two-year ban from cycling for blood doping. In 2019, he was accused of race fixing by prosecutors in Liège but was later cleared of the charges.
Fumiyuki Beppu is a Japanese former professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam EF Education–Nippo. His older brother is the cyclist Takumi Beppu.
The 1987 Tour de France was the 74th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 1 to 26 July. It consisted of 25 stages over 4,231 km (2,629 mi). It was the closest three-way finish in the Tour until the 2007 Tour de France, among the closest overall races in Tour history and the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place riders each wore the Yellow jersey at some point during the race. It was won by Stephen Roche, the first and so far only Irishman to do so.
The 1994 Tour de France was the 81st edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began on 2 July with a 7.2 km (4.5 mi) prologue around the French city Lille. After 21 more days of racing, the Tour came to a close on the street of the Champs-Élysées. Twenty-one teams entered the race that was won by Miguel Induráin of the Banesto team. Second and third respectively were the Latvian Piotr Ugrumov and the Italian rider, Marco Pantani.
The 1967 Tour de France was the 54th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 29 June and 23 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of 4,779 km (2,970 mi). Thirteen national teams of ten riders competed, with three French teams, two Belgian, two Italian, two Spanish, one each from Germany, United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and a Swiss/Luxembourgian team.
Éric Caritoux is a French former professional road racing cyclist who raced between 1983 and 1994. He had 22 victories in his career, the highlights of which were winning the Vuelta a España in 1984 and taking the French road race championships in 1988 and 1989. He rode the Tour de France on 11 occasions, his best finish being 12th in 1989.
Jean-Baptiste Dotto was the first French racing cyclist to win the Vuelta a España. He rode the Tour de France 13 times, coming fourth in 1954.
Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for the Belkin Pro Cycling team. He is perceived to be a climbing specialist, and to date his greatest achievements have been in the Giro d'Italia, where he placed fourth overall in 2002, tenth overall in the 2004, fifth overall in 2005 and won the Mountains classification with a seventh overall at the 2006 Giro d'Italia. He also won the Spanish National Championship road race in 2005. He has also won stages in the Tour de Suisse, the Vuelta a España, the Giro del Trentino and more recently he finished first on Mont Ventoux in the penultimate stage of the Tour de France 2009.
Arthur Metcalfe was a British racing cyclist who twice rode the Tour de France and, as an amateur remains the only male rider to win the British road race championship and the British Best All-Rounder (BBAR) time trial competition in the same year.
Thomas De Gendt is a Belgian professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam Lotto–Dstny.
Romain Bardet is a French professional racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Team DSM–Firmenich. Bardet is known for his climbing and descending abilities, which make him one of the top general classification contenders in Grand Tours.
Carlos Verona Quintanilla is a Spanish cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Movistar Team. He was named in the start list for the 2016 Giro d'Italia.
Mario Scirea is an Italian former racing cyclist.
The 2016 Tour de France was the 103rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 3,529 km (2,193 mi)-long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 2 July in Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, and concluding on 24 July with the Champs-Élysées stage in Paris. A total of 198 riders from 22 teams entered the race. The overall general classification was won by Chris Froome of Team Sky, with the second and third places were taken by Romain Bardet and Nairo Quintana, respectively.
Élie Gesbert is a French racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Arkéa–Samsic. Gesbert competed in the Tour de France in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Enric Mas Nicolau is a Spanish racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Movistar Team. He is a climber, and has finished in top 10 in world tour stage races, and has also won a stage at the Tour of the Basque Country.
Michael J. Storer is an Australian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Groupama–FDJ.
Tadej Pogačar is a Slovenian professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates. He won the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Tour de France, winning three different jerseys during each Tour, a feat unseen in nearly four decades. Comfortable in time-trialing, one-day classic riding and grand-tour climbing, he has been compared to legendary all-round cyclists such as Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Fausto Coppi.
