A look at the main Tour de France contenders ahead of Saturday's first stage, a 14-km individual time trial in Duesseldorf:
But Froome's Big Four rivals at the tour -- Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana - weren't the only hurdles in his path. There were outside influences that threatened to derail his campaign.
The IOC said it had not detected any significant abuse of clenbuterol after finding "very low levels" of the banned substance during re-testing of samples from the Beijing Olympics.
Chris Froome moved closer to a maiden Tour de France title with an awe-inspiring victory on top of the intimidating Mont Ventoux, pulling away from his rivals in brutal fashion seven kilometres from the finish on Sunday.
Chris Froome remains in contention for a fourth Tour de France title after Team Sky put the pressure on their rivals with a perfectly executed plan in Friday's 13th stage, won on Bastille Day by France's Warren Barguil.
German Andre Greipel was again far too strong for the opposition as he claimed his second win in this year's Tour de France.
Check out the main contenders for this year's Tour de France, which starts on Saturday in Utrecht, Netherlands.
The Briton cracked with less than five kilometres to go on the second trip up the mountain's 21 hairpin bends but sent team mate Richie Porte to fetch some food and the Australian nursed Froome to the finish 3:18 behind Riblon, who became the first Frenchman to win a stage in this year's race.
Alexis Vuillermoz earned the French their first victory on this year's Tour de France, his final kick proving too hot to handle for the big guns in the eighth stage on Saturday.
Tour de France leader Tony Martin abandoned the race on Thursday after breaking his collarbone.
Often cited by defending champion Vincenzo Nibali as a rider to watch on the Tour de France, Thibaut Pinot made an early impact by beating all the pre-race favourites in the opening time trial on Saturday.
Briton Chris Froome stunned his passive rivals to snatch the overall leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France when he won the eighth stage with a lightning attack on the final descent on Saturday.
Chris Froome was reminded just how quickly the Tour de France title could slip from his grip as his Sky team mate Geraint Thomas suffered a freak crash in Monday's 16th stage.
A heatwave was no sweat for Tour de France stage one winner Rohan Dennis.
Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands attacked near the foot of the final climb to win the ninth stage of the Tour de France in extreme weather conditions as Alberto Contador pulled out of the race on Sunday.
Chris Froome has one more mountainous hurdle to overcome to claim a second Tour de France title after Friday's 19th stage in which had 30 seconds chopped off his lead as Vincenzo Nibali claimed a controversial victory.
Germany's Andre Greipel timed his final burst to perfection to win the sixth stage of the Tour de France on Thursday when South Africa's Daryl Impey became the first African to wear the yellow jersey.
Briton Chris Froome won his second Tour de France title in three years on Sunday to enhance his growing reputation as a grand tour specialist.
Chris Froome seized early control of the Tour de France, the 2013 champion snatching the yellow jersey after a crash-marred third stage won by Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez on Monday.
German Marcel Kittel claimed his third victory on this year's Tour de France when he pipped Mark Cavendish on the line to take the 12th stage on Thursday.
Following badminton World No 1 Lee Chong Wei's provisional ban, Rediff.com brings you ten top sports persons who gave in to drugs - one of the mighty perils that has affected modern sporting culture.
Alberto Contador showed he was prepared to risk everything to win the Tour de France on Tuesday, crashing on the final descent as he tried to attack overall leader Chris Froome.
Mark Cavendish's Tour de France campaign suffered another setback on Tuesday when the Briton had to settle for third in a sprint after being involved in a crash in a chaotic stage 10 finale won by Marcel Kittel.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Chris Froome tightened his grip on the Tour de France on Wednesday, extending his overall lead to well over three minutes at the halfway mark with a predictably brilliant performance in the time trial.
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