A few shots of the leaders and Matteo Vercher is absolutely gasping for air. The Total Energies boys have not given this up yet although they now only have just over 30 seconds.

The peloton accelerate again on the slopes of Cote de Nuille-sur-Vicoin, which is the only categorised climb of the day albeit very much at the lower end.

Ouch!published at 20km to go

20km to go

That looked like a heavy fall for Jonas Rutsch. He flipped over his handlebars and landed on his back by the looks of things.

The German is back on his bike but has no chance of helping lead out Biniam Girmay for the expected bunch sprint later.

The pace is climbing as Tadej Pogacar begins to manouvre his way back through the bunch,

Meanwhile, there is a crash at the back of the peloton and Jonas Rutsch is down.

Will Mathieu Burgaudeau try to go solo?

Matteo Vercher is still with him with their advantage just south of a minute.

Matteo Vercher and Mathieu Burgaudeau have reestablished a 44-second gap.

Total Energies don't have a big sprinter (their fast man Emilien Jeanniere has already abandoned) or world class climber so sending those two up the road is an aggressive mood as much for their sponsors as anyone else and a possible combativity award.

Burgaudeau is definitely the stronger of the two.

The Total Energies duo have been left out on a string. Their lead was cut down to just seven seconds but there is no interest in swallowing them up just yet.

The peloton are riding now. The pace has upped to over 50kmh as a narrow ninety-degree left-hander comes up in the road.

Is there a danger of corsswinds here? Tadej Pogacar obviously feels certain that there isn't he is well back in the bunch.

Matteo Vercher and Mathieu Burgaudeau will need several minutes to even stand a chance of going for a stage win and at present, the peloton can pretty much reel them in whenever they like.

Meanwhile, Marc Soler has a small bump in the middle of the peloton but is quickly back up riding again.

The leading duo have opened up 55 seconds.

Meanwhile, the Ineos Grenadiers team radio is on and the message to not lose focus comes through because "dumb crashes happen on days like these."

Matteo Vercher and Mathieu Burgaudeau are having to really put a shift in to create any sort of gap. At present they have taken 30 seconds out of the main bunch.

But they will need an awful lot more for this to stick.

Burgaudeau finished second on stage 12 of the 2023 edition of the Tour and won a stage of the 2022 Paris-Nice.

1. Jonathan Milan, 20 pts2. Tim Merlier, 17 pts3. Anthony Turgis, 15 pts4. Biniam Girmay, 13 pts5. Laurenz Rex, 11 pts6. Bryan Coquard, 10 pts7. Quinn Simmons, 9 pts8. George Zimmermann, 8 pts9. Roel Van Sintmaartensdijk, 7 pts10. Neilson Powless, 6 pts

Well, well, well. Total Energies team-mates Matteo Vercher and Mathieu Burgaudeau head off up the road.

Jonathan Milan wins a very relaxed intermediate sprint, with Tim Merlier in second and Anthony Turgis in third just in front of Biniam Girmay.

The intermediate sprint is incoming shortly and thus far it has been a happy hunting ground for Jonathan Milan.

The Italian has won three at this year's Tour and has scored 92 of his 122 points in intermediate sprints, with the other 30 arriving from his second place in Dunkirk.

Lots of views of the countryside and the odd chateau on TV already today and there'll definitely be more to come.

In terms of action on the road, if this was a football match it would be akin to both teams playing for penalties in a knockouy match.

That said given the rest day is one day later than normal and there have been some tough stages so far you cannot begrudge the riders a bit of respite.

And the peloton moving as one does look resplendent.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

I'll be honest I'm not expecting too much to change from the GC classification at the end of stage seven.

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 25hrs 58mins 4secs
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +54secs
3. Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +1min 11secs
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 17secs
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1min 29secs
6. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 34secs
7. Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +2mins 49secs
8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora hansgrohe) +3mins 2secs
9. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora hansgrohe) +3mins 6secs
10. Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 43secs

Image source, Getty Images

It's hot and sticky and Intermarche-Wanty and Lidl-Trek courtesy of Quinn Simmons are still at the front of the bunch.

There's lots of chatting in the peloton. One or two could maybe do with an ice lolly. It's that kind of stage today.

Not sure you need to be Nostradamus to work out just wear this year's Tour will be decided.

Bastille Day on Monday will serve as a hors d'oeuvre with the finish at Hautacam on Thursday really kicking things on in the GC race.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

This on Friday in stage seven, Oscar Onley, became the second youngest British rider to finish in the top three of a Tour stage.

Only Tom Simpson did it earlier, when he was third in Malo-les-Bains in 1960 at 22 years, 6 months and 28 days.

The Scot, who is currently seventh in the general classification, has got one thing on his mind now: "I'm in a nice position but when we look at the climbs we have done so far we have not done anything over five minutes. I realised last year, the gaps were so big on the GC times.

"I am taking it day by day but the focus is on getting a stage win now after getting a podium.I think it will probably have to come from the break at some point."