One day after combating a deflated distance marker, the Tour de France may have to take on an even more devious foe Saturday: Llamas.

Photo: Joel Sagada/Facebook

That picture was taken on the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, one of the hardest and most famous climbs of the Tour de France. According to the man who took the photo, the llamas were purchased by a proprietor of a nearby campsite and let loose to graze the hillsides in the summer. On the particular day they were photographed, he wrote, they were likely lying down on the road to warm up from the cold mist.

Saturday morning, Tour de France riders will try to surmount the Col du Tourmalet as part of a ridiculously hard stage. They may have more than steep gradients to worry about.

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How the Tour de France has changed over the years

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