After a 3-year absence, it's back! The mighty Mont Ventoux is one of the most cruel ascents in France and promises to produce a great spectacle when the Tour peloton is set to tackle its fearsome slopes at the end of a mammoth 242,5km stage. Chris Froome hopes to increase his lead on a stage that appears to be perfectly suited to his characteristics while his rivals all try to figure out how to beat the seemingly invincible Brit in his favoured terrain. Starting at 14.00, you can follow the drama on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

It's Bastille Day but the 15th stage won't be one for the Frenchmen unless they are able to distance the very best climbers on the mighty Mont Ventoux. On the race's longest stage, the riders head south on slightly undulating roads with three category 4 and one category 3 climb along the way but it is all just a warm-up for an exciting finale.

The 20,8km giant of Provence has an average gradient of 7,9% but the numbers are deceptive as the first 5km are rather easy while the final 15,8km are really tough. The most difficult section comes right after the 5km mark as the riders climb a very steep stretch in the forest in often sizzling heat. When they exit the forest at the 13km mark, the climb becomes slightly easier as they enter the famous moonlike landscape before the road becomes steeper again towards the top. This is the toughest finishing climb in the entire race and the stage has the potential to open up huge time gaps among the favourites. This will be the time to find out if anyone has what it takes to beat Froome as the riders battle to join the likes of Louison Bobet, Charly Gaul, Raymond Poulidor, Eddy Mercx, Bernard Thevenet, Marco Pantani and Richard Virenque on the list of stage winners on this mighty giant.

Provence is known for its heat and stages to Mont Ventoux are often raced in gruelling conditions. As the Tour de France has so far taken place in very hot conditions, it is no surprise that tomorrow's stage will be a sizzling affair. The long distance means an early start and so the riders will enjoy pleasant temperatures of 24 degrees when they leave Givors at 10.35. From then on, it will only get hotter and hotter, and the temperatures are expected to have reached 32 degrees when the riders hit the bottom of the Mont Ventoux under bright sunshine. At the top, it should of course be cooler with temperatures of 19 degrees but the heat will certainly do its fair share of damage on an already tired peloton.

Another factor that often comes into play is the wind. The area is extremely windy and the road on the final part of the climb is very exposed as it snakes its way through the moonlike landscape. The wind should be stronger than in recent days - gradually picking up as the day goes on - and the riders should enjoy a tailwind on the long run to the mighty climb, thus making for a fast start to the stage. When the riders reach Malaucéne after 208km, they change direction and from then on, there should be a section of crosswinds as they head towards the bottom of the climb. That will also be the case on the lower slopes but the rich vegetation means that it will play no role at all. When the riders reach the Chalet Reynard and enter the moonlike landscape, they should face a cross-headwind, thus making it more difficult to make a difference on the final part of the climb.

Prior to the race, we would have regarded it as a certainty that the stage win would be contested between the GC riders. A stage win on the Mont Ventoux is one of the most coveted victories and the biggest riders all want to win on the most legendary mountains. Hence, we would not have had any doubt at all that Sky would chase down the early move, thus setting Chris Froome up for another stage win.

The events during recent days have, however, made it way more likely that the GC riders will let the opportunity slip away. Sky only have 7 riders left in the race and their collapse in the final Pyrenean stage proved that they have to use their remaining resources wisely in an attempt to avoid a similar scenario in the Alps. A 220km chase in baking heat is no easy task and it is not unlikely that the British team decides to leave it to other teams to close it down if they have any ambitions for the stage win.

It is not at all clear which team should take up that challenge. Saxo-Tinkoff are firmly focussed on the GC and know that Froome will be very hard to beat in a stage like tomorrow's where it's much more a case of pure strength than tactical prowess and strength in numbers. Few riders should have a strong enough belief in their capabilities of riding away from Froome that they would ask their team to chase on such a long day. We can't imagine any other teams than Movistar and Katusha should be up for the task, the former being eager to bounce back from their back luck and the latter looking to launch Joaquin Rodriguez to a stage win as the podium appears to be out of reach. When the Mont Ventoux last featured on the race route in 2009, Juan Manuel Garate and Tony Martin defied expectations as they held off the favourites in a highly anticipated penultimate stage that never lived up to expectations.

In his post-stage comments today, Froome made it clear that he will be firmly focussed on the GC tomorrow and that the stage win will be of less importance, once again indicating that Sky could be unwilling to sacrifice their team on the long opening stretch. However, it could also be part of a psychological game and with a rest day coming up on Monday, they may chase down the break after all.

Should it come down to the favourites to decide the stage, it is very hard to imagine anyone beating Froome. Such was his superiority on the Ax-3-Domaines - and such has it been throughout the entire season - that the internal climbing hierarchy cannot have changed dramatically just one week later. His team may have appeared weaker than expected but Froome himself has shown few signs of weakness.

With the dramatic stage to Saint-Armand-Montrond fresh on his mind, he will be eager to (re-)stamp his authority on the race by putting significant time into his rivals and we expect him to open up a solid gap at the top of the climb. Peter Kennaugh and Richie Porte will be asked to wear down the opposition and then it will be up to Froome himself to finish off the job. As we all know, he is not afraid of attacking from afar, and with a headwind on the final part, we could see him launch off the front already during the very difficult part through the forest. Porte was down in stage 9 but his time trial proved that he is certainly not out of the race. He is a fierce competitor and would love to prove his critics wrong by making another strong performance himself. We would not be the least surprised if it ends up as another 1-2 for Team Sky.

As it is hard to beat Froome on pure strength, his rivals have to invent something if they want to take the stage win. Movistar were dealt a huge blow yesterday but has vowed to fight back. They already did that today by putting two riders into the breakaway, almost reclaiming the honour of being the best team in the process. Their attentive racing near the front of the peloton showed that they have certainly no intentions of giving up in this race yet.

No rider will be more eager to take revenge than Alejandro Valverde. He may have lost all podium hopes but he has now set his sights on a stage win in one of the most prestigious stages. When it comes to prestige, tomorrow's stage is probably only surpassed by the one finishing on the Alpe d'Huez and there is little doubt that Valverde has big ambitions.

He knows that he is unlikely to match Froome when the Brit launches an attack himself and so he will probably try to anticipate the move from the race favourite. We know that he is not afraid of attacking from afar and being a little down on GC, he will not be the first rider to be chased down. If he can get into the headwind section before being caught by Froome, he may be able to stay in his wheel and take the win by virtue of his fast sprint.

Movistar are likely to play it aggressively in the early part of the stage and they will probably try to put a rider into the early breakaway. Should the break stay away that will be important for the teams classification but it would also be useful for Valverde, should the race come back together. Riders like Ruben Plaza, Rui Costa or Andrey Amador could all provide valuable assistance for their team captain on the final climb.

Another rider who could be allowed freedom to attack earlier in the climb, is Andy Schleck. Having struggled on the Ax-3-Domaines, he bounced back with a fantastic performance on Sunday and on the final climb he appeared to be one of the 5 best riders in the race. Given Schleck's recent woes and his grand tour history, he is guaranteed only to get better, and we would not be surprised at all if he is one of the three strongest riders in the Alps. As he is somewhat down on GC, Froome is unlikely to chase him down and if he gets a solid gap, he could be hard to catch back.

Nairo Quintana is probably the only rider who could potentially follow Froome when he puts down the hammer. We were robbed the opportunity to see those two riders in a direct duel on Ax-3-Domaines as Quintana had already used up much energy in a long-distance attack when Froome accelerated.

Nonetheless, we would be surprised if Quintana can fully match his British rival. Froome also showed in stage 9 that he won't allow Quintana to get much leeway at all and so it will be hard for the Colombian to win the stage. However, he could very well finish on the stage podium and move himself much closer to the GC podium in the process.

For Team Saxo-Tinkoff, it will be all about limiting their losses tomorrow. The team has strength in numbers but that will be almost useless in a stage like tomorrow's. They may try to isolate Froome in some of the Alpine stages but tomorrow it all comes down to power on the last climb. Alberto Contador has not even been close to matching Froome all year and we can't imagine it be any different tomorrow.

In general, we have not been impressed by the Spaniard. On the other hand, Roman Kreuziger was clearly stronger than his captain on Ax-3-Domaines and he did his best flat time trial for years on Wednesday. It would probably be a wise decision to let the Czech ride his own race, should he once again emerge as stronger than his captain. In any case, it will be important for the team that Contador, Kreuziger and Michael Rogers all stay in GC contention so as not to lose all their tactical options in the Alps.

The Belkin duo of Laurens Ten Dam and Bauke Mollema are only concerned about their podium ambitions and will more ride against Saxo-Tinkoff and Quntana than looking at Froome. While Ten Dam usually gets better and better as a grand tour goes on, Mollema has been more inconsistent and we are curious to see if he stands up to the challenge in the third week.

Joaquin Rodriguez was disappointed by his own performance in the first part of the race but the Spaniard hopes to improve in the third week of the race. We doubt that he is currently strong enough to finish it off but like Valverde he is another rider who could target a stage win by attacking from afar. Cadel Evans will be all for the GC and it will be highly interesting to see whether the "true" Evans was the one who struggled on Saturday or the one that was one of the best climbers on Sunday.

For the GC riders, it should all come down to the final climb but the final 15km to the bottom could create a surprise. There is a strong crosswind on that stretch and that could split up the peloton. When the race climbed Mont Ventoux in 2009, the race was split into multiple groups already before they had even started to climb as the wind and the hard battle for position had made the bunch explode. It will be crucial to stay well-positioned in that hectic part of the race.

As we give a breakaway a fair chance of making it to the finish, we should of course also mention potential escapees. It's Bastille Day and all the French riders would love to win on the Mont Ventoux on that day. It requires some good climbing legs to actually do it but the host country certainly has a couple of riders with the potential to do so.

Pierre Rolland and Thibaut Pinot have both fallen out of GC contention and are likely to target tomorrow's stage. It will be difficult to get into the early break in the mostly flat first part but if they overcome that difficulty, they could make it a good day for the French. For Pinot, it will be much more of a mental exercise than a physical one. He was climbing strongly in stage 8 but lost out on the descent from the Pailheres and has been depressed ever since. Tomorrow could be the day for him to get something to smile of.

Romain Bardet has shown his climbing potential in the early part of the race and his teammates Hubert Dupont and John Gadret would also relish the opportunity to show their climbing prowess on the mythical slopes. Euskaltel lost its GC hopes in the crosswinds but Igor Anton and Mikel Nieve have both been strong in the early part of race and could target a stage win tomorrow. Katusha could launch Daniel Moreno up the road early on while Garmin will be eager to put either Ryder Hesjedal or Tom Danielson into the mix. Finally, Wout Poels appears to be on the rise and having been another crosswinds victim, he would be eager to take his revenge.

CyclingQuotes' stage winner picks: Chris Froome, Alejandro Valverde, Andy Schleck

Outsiders: Nairo Quintana, Thibaut Pinot, Mikel Nieve