Riders take a group photo in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The French Cycle Touring Federation organized a bicycle ride from Paris to Beijing, echoing the upcoming summer Olympics. Some 100 riders embarked on the cycling tour covering a distance of 12,000 kilometers on Sunday, and will arrive at the foot of Beijing's Great Wall on August 3. Two Chinese riders are taking part in this event. [Photo: Xinhua]

Hou Lizhao, the youngest rider and a student at Sun Yat-sen University, or Zhongshan University, in southern China's Guangdong Province, poses for a photo in front of the Eiffel Tower before the start of the cycling tour on Sunday, March 16, 2008. [Photo: Xinhua]