On the podium:

One last message before we say goodbye to the Tour de France Femmes: Alan has emailed in to say that now the Tour has concluded, he is off for a bike ride. Seems like a good idea. I hope you have better weather than I do here in rainy London (I’m currently sat sheltering inside Herne Hill Velodrome with a bunch of racers).

Alan writes: “I usually ride before catching your live commentary. Sundays are a bit slower, but gotta ride now! Thanks for the great coverage. Good result, although I was hoping Niewiadoma would pull off a faster time, cool though!”

Vollering speaks … “I still cant believe it,” she says. “ Of course I worked hard, but it’s not just working hard… it’s believing in it. It’s so much together, and in the end you have a dream. You work really hard for it but you need to keep yourself a bit calm and find a good balance in your life also. You have to find a relaxed way to do it. This year I feel really comfortable and good in what I’m doing.”

Van Vleuten has spoken also … asked how she feels after today’s time trial, she answers with one word: “disappointment”. She goes on to explain that she already thought she wouldn’t do well in today’s stage as she didn’t feel great last night, but she had hoped for better anyway. “I was not good the last two days,” she says.

Van Vleuten has finished 12th. She grimaces, gets out of the saddle for one more push but it’s not enough. She’s crossed the line 1min 14sec behind Reusser’s time.

Kopecky is second fastest so far … She’s just crossed the line 37sec behind Reusser. That was a great effort. Think she’ll be pleased with that and it should give her a spot on the podium.

Labous crosses in fourth place … She’s 1min 17sec behind Reusser and looks to climb the final GC rankings. Kopecky has passed Moolman Passio, while van Vleuten is looking sure to slip off the podium.

Vollering is putting in a stellar effort … She passes through the intermediate time check down by 12sec, putting her into second place for the moment.

Niewiadoma is flying … she might well hold on to second place on the podium. After yesterday’s valiant effort, it would seem cruel for her to slip off at this stage.

Not looking so good for van Vleuten: She’s 1min 01sec behind Reusser’s time.

Looking good for Kopecky: She is third fastest at the intermediate time check. Kopecky is 30sec behind Reusser.

Riejanne Markus: The Jumbo-Visma rider has slotted into third place with a time of 30min 05sec. She’s 50sec behind Reusser.

Reusser is the one to beat ... Will anyone go faster than the European time trial champ?

Van Vleuten: With 16km left of her time trial, van Vleuten is 16sec behind Reusser according to the live timings.

Demi Vollering: The yellow jersey, or should I say yellow skinsuit wearer, is off. Kasia Niewiadoma started 2min earlier and van Vleuten set of at 3.57pm.

Current standings: Here is how the ITT times compare so far.

Kasia Niewiadoma: Clad in a polka-dot skinsuit and red aero helmet, the Canyon-SRAM rider has ridden down the ramp and begun her bid to hang on to a podium place.

Lotte Kopecky: The Belgian rider, who was seen earlier warming up on a green road bike, has just swatted a bee off her helmet and is on her way …

“Yesterday’s race up the Tourmalet was iconic,” writes Toby. He’s emailed in to share his Tour highlight. “The fog, the altitude, the end of the Annemiek van Vleuten era,” he writes. “I was so happy to see Kasia Niewiadoma, one of my favourite riders across both pelotons, attack and be able to hold it to the end, finishing second.” He’s also shared this set of images by photographer Justin Britton. “The first one, particularly, encapsulates so much about the theatre of bike racing,” writes Toby.

We’re coming up to the business end now … there are only six riders left to start and they include Juliette Labous, Moolman Pasio, Kopecky, van Vleuten, Niewiadoma and Vollering.

Liane Lippert: Stage two winner, Lippert has just descended the ramp and is out on the road. Cordon-Ragot clocked a time of 30min 48sec and can be seen pouring water over her head as she sits on the floor. Unfortunately for Cordon-Ragot, her aero helmet doesn’t have any vents.

Reusser pushes Brown out of the lead: We just had a new leader, but it wasn’t for long. Reusser has trumped Brown by 40sec and finishes her ITT in 29min 15sec. I wonder how much time she lost due to the motorbike and team car debacle earlier …

Brown has gone into the lead: We have a new leader. Brown has beaten her teammate Guazzini to first place. She was 40sec faster, with a time of 29min 55sec.

Marlen Reusser: As the SD Worx rider was catching another rider on the course, she was slowed down by a motorbike and a team car in her way in to a corner. That’s not great.

Grace Brown: The Aussie is flying and 29sec faster than Cordon-Ragot at the intermediate time check.

Lizzie Holden and Lucinda Brand: The British national time trial champion has finished in sixth place, while Brand has jumped into second place and is 9sec behind the leader.

A fan of the time trial: Andrew from Cambridge has emailed in to share his appreciation of today’s stage. “I think it’s a neat touch to end the tour with a time trial, it gives every contender a chance in the telly limelight on the day everyone will be watching,” he writes. He adds: “And a chance for many to be in the lead for a couple of minutes, which I imagine is good for the individuals, the teams and the tour itself. Something for a near-future men’s TdF to consider?” Well, Andrew, happily for you, next year’s Tour de France will end in an individual time trial from Monaco to Nice.

Audrey Cordon Ragot and Grace Brown: The multiple French time trial champion is off, closely followed by Australian national TT champ, Grace Brown. The latter also won a silver medal in last year’s world champs in this discipline.

Henderson is second in the standings: A really strong ride for Henderson but she couldn’t quite manage to beat Guazzini’s time. She’s finished just over 15secs slower, with a time of 30min 51sec, but that does mean she is in second place overall

Anna Henderson: The Jumbo-Visma rider has set a new best time at the intermediate time check of 13min 37sec. That’s 3sec faster than Guazzini. Will she be in the hot seat next?

Arianna Fidanza: The Ceratizit-WNT has just been shown on the coverage with a bloodied knee and looking a bit worse for wear after having crashed. She’s standing up and being checked over.

Mischa Bredewold: The SD Worx rider is out on the road. Her helmet is giving me Star Wars vibes.

Emma Norsgaard: Stage six winner, Norsgaard is the Danish national TT champion. She’s just set off for her go on this 22.6km route. Will she bump Guazzini out of the hot seat? She’s currently sat there smiling and checking her phone.

An email: “I’m looking forward to today’s time trial,” writes Peter. “But I think I have to agree with Demi Vollering from her interview yesterday. This race has been so good. It deserves a glass of champagne and a bike ride into Paris.”

Vittoria Guazzini: As mentioned earlier, the FDJ-Suez rider is the U23 time trial world champion. She’s set a time of 30min 36sec at a speed of 44.3km/h.

The bump in the road: Today’s 22.6km time trial features a climb at roughly halfway. The Côte de Bosdarros is 1.38km and has an average gradient of 6.7%. While some of the riders won’t welcome the bump in the road, it’s likely to suit Kopecky.

Josie Talbot: The Cofidis rider set off second, after van ‘t Geloof, but is the first to finish the ITT. She has set a time of 31min 42sec.

As always, please send in your thoughts, predictions and questions via email or Twitter. I would love the company …

The live TV coverage began at 2pm and there’s a lot of shots of riders warming up, walking around in aero helmets and prediction chat from the commentators. I’m yet to see it cut to the actual live footage, but when it does these updates will hopefully become more frequent.

Mavi Garcia: The Liv Racing Teqfind rider will not start today’s stage due to illness. The Spanish rider is 15th in the overall rankings.

There is one time check, located at 10.6km to go. Also, in case you’re interested, there are 10 national individual time trial champions taking part in today’s stage. Antri Christoforou (Team Human Powered Health), a national ITT champion for Cyprus, has already set off, as has U23 world champion Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez). The next ITT champ to go down the ramp will be Emma Norsgaard at 2.29pm. The other national ITT champions to look out for are Elizabeth Holden (2.39pm), Georgia Williams (2.41pm), Christine Majerus (3.42pm), Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka (3.47pm), Grace Brown (4.08pm), Cédrine Kerbaol (France, 4.37pm), Riejanne Markus (4.39pm) and Lotte Kopecky (4.55pm). European ITT champion Marlen Reusser is up at 3.12pm.

There are 123 riders left in this year’s Tour but the main focus of today’s time trial will be on just a handful that could upset the podium standings. After Demi Vollering’s victory on the Col du Tourmalet yesterday pushed her into the GC lead, it’s difficult to see anyone challenging her for the yellow jersey. She has a 1min 50 sec lead over second placed Kasia Niewiadoma. So, the real battle will be for the final two podium spots: the gap that separates Niewiadoma in second and Ashleigh Moolman Passio in fifth is just 49 sec.

Will Annemiek van Vleuten dig deep for a stage win given her TT chops? Or, will Lotte Kopecky claim a second podium spot for SD Worx? They do have form on the one-two victories after all.