Geraint Thomas' Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Thymen Arensman then accelerates, followed by dozens of other riders

Nils Politt of UAE pulls the GC group, which is 15 seconds back.

Image source, EPA

The early attackers have been caught and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Michael Storer (Tudor) are among a bunch of riders trying to re-establish a gap.

Image source, Reuters

Alexey Lutsenko (Israel Premier Tech), Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal Quick-Step) and Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies) open a gap and are soon joined by Marco Haller (Tudor).

Here's a reminder of what each of the coloured jerseys mean:

• Race leader (yellow jersey) - Ben Healy
• King of the Mountains (polka dot jersey) - Lenny Martinez
• Points leader (green jersey) - Jonathan Milan
• Best young rider (white jersey) - Ben Healy

Image source, EPA

Today's stage is under way, with Cees Bol of XDS Astana the latest rider to abandon having been unable to line up in Auch because of illness.

And just like yesterday, Jonas Abrahamsen attacks from the outset, with points leader Jonathan Milan and his main rival Biniam Girmay also looking to get in the break.

1. Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) 41hrs 1min 13secs
2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +29secs
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +1min 29secs
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 46secs
5. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +2mins 6secs
6. Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +2mins 26secs
7. Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +3mins 24secs
8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull - Bora-hansgrohe) +3mins 34secs
9. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull - Bora- hansgrohe +3mins 41secs
10. Anders Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +5mins 3secs

Image source, Reuters

Back to today's stage now, and before we get to the action, here's a reminder of how the overall standings look.

Ireland's Ben Healy will spend at least one more day in the yellow jersey after managing to maintain his 29-second lead over reigning champion Tadej Pogacar on stage 11.

Tadej Pogacar also paid tribute to Samuele Privitera: "It's really sad to lose another young talent. It's devastating.

"It's a dangerous sport, one of the most dangerous in the world, and yeah, the risks we are taking sometimes is too far.

"I'm really sad for all his family, may he rest in peace. It's a sad loss."

Image source, Getty Images

Tadej Pogacar on his injuries: "I'm OK, nothing too bad. Just the whole of my left arm is open completely. It was more just burned off skin and I hit my hip and my shoulder a little bit.

"Luckily I was back on the bike quite fast and today is another day. It's not the first time that I've crashed and continued the race, so we'll see how the legs are. I think they're more important than my arm, so I hope the legs are turning well.

"I have a super strong team around me, that support me until the end and give their all for me. I'm so grateful that I can rely on them, even if I have a hard day today - but I hope I don't."

Here's a reminder of those stages coming up in the next few days, and for the rest of the Tour:

Image source, EPA

Two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard on today's final: "It's just, in general, a very hard climb. It's 13.5km so it's a very long climb. It will take between 30 and 40 minutes to climb it so, in general, I think today will be a hard day."

On attacking Pogacar: "It depends on the legs. If you have the legs to attack then you can try, if you don't then it's more about following. I guess we'll see on the last climb how the legs will be."

On Visma's tactics: "Of course, it's always nice to have a guy at the front, who can always fall back and help, so yeah, it's never a bad thing to have a guy in the break."

On whether he'd ride conservatively with a time trial coming tomorrow: "No, there's no hiding today so you have to go full gas today, tomorrow and also the day after."

There's an intermediate sprint on today's stage, plus just four climbs, but two of them are whoppers!!

They are the first category one and hors categorie climbs of this year's Tour:

• Cat. 4 - Cote de Labatmale (89km to go) - 1.3km climb at 6.3%
• Intermediate sprint - Benejacq (85km to go)
• 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, ASO

The first real big day in the mountains could see fireworks in the general classification race, with 3,850m of elevation gain.

The route up to the ski resort at Hautacam (1,520m) on the roads above Lourdes takes the peloton on the route where five-time champion Miguel Indurain tore apart the race (and his rivals) in 1994.

More recently, Jonas Vingegaard rode away from Tadej Pogacar in 2022 on his way to his first overall Tour victory.

Image source, Getty Images

There was a moment of silence at the start line today following the tragic death of 19-year-old Italian rider Samuele Privitera, who passed away yesterday after an accident during the first stage of the Giro della Valle d’Aosta, an Under-23 event.

A statement by Axel Merckx, owner and general manager of his team Hagens Berman Jayco, read: "Samuele was and always will be the life and personality of this team. This team has always been a small family, and moments like this are unimaginable.

"He was irreplaceable. His joy, his spirit, his kindness, was always a bright light to whatever room or race that he was in at that moment. To lose him is devastating beyond words.

"Personally, I am struggling to express the sadness I feel but I am deeply grateful for every moment we shared with him and for the joy he brought to our team every single day. He loved the bike, he loved the camera, he loved to smile, he loved to laugh, but most of all he loved his family and his team-mates."

Pogacar update after yesterday's crashpublished at 12:51 British Summer Time 17 July

12:51 BST 17 July

Image source, EPA

Tadej Pogacar seemed relatively unharmed after yesterday's crash. He crossed the finish line with a grazed elbow, a scuff on his shoulder and some holes on the hip of his shorts.

Dr Adrian Rotunno, medical director of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, has since provided a medical update on the reigning champion.

"After a full examination post-stage, fortunately Tadej suffered no serious injury - no concussion or fractures," he said.

"He has some general bruising, and abrasions to his left forearm and hip, but is otherwise OK.

"We will continue to monitor him, but at this stage he is medically cleared to continue racing."

Pogacar took his spot at the start line in Auch with dressings on those abrasions.

Image source, EPA

The peloton motored along at a rapid pace, repeatedly causing splits. At one point race leader Ben Healy was caught in one and had to fight back to get amongst the GC favourites, and at another point the peloton accelerated as reigning champion Tadej Pogacar and some other GC contenders stopped for a comfort break - breaking one of cycling's unwritten rules.

Then Pogacar went down 4km from the line and was set to lose about 30 seconds as he struggled to get his chain back on.

But the peloton then made the sporting gesture to slow down and allow the world champion to catch up before the group crossed the line together.

Image source, Reuters

Racing on a flat route after the Tour's first rest day, and before the first real mountain stage, a relatively quiet day was expected for stage 12.

And sure enough, Jonas Abrahamsen emerged from a long-range breakaway to claim his first stage win while there was no change at the top of the general classification standings.

But that only tells half the story...

Welcome back to BBC Sport's live text coverage of the Tour de France.

It's already been a brutal Tour de France but now it's set to get even tougher.

It's been the longest wait for a hors categorie climb since 2019 and we have one today, right at the end of stage 12.

It is the first real mountain stage of this year's Tour, culminating with this year's first summit finish.

Some might say the Tour starts today.