Tiesj Benoot has dropped back from the breakaway to lend a hand with his Visma team-mates in the GC group.

Now Thymen Arensman of Ineos is driving the leaders.

Ben Healy is hoping to keep hold of the race lead for at least another day. The mountains aren't ideal for the Irish rider so how will he hold up?

Back in the GC group, Remco Evenepoel - currently third overall - is struggling to keep up as Visma push the pace.

According to Adam Blythe on TNT Sports, Tadej Pogacar is spending a lot of time on the team radio. Is he struggling too?

Axel Laurance is setting a strong pace into the final 9km of the ascent.

Mountain leader Lenny Martinez was hoping to boost his tally but he's now been dropped.

They're dropping like flies, there are now just 25 riders left at the front.

Meanwhile, Visma-Lease a Bike have taken charge at the front of the peloton.

The breakaway is on to the slopes of the Col du Soulor, two minutes 20 seconds ahead of the peloton.

The likes of Robert Stannard, Fred Wright, Connor Swift, Tobias Foss and Matteo Trentin are swiftly dropped.

Image source, Reuters

But first there's the small matter of the Col du Soulor, the first category one climb of this year's Tour:

• Cat. 1 - Col du Soulor (46km to go) - 11.8km climb at 7.3%
• Cat. 2 - Col des Borderes (35km to go) - 3.1km climb at 7.7%
• Hors cat. - Hautacam (14km to go) - 13.6km climb at 7.8%

Image source, EPA

Geraint Thomas was asked earlier about the 2022 stage, when he finished fourth on the Hautacam climb as Jonas Vingegaard won the stage.

The Danish rider put a minute into Tadej Pogacar, which ultimately put the race beyond the Slovenian as Vingegaard claimed his first overall Tour title.

Visma-Lease a Bike don't have to go for the jugular today, there's still plenty of time to close the gap on Pogacar.

But they've been chipping away at him the past few days, taking it in turns to put the pressure on. And when he's still sore from yesterday's fall, it makes sense to try to crack him today.

Will Pogacar's demons return on the Hautacam later? Hit thumbs up if you think Pogacar will falter, thumb down if you think he'll stay strong.

The lead group is now two minutes ahead of the peloton, with Bryan Coquard another two minutes back having yet to rejoin after stopping for medical treatment.

Image source, EPA

Biniam Girmay's team-mate Laurenz Rex edges out Mathieu van der Poel to take maximum points in the intermediate sprint.

Former yellow jersey holder Van der Poel is now closing in on points leader Jonathan Milan for the green jersey:

1. Laurenz Rex (Intermarche-Wanty) - 20 points
2. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) - 17 pts
3. Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) - 15 pts
4. Stian Fredheim (Uno-X Mobility) - 13 pts
5. Simone Velasco (XDS Astana) - 11 pts

British rider Fred Wright takes the first mountain point of the day.

Team-mate Lenny Martinez is the current King of the Mountains so is sure to be battling for the others later on.

The lead group has begun the ascent up the Cote de Labtmale (1.3km at 6.3%), with the peloton one minute 30 seconds adrift.

The summit is swiftly followed by the intermediate sprint in Benejacq. (km 95.1).

We're already into the final 100km, so it's 10km to the first of today's climbs, up the Cote de Labatmale.

Bryan Coquard of Cofidis has stopped to receive some medical treatment to his hand but is OK to continue.

Geraint Thomas finished fourth up Hautacam in 2022, behind stage winner Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and Wout van Aert.

Asked how fresh his memory is of that day, the Welshman said: "Not that fresh, to be honest. A lot's happened since.

"I think today's going to be completely different for myself. It will be a GC battle but I think we've got to try to get someone in the break and have someone there, because you never know [about a potential stage win] but also to be there for Carlos[Rodriguez] later on in the race. We'll just keep trying."

On his race so far, in his 14th and final Tour: "Up and down. I feel like it's been inconsistent, but maybe part of that is mentally, when you're not fully in the race, when you're not racing for GC. I've just got to keep pushing. It's my last Tour so I've got to try to enjoy it, try to get in the breakaway and animate the race a bit."

The Ineos rider, who is not part of the lead group, added: "We're getting more and more wins - not a win yet. We're taking positives from each day and the group's getting better, so we can try."

That large bunch is still motoring on up the road. It's now one minute 35 seconds clear of the peloton.

Santiago Buitrago of Bahrain Victorious is in the lead group and before today's stage the Colombian said: "If the stage ends with a breakaway, I'd like to be in it and fight for the win.

"Right now, we're thinking as much about competing for the polka dot jersey with Lenny Martinez as we are about getting a stage win, which would be important for the team."

Today's stage has again got off to a flyer.

The lead group has covered 51.9km in the first hour of racing.

The gap has stabilised at one minute 50 seconds, with 51 riders in that lead group.

Another Ineos rider is up there, namely Carlos Rodriguez.

The Spaniard, who finished fifth in 2023 and seventh in 2024, is the highest from that bunch in the GC standings.

The 24-year-old is currently 12th, almost six minutes behind leader Ben Healy.

The gap is now up to 80 seconds.

This is more like a split than a breakaway as there's a ton of riders in the lead group.