Updates from the 162.7km stage from Pau to LarunsGet in touch: you can contact Barry by mail or TwitterRead William Fortheringham’s stage-by-stage guide
161km to go: No sooner does Christian Prudhomme give the signal to start racing than Powless attacks off the front with several other riders but they’re not allowed to get away. The peloton is strung out and travelling at 57km per hour but remains intact.
Not long now: The riders are in the closing stages of the neutral zone and with the intermediate sprint 45 kilometres into the stage, it will be intriguing to see who and how many riders try to form the inevitable breakaway, and whether or not they will be allowed to escape. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), for example, has his eye on the green jersey currently occupied by Jakobsen and will presumably fancy his chances of hoovering up some points. In the polka-dot jersey, Neils Powless (EF Education-Easypost) will also hope to be first over the early climb.
More Stories
RFL warns clubs that planned coup will financially cripple the sport
Fifa’s Gianni Infantino defends ‘crucial’ relationship with Donald Trump
Ryan Garcia to headline Saudi-backed boxing card in New York’s Times Square