Karl in Harrogate, via text: @ 2km banner and cyclists only few minutes out. Everyone watching for helicopters as first hint of race arriving...

Rob, Putney, via text: Mistimed my journey to a friends for the football and had to duck into a pub to see the finish. On my own in front of a telly in the corner, COME ON CAV!

Rob Hatch
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra commentator

We've spoken to Tour director Christian Prudhomme and he's told us that there have been more than one million people on the roads of Yorkshire. That includes nearly 250,000 in Leeds and around 10,000 on the climbs of Buttertubs and Grinton Moor.

The vast majority of the 198 riders who started the race are all together as they head down towards Wormald Green - the roads are noticeably wider and the pace is starting to increase.

David Summerhayes:, external The tour is like a school day. It combines sport with geography, history and art. Hopefully today we'll have double drama too.

James Shippen:, external Looks like FaceTime is the only way to watch the finish in Singapore! Hope Mrs. S can keep the iPhone still in Blighty!

Ross Mundy:, external Have tracked down a British sports bar in Guatemala willing to let me in at 8am and put on Le Tour... Panic over.

The riders, well the helicopter to be precise, are in sight of Le Cathdrale Saint-Pierre de Winifred - or Ripon Cathedral to you and I. The city has come out in force to welcome the Tour, as has the whole of Yorkshire. Stirring sights as the kilometres to go counter dips under 20.

Rob Hayles
Former Great Britain cyclist on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"This is the typical calm before the storm. The peloton is normally absolute carnage, but at the moment its under control. Maybe they are enjoying the scenery!"

Craig in Harrogate, via text: It's a great shame that David Millar is not in the race but I will be cheering on Cav at the finish line!

At least my better half is keeping people happy at the finish line, passing round the flapjacks and sausage rolls. Just 25km remaining in the stage. Lotto Belisol and Omega Pharma - Quick-Step teams continuing to tap out the pace. It's not full gas at the moment but we're not far from it all kicking off.

Lovely helicopter shots of Unesco World Heritage Site Fountains Abbey, on the outskirts of Ripon. The terrain has flattened out a little and the riders are strung out across the road. And there's BBC Sport columnist Geraint Thomas leading the Team Sky train.

The Welshman will be writing a couple of columns during the race. But before it started he told us of his role over the coming three weeks - he is basically Chris Froome's chaperone.

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I don't know about you but I'm getting a little nervous. I can tell because it's like typing with sausages for fingers and I'm making lots of spelling errors that I have to keep going back to correct. I know I should be impartial but GO ON CAV!

Rob Hayles
Former Great Britain cyclist on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"There is so much stress involved in sprinting. When you get it right you can see the emotion but when you get it wrong, it's not just Cav, for example, who is down because the whole team lives it. If you miss out, stay clear of the team."

Alastair Mavor:, external At Le Mans watching classic cars. Faster, noisier, but can't deny I'd love to be in Yorkshire! Glued to your text commentary!

Julian Bill:, external Watching #tdf on dodgy French feed over dodgy Italian Internet reading text updates on #bbccycling. England's never looked better. Proud.

Mark John:, external Congrats to Jens Voigt identical age and birthday as myself ;-)

Ahhhh, Masham. A cracking place for a pint. Two feuding breweries, Theakston and Black Sheep have put aside their differences for the Tour and for the first time will be serving their fine ales alongside each other for the first time, so I am led to believe.

The latter is so called because one of the family broke away after a dispute - the Black Sheep of the family. Beer lesson over. Back to the racing.

Laura Trott:, external So great to see how much support is on the roads for the Tour de France!

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The question is, which rider is freshest after the rolling terrain of the last 160km or so?

Mark Cavendish, remember, has perhaps the biggest incentive. His mum used to live in Harrogate for one. For two, he has never worn the race leader's coveted yellow jersey. For three, he is joint third on the all-time list of most stage wins with 25. One more takes him into third on his own, two behind the legend that is five-time French winner Bernard Hinault. The man at the top of the pile is the incomparable Eddy Merckx with 34.

The riders are inside the final 40km and the teams of the sprinters will be jostling for position all the way to the finish now. Cannondale, Orica GreenEdge, Lotto Belisol and Omega Pharma - Quick-Step are lining up their trains.

James Shippen:, external Greatest sporting event on the calendar and Singapore is a TDF free zone! BBC website text commentary all the way! Cheers.

Lesley Wilkes:, external Atmosphere in Holmfirth is electric and Le Tour isn't here till tomorrow!! We are waiting.....

Right, some of you are going to hate reading this. Mrs Scriv has arrived in Harrogate! And she's only bagged a spot, right at the front, 50 yards from the finish line. Turns out her friend's mother, unbeknown to her, has been out with the deckchairs for five hours. I've been instructed to pass on big thanks to all those in the vicinity! Now, I'm really jealous.

We have just 45km remaining of stage one of the 2014 Tour de France and this is looking about as nailed on a sprint finish as you are likely to get.

All of the Lotto-Belisol team, riding for Andre Greipel and Mark Cavendish's Omega Pharma - Quick-Step squad are up at the front of the race. The flourescent yellow of the Tinkoff-Saxo team are also up there, looking after Alberto Contador.

Philip, Bucharest, via text: Sitting on a bus to Bucharest Airport in baking heat and really enjoying reading about the tour going through Swaledale and Reeth, home of the now celebrated Dales Cricket Club. It's a great day for Yorkshire and will anywhere ever take away Reeth's right to call themselves the most northerly point on the tour!