Sylvain Chavenel makes the first move!

The Frenchman breaks off the back and catches his fellow escapees blind.

Blel Kadri is the closest to getting back to him.

Simon Yates, Adrian Petit and Niki Terpstra are still reeling and have work to do.

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

It's chucking it down at the finish line but by the time the riders get here they won't notice the weather. They're going to have to turn themselves inside out in the front five if they are going to go for the win."

The breakaway riders pop out of of their saddles for the first time of the day as they reach the first climb of the day with 25km to go.

Astana will not be worried about Joaquim Rodriguez himself. The Spaniard is 47 minutes back in the overall standings.

But they won't want any of their better-placed rivals hitching a lift on the back of him to pull away from them.

Now then.

Katusha leader Joaquim Rodriguez is showing his face at the front of the peloton and he has plenty of his team-mates around him. Astana are being forced to raise the pace.

As the escapees come inside the final 32km, their lead has been chopped back to eight minutes.

Image source, Getty Images

They are ready at the finish line up at Gerardmer la Mauselaine. This stage traditionally ends with the riders having to dodge a lion with a strangely cropped mane.

The gap has come down just below 10 minutes with 37km to go.

That was more a product of the peloton hurrying through the rain rather than agenuine attempt to reel in the breakaway though.

No sign of any trouble brewing for Astana and their race leader Vincenzo Nibali just yet.

The other teams are just battening down the hatches before they start plotting their tactics for the final three ascents.

The first is not too far off.

The category two Col de la Croix des Moinats, 7.5km at 6%, begins at 30km from home.

The peloton look like they are travelling though a carwash. Spray everywhere, as they press on with teeth gritted and hands pruning up.

The breakaway is out the other side and onto dryer roads.

Sylvain Chavanel and Blel Kadri would be the main threats to Simon Yates over the three climbs that conclude this stage.

Adrien Petit and Niki Terpstra don't look as well cut out for today's finish.

The five escapees are so far in front of the peloton that they have entered a different weather system.

With 47km to go and the gap up to 11 minutes, the breakaway are being doused by rainclouds that the pack have not yet reached.

Simon Yates of Britain at the front of the breakaway group as I type.

Green Jersey
Classification

The laggards in the peloton get through the intermediate sprint with Frenchman Bryan Coquard bursting clear to take the best of the rest of the sprint points. Marcel Kittel sneaks up on the outside to edge out Peter Sagan behind him.

6. Bryan Coquard 10 pts

7. Marcel Kittel 9 pts

8. Peter Sagan 8 pts

9. Andre Greiple 7 pts

10. Mark Renshaw 6 pts

Tim Bell: , externalYates kicked away from some good climbers to win stage 6 of Tour of Britain 2013. If this break sticks, he's in with a shout...

Will we have a British winner today? You have your say on #bbccycling, external or 81111 on text.

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Image source, EPA

Like the latter stages of the Weakest Link, it could be time for Simon Yates to start thinking less about teamwork and more about skulduggery.

The five escapees' advantage is almost 11 minutes as they close in on 56 km to go.

Adrien Petit looks like the weakest of the breakaway, taking a burst of freeze spray on a poorly back from his team car.

Green Jersey
Classification

The five breakaway riders choose not to contest the intermediate sprint, rolling through with Niki Terpstra out in front.

1. Niki Terpstra 20 pts

2. Adrien Petit 17 pts

3. Sylvain Chavanel 15 pts

4. Blel Kadri 13 pts

5. Simon Yates 11 pts

Astana are still keeping a lid on the pace at the front of the peloton.

It looks very much like two separate races now. The five general classification non-starters, 10 minutes 45 seconds up the road, are being left alone.

Nibali and Astana will now be looking behind them for any jousts from the likes of Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde in the late stages.

They are working short shifts at the front of the race. Twenty or 30 seconds at the front of the breakaway seems to be standard before one of the five peels away and lets one of his comrades take the brunt of the work.

Their lead is still hovering around the 10 and a half minute mark.

A quick check of the cast list again. Adrien Petit, Blel Kadri, Sylvain Chavanel and Niki Terpstra will be the men who might turn on Briton Simon Yates if they can stay clear.

Time is dwindling away. The gap is not. Seventy-three kilometres to go and the five-strong breakaway are still 10 minutes 30 seconds to the good.

So why are the peloton happy to see them go? A quick look at the virtual standings reveal why.

Even if the gap was the same at the finish line it would only cause a ripple in the general classification.

Sylvain Chavanel - the best placed of the escapees at the start of the day - would only just move up into the top 50 and would reduce the gap to leader Vincenzo Nibali to a mere 16 minutes.

Image source, Reuters

Team Sky's new main man Richie Porte has been buried in among the peloton so far today.

Will he be able to use Chris Froome's withdrawal's to make a permanent rise from lieutenant to major general? It's a big chance, but a tough ask.