And that concludes our live coverage for today – here is Jeremy Whittle’s stage report. Good night.

“As a real professional you have to ride the Tour, you have to finish the Tour de France,” says a tearful Campanaerts. “Winning a stage is everyone’s dream … I’m not a neo pro, I’ve been dreaming of this for a very long time.

“After the Classics, I had a very difficult time. I had a verbal agreement with the team about extending my contract. I was ignored.

“My girlfriend supported me every day … I changed my mind … I have a bright future in cycling. I became a father and I saw only blue skies. I felt really good on the bike.

“This win is the sum of the atmosphere in the team. And we’re going to celebrate tonight.”

It’s a victory for your wife too? “She’s my girlfriend, not my wife, not yet … her support is incredible. I went for nine weeks on an altitude camp. She was highly pregnant. She is the hero in this story. I am so grateful that she made this possible, that I had a super long altitude camp to prepare for this Tour de France.

“I had the faith that I will be in good shape. I will be leaving the team, but I’m so happy that I can finish off with maybe the highlight of my career. Again, we will celebrate tonight.

“I think I played it very smart [today]. Also the team gave me a lot of confidence, everyone knew I had very good legs. This was a stage I aimed for in December already. Stage 18, I said, it’s the only stage I see for me to win. I slipped in the break with only one bullet. I played it a bit dirty with showing everyone I was hurting a lot so I didn’t have to do much too many pulls …

“We co-operated very well until the last kilometre. Three hard days to come, but I am looking so much to go home to my girlfriend and my son.”

Tomorrow: stage 19. It’s only 144.6km but with two HC climbs first and a category one to finish. Col de Vars, Cime de la Bonette and Isola 2000.

The Col de Vars is 18.8km long (!!) with an average gradient of 5.7% … Nasty.

Pogacar will keep his 3min 11sec lead going into tomorrow. Evenepoel 5min 09sec down.

“We jumped on the first climb in a very big group,” says Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease a Bike). “We rode quite easy until the second to last climb, then the race exploded.

“It was pretty much all out, and I must say, my legs were pretty empty. I couldn’t do the work I wanted to do. My legs were empty and the guys in front were stronger and co-operated better, so thumbs up to them.”

How was challenging for his first Tour stage win? “It was great fun, until the last 40 minutes, when it was complete suffering.”

The yellow jersey group has another 5km to ride.

Now to wait for the yellow jersey group to roll in …

Campanaerts is straight on a video call to his partner and young child! He’s laughing and crying at the same time. Pure emotion. How wonderful. Hard lines for Kwiato and Vercher. In truth, the young Frenchman was just happy to be there after his crash in the neutral zone before the start.

1km to go: Vercher attacks!

2km to go: Kwiato tightened up his shoes a little while back. Business time … Vercher does a big pull at the front … was that an attempted attack? If it was, Campanaerts covers it easily.

Now Vercher takes care of those shoes …

3km to go: Campanaerts on the front again. He leads the three-man group through a sweeping left-hander. There are spots of shade under the trees, which will be welcome, even for a second or two.

3.5km to go: It’s 42sec for the leaders.

5km to go: The road kicks up again. The groups of fans at roadside are thickening and getting louder. It’s business time for the three riders up front.

This would be a massive result for Ineos if the Polish rider can do it. Ditto Lotto Dstny and TotalEnergies, of course.

6km to go: It’s 45sec for the lead group. Surely this young French lad Vercher won’t have the nous, or the legs, to beat both of his companions? It would be some result if he did.

6.5km to go: A while back they were saying Campanaerts appeared to have a problem of some kind and he was chatting to the support car, I think. Mind games?

7km to go: This is going to be a fascinating finale. “It’s going to be a little bit tactical and you have to play your cards right,” as Kelly observes on Eurosport.

8km to go: The gap is 41sec for the three riders up front so it’s still looking good for them. There are hundreds of fans lining the road and cheering them on. Well, this is the Tour de France.

11km to go: “Campanaerts really does deserve a win,” writes Kieran. “One of my favourite riders in the peloton. He’s obviously got decent power as he did well in the time-trials – sat in the hotseat until the big players arrived. So far my memory of him includes his successful hour record which stood for a few months/weeks and also curiously picking up a dental issue during a cobbled race; purely from gritting his teeth with fury.

“He more recently led out Asgreen or Mohoric for their breakaway win previously in last years addition of the Tour. Ride well, young Victor !”

There was also that time he asked a friend out on a date by writing a message on his chest and opening his jersey. Unfortunately for him the strategy didn’t work.

13km to go: Campanaerts continues to tap out a fierce pace on the front. He’s looking good and the gap is up to 52sec. The Pogacar group is 15min down on the front of the race. Now Kwiatkowski takes it up. Then Vercher takes his turn and Kwiatskowski and Campanaerts have a quick discussion about something.

14km to go: What odds was Kwiatkowski for the stage, I wonder.

14km to go: Vercher was the rider who crashed in the neutralised zone this morning! I didn’t realise that. And here he is challenging for the win.

16km to go: Now it’s 45sec for the front three. These three are going to fight for the win unless something dramatic occurs. Something else dramatic, that is.

Kwiatkowski emptys some water over his back and neck. He takes another bottle from the car.

I still suspect that Campanaerts will go long, and try and rule out a sprint against Kwiato. But when?

17 km to go: “Campanaerts was one of the first guys to really focus on aerodynamics,” says Warbasse on commentary, while complimenting his exemplary position on the bike. “He tested it all himself … then he started to switch his focus to the road. Other teams started to do the same and started to catch up …”

18km to go: “Campanaerts is really pushing on here,” remarks Kelly. Kwiatkowski is looking very strong too. The gap is 34sec.

This the fascinating bit where a handful of riders from rival teams join forces to earn their shot at a glorious Tour de France stage victory … every man for himself in the final sprint.

20km to go: Now the gap is 27sec. Vercher is in good hands with Campanaerts and Kwiatkowski up front, both wily old racers. It seems like these three are going to earn themselves a shot at the stage win. But can the five chasers make it back?

21km to go: The front three (Kwiatkowski, Campanaerts, Vercher) have 24sec on the chasers. Hindley, Lemmen, Skuijns, Neilands and Lazkano are those chasers.

23km to go: “How do the police show their presence in the Tour?” emails Gerda. “Do they follow in cars or on motorcycles?”

They have plenty of motorbike outriders who go through before the race arrives (both a few minutes before and also directly in front of the race leaders). This is largely to try and get fans to stand back and give the riders space. It doesn’t always work. The other day, Cavendish mentioned how the police motorbikes are a big aerodynamic benefit for the front group on a mountain stage when the peloton is split.

25km to go: Kirby: “How do you hide in a group of three, Larry?”

Warbasse: “You don’t.”

25km to go: Following his crash, Johannessen (Uno-X) looks in a right state. His kit, I mean, which is ripped up. But he’s riding hard.

26km to go: Kwiatkowski, Lemmen, Campanaerts and Lazkano are all mentioned by the commentators as their respective picks for the win.

Does Kwiato have the legs? I’d like to see him win, he’s been one of my favourite riders for 10 years now.

27km to go: It’s uphill all the way to the line. But it’s not steep enough to rule anyone but the heaviest riders out. It’s going to make for an exciting finish and looks like a good bit of course design.

28km to go: The front three have 12sec on a group of chasers, known as the Carapaz group on the telly graphics.

28km to go: “No rider will want to bridge across to that front group and drag others with them,” says Blythe. “Van Aert will wait …”

29km to go: Vercher (the third escapee) I know nothing about, and it appears he’s never won a pro race.

31km to go: On Eurosport commentary, Kirby mentions Kwiato’s Milano-Sanremo win in 2017. He says he’d be happy with a three-up sprint. Yes, but Campanaerts (Lotto–Dstny) will surely attack from a distance?

32km to go: No, Kwiatkowski has now been joined by Campanaerts and Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies).

35km to go: Johannessen crashes! He slides off the bike into a left-hand downhill bend. Up front, Kwiato has 21sec on a couple of chasers.

36km to go: Kwiatkowski of Ineos – a former world champion, Milano-Sanremo winner, Strade Bianche etc. etc. – is off the front. He’s not the kind of rider you want to let go up the road, even if he’s not at the level he was 10 years ago.

37km to go: “Just wondering if there any more sprint stages remaining in the next three days,” writes William. “Or has the Green Jersey been decided at the end of today’s stage?

There are no sprint stages remaining, but there is a sprint point on each of the next two days. Sunday is an ITT. Girmay leads Philipsen by just 34 points at the top of the classification, so it’s still up for grabs.

Tomorrow, the sprint point comes early in the day before the big climbs, so that is guaranteed to be a lively start.

40km to go: Wonderful helicopter shot of a bridge across the Lac de Serre-Ponçon, that has just been negotiated by the riders. Kwiatkowski leads through the KOM point. Carapaz, still full of beans after yesterday’s stage win, is trying to bridge across.

42km to go: Lemmen, Bernard and Lazkano are now off the front together.

Lemmen of Visma–Lease a Bike used to be a military man, so they say.

42km to go: The pace is hot, much like the weather, on the final categorised climb of the day. The riders have another two kilometres to go until the summit.

44km to go: The gap is 10min 41sec. The final climb of the day, the Côte des Demoiselles Coiffées, is 3.6km long with an average gradient of 5.4%.

48km to go: Nils Pollitt (UAE Team Emirates) is seen back at the team car, enjoying a handy little tow while he’s at it.

The race is five minutes ahead of the fastest schedule. As it stands this is the fastest ever Tour de France.

49km to go: Cycling legend Philippe Gilbert is pictured at roadside. He also had a chat with Adam Blythe a few minutes ago.

Remember 2011, when he was nailed on for Stage 1, and only went and won it?

52km to go: Johannessen took two points on the previous climb, Kwiatkowski took one.

Now it’s downhill for a while until the road kicks up again on the Côte des Demoiselles Coiffées – the final categorised climb of the day.

The gap is up to 10min.

54km to go: “If you’re starting to blow up, I don’t think it’s the moment to attack,” McEwen observes of that Healy effort for EF Education–EasyPost. “If you get yourself dropped, you’ve lost your numerical advantage [for the team]. Maybe make an acceleration, but to get yourself dropped? That’s quite a blow to their tactics.”

58km to go: Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) is sharing around a bag of peanut M&Ms in the break.

Which is appropriate as I believe he owns a chocolate shop in Belgium. He definitely used to anyway.

Meanwhile, I’m hearing Ben Healy has popped, and he is now 90sec or so behind the front group.

59km to go: Campanaerts is prominent in the break. Clearly he liked the look of the not-too-steep finish that awaits when he saw the road book.

59.5km to go: Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché–Wanty) powers away from the break, which is now down to 26 riders, I think. His move is covered by Kwiatkowski among others. Under a kilometre to go until the top of this latest climb.

60km to go: Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X) leads the way now. Jai Hindley (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) is right there too.

61km to go: It’s 7min 45sec for the break now after this injection of pace. “G” Thomas has been dropped, among others.

62km to go: The skirmishes continue among the break on the way to the top of today’s fourth climb. Michal Kwiatkowski hits the front, and a few riders are “going backwards” off the back of the break. The pace has picked up, and a few riders in the break are looking to make this a more select group …

63.5km to go: Via the official Tour website: “The breakaway now approaches Chorges, host of the finish of the last time trial of the 2013 Tour de France, in which Chris Froome confirmed the first of his four victories in the GC.”

64km to go: Healy is reeled in by a few of his fellow fugitives. Escapees. Breakaway riders. You know what I mean.

Oh, and now the break is back together.

65km to go: Ben Healy (EF Education–EasyPost) attacks!

“Wow. This is a big move,” remarks Kelly. He’s right again!

66km to go: Wellens is a clever rider. In my days working in pro cycling, I interviewed him after he won a Ruta del Sol stage in 2018 (he eventually won the overall) and he explained how much time he’d spent researching the steep uphill finish to maximise his chances. “Cycling is not just ‘pedal hard’,” he said.

As they mentioned on commentary earlier, though, he doesn’t like the heat. So the Tour isn’t perfect for him by any stretch.

67km to go: Louis Meintjes is pictured lobbing a bright yellow bidon to one lucky fan at the roadside. The gap is holding at around 7min, thanks to the efforts of Wellens, putting in a shift at the front of the peloton.

70km to go: Fabien Grellier (TotalEnergies) is off the back of the peloton. Why? I have no idea. Let’s say a mechanical.

It’s 7min for the break now. Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) leads the way on the front of the main bunch, heading down a descent towards the foot of the Côte de Saint-Apollinaire.

74km to go: The king of the mountains competition has its own Twitter (OK, X) feed.

I did not know that. Or if I did, I’d forgotten.

75km to go: Blythe, on the Eurosport bike, thinks Van Aert “always does too much work”, and hence doesn’t fancy him for the stage.

76km to go: “The climb to Barcelonnette is not that difficult,” says the great Sean Kelly of today’s finish. “But those riders who are feeling good can cause you a lot of pain on the way to the line.”

77km to go: Yes, with the gap up to 6min 42sec, we can be sure the winner comes from the 36-rider break. The Côte de Saint-Apollinaire is up next, climbs-wise.

79km to go: “If memory serves: Last year, after falling off a short while earlier, Pinot got punched in the face during a feed zone,” emails Bill.

“Whilst we are on the subject of getting food on the road, I had an absolutely delicious lunch in a dark hall in the centre of Gap some years back. It was proper brilliant.

“That breakaway group is pretty large, and very talented. It should be a fun day as they get over the rolling mountains. They’ll surely get a winner out of that group. Van Aert looks the most likely, I reckon, from about 10km out.

“Back to yesterday, as I don’t consider time to be linear: it was great for a bit to see the GC shaking itself up a bit until Pogacar decided he had had enough and put a proper stomp on the top space. I can’t see him being toppled, despite the thrilling heroics of the second and third placed riders at the last.”

82km to go: Lazkano of Movistar is up for the KOM points today, and he takes another two on the Col de Manse.

82km to go: You will of course bear in mind that William Fotheringham wrote his excellent stage-by-stage preview before the race, which is why riders such as the departed Roglic are mentioned.

Stage 18: Thursday 18 July: Gap to Barcelonnette, 180km

A last chance for a breakaway before the overall battle takes centre stage, although the continual ups and downs over five third category climbs mean that this stage might just interest a sprinter who can climb a bit, particularly if the green jersey is still up for grabs. If Pedersen or De Lie is feeling good, their Lidl-Trek and Lotto-Dstny teams could try to keep a lid on this one, but good luck with that given the terrain.

Stage 19: Friday 19 July: Embrun to Isola 2000, 145km

An early green jersey sprint is the last time we will see the sprinters in action, and after that it’s a climber’s day. The Col de Vars is a brute, but the Bonette is in a class of its own, the highest ascent the Tour tackles. Some will recall Robert Millar’s gutsy escape over that monster in 1993; as on that day, the chances of a break getting to the finish are minimal as the overall battle will take centre stage.

Stage 20: Saturday 20 July: Nice to Col de la Couillole, 133km

Shorter than the day before, but even more vertical metres of climbing. By now most of the questions should have answers: can Pogacar hang on to the form that won him the Giro, can Evenepoel find some climbing legs in his first Tour, have Roglic and Vingegaard recovered from their horrific crash in April, and is Egan Bernal anywhere near his old self? As on Friday, this is a day for the overall contenders in a totally unique final weekend to the Tour.

Stage 21: Sunday 21 July: Monaco to Nice individual time trial, 33.7km

A first-ever finish outside Paris, due to the Olympics starting later that week. The Tour hasn’t ended in a time trial since the LeMond-Fignon epic of 1989; if the top of the standings is tight, this could be equally memorable but usually by now the race is nailed down. It’s far from flat, and very technical, which suggests Pogacar or Vingegaard rather than Evenepoel for the win, but on day 21 it’s largely a matter of who has anything left in the tank.

85km to go: There are two monster days coming in the mountains before Sunday’s time trial in Nice. This isn’t exactly a day off, but it will certainly be welcome for the riders in the bunch to be having a relaxed time of things now.

86km to go: We had 37 riders in this break, initially, but it dropped to 36 when Onley dropped out due to a mechanical. He told Adam Blythe he was “gutted” to drop out of the break. I can only imagine.

88km to go: The gap between break and peloton is now 6min. The break is at the foot of the Col de Manse, 5.1km with an average gradient of 5.1km.

90km to go: “As my gambling account balance reminds me, predictions are folly,” writes Kieran. "But I think it looks a little bit like a finish suited to a time-triallist. Who can put the power down ? My heart say Campenaerts.

“Then again, teamwork makes the dreamwork. EF have numbers and they race like mad men. Birmingham-born Irishman Ben Healy to get his first win?”

92km to go: Kirby mentions that riders sometimes crash in or after feedzones due to carrying their musettes. Which brings to mind this, surely one of the funniest moments in cycling history, the sport’s equivalent of Del Boy falling through the bar:

96.2km to go: Through the single intermediate sprint point of the day: Matthews nabs it from Stuyven at Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur.

On commentary, Carlton Kirby points out that there is 1,500euro for winning a sprint, which riders often chuck into a pot for the team staff.

102km to go: The gap is up to 4min 53 sec.

103km to go: Eurosport had a chat with Geraint “G” Thomas before the start: “The mood is good. It’s all about staying positive, giving 100% every day … it has been tough, we’re used to a lot of success, especially in this race. Sometimes [at races] you get on a roll and you can’t do anything wrong. Other times it’s the opposite, and it’s a bit like that, really.

“Three big days to go, we’ll do what we can … that’s it, isn’t it?”

How is he feeling? “Tired. Definitely tired. You keep talking yourself up every day … sickness in the camp doesn’t help … yesterday on the radio, I said, I don’t have the legs for this … today, we need all hands on deck to be following stuff. Hopefully the one I follow doesn’t go!”

105km to go: It’s 4min 42sec for the break now. In about 10km, we’ll have the intermediate sprint.

106km to go: Golf (the Open at Royal Troon) and cricket (England v West Indies, second Test day one) are among other sports happening today.

109km to go: The gap continues to creep up. It’s 4min 26sec now. The die is cast for the remainder of the stage.

As previously mentioned Stef Crass (TotalEnergies) is the best placed on GC in the break, but he is 32min 58sec behind Pogacar in 14th place overall. Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) is next-best, 33min 41sec down.

111km to go: The average speed today is a healthy 43km/h. The temperature at the front of the race is showing as 30.7C but (as always) it’ll be a lot hotter than that on the ground.

There is now an uncategorised section of climbing before the day’s intermediate sprint, at Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur, which comes with 95.2km to race.

112km to go: The gap is up to 4min. Kelso-born Oscar Onley (Team DSM–Firmenich PostNL) was dropped by the front group a little while back – I think due to a mechanical – and it going to be swallowed up by the peloton.

116km to go: Back in the peloton it will be nice and relaxed now. The break is no threat on GC and the main bunch can ride all the way to the finish line in relative comfort.

Matt Stephens had a chat with Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) before the start, and suggested that today’s finish “has his name written all over it”.

“Yeah it does,” Matthews says. “It’s stage 18 so everyone is on their hands and knees. We’ve been fighting every day for a stage win. We got one, and morale is high, so we’ll try for another one today … we’ll have to try with multiple guys and see who we can get in there.”

How does he feel physically? “I’ve felt better, to be honest. I am just trying to drag everything out that I have left in my body … form-wise, it’s not been my best Tour de France.”

119km to go: Lazkano of Movistar did indeed pip Carapaz to the win on the second climb of the day. Two KOM points to the Basque, one to the Ecuadorian.

120km to go: Who is your tip for the win from this very large break? Get in touch.

122km to go: Axel Zingle (Cofidis) has a puncture and stops at the side of the road to get some assistance from his team. The gap between break and peloton is 3min 44sec.

123km to go: Carapaz sprints for the KOM points on the Côte de Corps. Lazkano goes with him – and I think beats him to the line.

123km to go: The gap between break and peloton is 3min 33sec. The front of the race is nearing the top of the day’s second climb.

128km to go: There’s a fairly steep downhill section coming up, before the start of the day’s second climb: the Côte de Corps. It’s 2.1km of climbing with a 7.2% average gradient.

129km to go: The break has 3min. Here are the riders again, including the teams:

Bart Lemmen, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Chris Juul Jensen, Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla), Michal Kwiatkowski, Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Julien Bernard, Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek), Bruno Armirail, Dorian Godon, Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale), Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Jai Hindley, Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Valentin Madouas, Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Richard Carapaz, Ben Healy, Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-dstny), Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Alex Aranburu, Oier Lazkano, Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar Team), Clément Champoussin, Raul Garcia Pierna (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Louis Meintjes, Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty), Oscar Onley, Frank Van den Broek (Team dsm-firmenich), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X), Steff Cras, Mathieu Burgaudeau, Jordan Jegat, Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies).

131km to go: Larry Warbasse (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale), on co-commentary duty, describes what it is like for the 50% of teams in this race who are yet to win a stage in 2024: “It’s big pressure. Each day the team meetings get more tense. If you miss a break like this, the mood in the team and on the radios is bad. Sometimes the radio goes silent … Grand tours aren’t easy. Hopefully one of those teams that doesn’t have anything yet can get something.”

133km to go: The 37 riders in the break: Cras, Martin, Healy, Carapaz, Hindley, Meintjes, Bernard, Madouas, Jegat, Johannessen, Armirail, Onley, Skujins, Thomas, Prodhomme, Kwiatkowski, Poels, Pacher, Van Aert, Sobrero, Aranburu, Van Den Broek, Houle, Neilands, Zimmermann, Muhlberger, Godon, Lazkano, Quinn, Burgudeau, Lemmen, Campanaerts, Matthews, Juul-Jensen, Garcia Pierna, Champoussin, Vercher.

137km to go: Valentin Madouas (Groupama–FDJ) shows impressive bike handling skills to avoid a crash on a downhill right-hander. He slams the front brake on and his back wheel skips up, but he holds it all together nicely. Good tekkers, as an irritating football fan might say.

138km to go: The peloton, containing Pogacar, is now 2min 18sec behind the break.

141km to go: Those three escapees have been caught and we’ve got a front group of 34 riders. The Côte de Corps is the next climb, but it’s downhill for a time before that.

Oier Lazkano (Movistar) and Sean Quinn (EF Education) were first and second respectively on the day’s first climb.

143km to go: Steff Cras is the highest-placed on GC in the riders up front, and he’s 32min behind our race leader, Pogacar.

144km to go: A group with Mark Cavendish in it is 1min 35sec behind the peloton. The front three have 22sec on the chasers.

145km to go: Carapaz, Hindley and Lazkano are now out front on their own. Carapaz really fancies two in two … They don’t have much of an advantage just yet as they fly down the descent.

147km to go: Campanaerts, Juul-Jensen, Carapaz, Meintjes, Pacher, Poels, Kwiato are all up front … the front group has 42sec.

148km to go: It’s still not certain this big group will be allowed to stay away. Their lead has fallen to 35sec. The race is over the top of the first climb.

149km to go: The front group is 34 riders and they have 51sec. Pogacar, having a drink back in the peloton, looks happy to let this go.

149km to go: Could Carapaz make it two wins out of two? Maybe it will come down to how much champagne he drank last night. His form is certainly there, I mean, obviously.

150km to go: Kwiatkowski, Poels, Carapaz and Skujins are in another big group that has forged an advantage at the front. The telly timing says they’ve got 30sec.

151km to go: “It would be great if Stuyven can be in the break, because the final suits him really well,” says Steven de Jongh (Lidl-Trek) from the team car.

151.5km to go: Well that didn’t last long. The break is shut down.

152km to go: An 18-rider breakaway has formed and they have 20sec. The likes of Hindley, Thomas, Van Aert, Madouas, Geschke and Skujins are in it. Let’s see if it settles down and I’ll then do a full list.

153km to go: “I’m going to cover a break, I just hope the one I cover doesn’t get away,” is apparently what Geraint “G” Thomas said before the start.

154km to go: Now the race is going uphill, the average speed has fallen, but not by much. It’s 43.7km/h now.

155km to go: The peloton just headed through a road tunnel. Must have been a nice break from the heat.

155km to go: “It’s the last opportunity for many today,” said Christian Knees of Ineos Grenadiers before the stage start.

157km to go: Michael Matthews (Jayco–AlUla) and Jai Hindley (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) are both up top at the moment, but the situation is fluid.

158km to go: Stuyven is caught. The peloton is strung out. The road is kicking up. And the pain in the legs will be severe for these riders, it being the third week of the Tour.

158km to go: Looks like the EF Education–EasyPost family had a nice time celebrating Carapaz’s win last night:

160km to go: The gap for Stuyven is down to 10sec, and he’ll be caught before too long, it looks like. The peloton is hitting the foot of the first climb now. Will we see an elite group head off up the road on this first climb, the Col du Festre?

163km to go: Clement Russo (Groupama-FDJ) tried to get across to Stuyven, but he gave up, which was probably sensible.

Commentator Rob Hatch says it’s 38C on the road. That is unpleasantly hot.

164km to go: Stuyven now has 35sec.

Richard Carapaz, yesterday’s victor, is prominent up at the front of the bunch, working for his EF Education–EasyPost teammate Rui Costa. Costa is 37 now, and I sort of struggle to believe he’s still racing.

167km to go: Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) powers off the front on his own.

He’s got 20sec. This is a huge effort to escape a peloton moving at such a pace, although they may have slowed up a bit now.

The average speed today is 47.2km/h.

168km to go: “We’re doing 70km/h,” says Adam Blythe on the Eurosport motorbike.

“Tadej Pogacar is about 20 from the back of the peloton, he’s completely relaxed.”

169km to go: A few moments ago, the helicopter’s telly camera treated us to a shot of two brave mountain bikers negotiating a narrow path halfway up a cliff.

“My God,” says Kelly. “That looks scary.”

He just tells it the way it is, doesn’t he?

170km to go: The peloton is moving at 66km/h. !!

Mind you, it is a bit downhill.

172km to go: The five category-three climbs today are as follows: Col du Festre, Cote de Corps, Col de Manse, Côte de Saint-Apollinaire, and the Côte des Demoiselles Coiffées.

There is a downhill section now leading into the Col du Festre, which is 3.9km long with an average 6.3% gradient.

173km to go: Is it possible that the day’s decisive break forms after the intermediate sprint, that arrives with 95.2km to go?

174km to go: Ryan Gibbons (Lidl-Trek) catapults himself out of the peloton. He’s immediately shut down by four or five other riders.

174km to go: We’re all together. I say we. I mean they, the riders in the Tour de France. “The scenery is fabulous but the riders aren’t going to get much opportunity to see it,” says Kelly.

175km to go: Ben Turner (Ineos) and Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) are two of the other riders prominent at the front. But no break has formed yet.

176km to go: “This is a real difficult start,” observes Kelly.

A real, real difficult one? I think so.

It’s boiling hot in France, by the way. 31.9C is the temperature advertised on the official site.

177km to go: Neilands (Israel Premier Tech) and Kung (Groupama–FDJ) have now clipped off the front. But it doesn’t look like they are really trying to mount a two-man break either.

177.5km to go: Kung, Cort, Neilands and Matthews are all up front with Van der Poel. But they haven’t managed to break away.

178km to go: Perhaps unsurprisingly, it looks like this big group with MvDP in it is going to get closed down. Wout van Aert, in fact, is pulling on the front of the second group to bring it back together.

179km to go: Attacks from the start. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck), who knows a thing or two about a long-distance breakaway, is up there.

We’re past KM0 but the flag is yet to drop.

“It’s going to be a real battle here,” says Sean Kelly on commentary. “Today’s a guaranteed battle for the breakaway. It’s going to be an important one, an interesting one. How soon will the break get away?”

“Interested to see what they describe as a “hilly” day,” emails Jeremy. “Probably one that would have most of us on our knees and somewhat off the pace they will be going.”

Yes, I thought exactly the same thing.

“Pogi? Bad day? Your having a laugh.”

Yes, I thought exactly the same thing.

Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) and his “bluestache” at today’s start. He vowed to dye his moustache blue if he hit 200l Insta followers. What a marketing masterstroke.

“Just think to yourself,” McEwen tells his ‘team’. “I can suffer more than everybody else in here.”

That’s exactly the attitude I’ll be taking into today’s live blog.

Here we go then. The riders are on the road and rolling along behind the race director’s car.

Robbie McEwen is doing one of his slightly awkward “team briefings” on Eurosport.

Essentially, everyone needs to ride their bike as fast as possible today.

Time for you to read Jeremy Whittle’s report from yesterday before today’s neutralised roll out, scheduled for 12pm BST: