Another burst of acceleration from Joaquim Rodriguez, the Spaniard aiming to get to the top of this climb first to scoop up the points. He's got three riders for company, including Durasek, De Marchi and Roche.

The breakaway has been caught by Joaquim Rodriguez and polka dot jersey holder Rafal Majka and is now formed of 21 riders. They hold a 15-second lead over the peloton, which contains yellow jersey holder Vincenzo Nibali.

A group eight stragglers have dropped off the back of the peloton.

Joaquim Rodriguez has got three riders - Frank Schleck, Mikael Cherel and Tom Jelte Slagter - for company as he looks to put daylight between himself and the peloton.

Andrew Harvey:, external "Peloton being kept on a really tight leash today. You'd think Rodriguez and Majka would be looking at today's juicy KOM points."

We're on the ascent of Col du Portillon, with a gradient of 8%. The breakaway have a lead of 40 seconds, after Team Katusha did a great job of pegging the back.

Now Joaquim Rodriguez, who is one point behind Rafal Majka in the race for the polka dot jersey, has made a break for it from the peloton.

Image source, @letour

Each mountain climb is ranked according to difficulty from four to one - but the most punishing are given the label "hors categorie", or beyond categorisation.

Today's stage has three category ones, followed by a final hors categorie.

Legend has it that the numbers originally referred to the gear that a car would have to be in to go up it.

Hors categorie climbs, it is said, are impassable by car.

Team NetApp-Endura's Zak Dempster has asked for the medical team after being stung by a wasp. Ouch.

Good work from Team Katusha, who are continuing to do all the work at the front of the peloton, pulling it along in a bid to catch the breakaway and get their rider Joaquim Rodriguez into the mix for the King of the Mountains jersey point.

The gap to the breakaway is down to 45 seconds with 80km to go.

Image source, AFP

Blel Kadri takes the spoils at the intermediate sprint, the AG2R rider securing 20 points with Martin Elmiger second and Sergio Paulinho third.

We're down to 166 riders, with Katusha's Simon Spilak abandoning the race with a stomach bug.

Toniwater:, external Vincenzo Nibali in no real danger from Alejandro Valverde, he looks very comfortable in the Yellow Jersey. No change at the top of the General Classification today!

The gruppetto is a group of riders whose strong point is not climbing, so they stick together to help each other finish inside the time limit.

They will be under huge pressure today, because the stage is so fast and if they drop back too far, they face elimination from the race.

It's such a fast race at the moment, with the breakaway pedalling along at an average speed of 53.4km/h. The eight lead the peloton by one minute under bright blue skies amid glorious sunshine.

Image source, @letour

Team Katusha are dragging the peloton along because they will want Joaquim Rodriguez to score points in the King of the Mountains competition in a bid to see him regain the polka dot jersey.

The first climb - the Col du Portillon - starts at 49km into to the stage, followed by the Col de Peyresourde at 68.5km, the Col de Val Louron-Azet at 93km and the Saint-Lary - Pla d'Adet at 112.5km.

A group of eight riders have made a break for it - Sergio Paulinho, Blel Kadri, Tom-Jelte Slagter, Yukiya Arashiro, Cyril Gautier, Jens Voigt, Nicolas Edet and Martin Elmiger - and already carved out a 43-second lead after 14.3km.

The stage is under way, with a field of 167 contesting the start. Simon Gerrans and Reto Hollenstein, who crashed in the first kilometre of racing yesterday before impressively battling his way to the end, have withdrawn.

Image source, AFP

Polkadot Jersey
Classification

Rafal Majka pulled on the polka dot jersey for the first time, after moving one point clear of Joaquim Rodriguez. It could all change again, though, with 80 points up for grabs.

Yellow Jersey
Classification

So Vincenzo Nibali will wear the yellow jersey for the 14th day while Peter Sagan retains the green sprinters jersey. He's got 402 points, comfortably ahead of second-placed Bryan Coquard on 226.

Image source, AP

Yesterday, Mark Cavendish suggested he could be fit enough to race in the third and final Grand Tour of the season - the Vuelta a Espana, at the end of next month - as he recovers from shoulder surgery following a crash in the first stage of the Tour.

If he makes it, he won't be joined by Spain's Alberto Contador, who has ruled himself out of the Spanish race following a setback in his recovery from the broken shin that ended his Tour de France.

Two-time Vuelta winner Contador, 31, withdrew from the Tour last week after crashing on Stage 10 and tweeted: "Bad day, the wound healing gets complicated. I've no date to take the bike. Goodbye to the Vuelta."