Image source, Rob Hatch

Robert Hatch:, external View from comm box in Gérardmer - stage 8 under way & LIVE @BBCSport coverage begins at 3pm (UK). @robhayles1 with me!

You will be able to get live radio commentary on a potentially thrilling stage finale on this very page from 15:00 BST.

Eighty two kilometres to go and the gap is up and over 10 minutes.

On the flat a good guess is 10km to make up each minute of breakaway advantage.

We have got some short and steep stuff in the latter stages that may monkey with the equation.

Either way, we are in with a chance of a first British stage winner of this year's Tour in Simon Yates.

Blel Kadri, a decent climber, might be the main threat to the Bury-born Orica Greenedge man among the breakaway.

Europcar's French warhorse Tommy Voeckler would pull out a Gallic shrug if he didn't have some handlebars to hold onto.

The 35-year-old doesn't look happy. Maybe a nice patriotic run on Bastille Day on Monday would cheer him up.

That gap just keeps heading north. And it is quickly heading into the sort of figures that might be insurmountable for the peloton.

With 85km to go, the five-strong breakaway containing Briton Simon Yates is out at eight minutes 30 seconds and creeping upwards.

The peloton look like they may have written off the escape. There are no general classification contenders in there - Sylvain Chavanel, Blel Kadri and Adrien Petit and Niki Terpstra make up the rest - but enough quality to potentially keep them clear.

Your thoughts on where to stage another British or Irish Grand Depart are coming on on #bbccycling, external and 81111 on text.

Stuart Clemison: , externalHow about a team time trial around the Isle of Man TT mountain course?

John McEnerney: , externalThe Ring of Kerry! The most beautiful place in the world. Breathtaking scenery, nice way to start the TdF!

Ben Dunbar: , external#letourlancashire Has a certain ring to it, & unlike those from over the hill we can host ALL of it. No trips to Yorks/Derbs

Thanks Ben. That has lit the fuse nicely.

The five strong breakaway - Britain's Simon Yates along with French trio Sylvain Chavanel, Blel Kadri and Adrien Petit and Dutchman Niki Terpstra - are cracking on.

The blackboard on the organisers' motorbike ahead has "6.30" scrawled across it.

It is not enough yet, with all the big teams holding back in the pack, but build the gap or preserve it until the final 20km and they might be in with a shout.

Image source, Rob Hatch

Photographic evidence that Didi the devil lives.

The man, the legend is just over half way up at Planois - on the Col de la Croix des Moinats - and has been snapped by BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra commentator Rob Hatch.

Astana? Check.

Team Sky? Check.

Movistar? Check.

The big teams are grouped at the front of the peloton, but there is no sign of Cannondale making an effort for Peter Sagan, despite the Slovak being 44 seconds off the overall lead.

Apparently they are keeping their powder dry for more winnable stages. Whether Sagan sticks to that script remains to be seen. He might feel he has a point to prove after failing to win yesterday when well-backed.

Image source, Tour de France

Le Tour de France:, external Après 50 km @chava_sylvain @NikiTerpstra @SimonYatess #BlelKadri @PetitAdrien62 ont 5'44" d'avance #TDF

Presuming that the escape is swallowed up before the finishline, who might be the riders competing for the stage?

Well the general opinion is that today will suit the explosive puncheurs - with enough kick to get away over the final short steep rise before the finish.

Belkin leader Bauke Mollema fancies it. "I think today's finish suits me. It's a little bit like the Fleche Wallonne. I like it really and I hope to be up there trying and win," he said.

Movistar's Alejandro Valverde might be another to keep an eye on.

The sky blue of Astana, hiding the yellow of Vincenzo Nibali in their midst, are packed at the front of the peloton.

The five-strong escapees, including Britain's Simon Yates and French wily old dog Sylvain Chavanel, are out into a lead of five minutes and 30 seconds.

We are taking your suggestions for Tour stages on this side of the Channel on #bbccycling, external and 81111 on text.

Conor Matchett:, external Not the UK, but Donegal in Ireland is one of the most underrated and beautiful parts of the world. It'd be perfect for the tour.

And you thought British interest had been snuffed out.

Well Simon Yates, world points champion on the track in 2013, is still in the mix and is among those making the day's early running.

Yates, Cofidis's Adrien Petit and AG2R's Blel Kadri have crossed the early gap to join up with Sylvain Chavanel and Niki Terpstra.

The peloton are decidedly unbothered. They have allowed the breakaway five, none of whom are GC contenders, an advantage of four minutes.

Rob Hatch
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra commentator

Image source, Rob Hatch

And they took the micky out of Yorkshire's yellow painted sheep.

BBC Radio 5 live commentator Rob Hatch has found a yellow fountain on stage seven, and here is another on today's trip. This time it is in Baccarat, 110km from the finish.

I'm not sure that a gushing geyser of yellow liquid in the middle of your town square is a great municipal look.

Live coverage begins on this very website at 15:00 BST.

Image source, @ceramicspeed

Vincenzo Nibali doesn't look in any mood to give up yellow if his topbar art is anything to go by.

His maglia rosa-tinted eye is focused on bringing this race home front to back.

Bauke Mollema:, external I wonder how many #TDF riders did not crash this hectic first week. Belkin: 3. Hope it gets better from now on!

Image source, EPA

Alberto Contador was seen as the man most likely to profit by Chris Froome's withdrawal, but with more than two and half minutes to make up Tinkoff-Saxo's leader had better start making a move.

"The profile of Saturday's stage looks more like a one-day Classic than a true mountain stage, but nonetheless, if an opportunity presents itself, I'll go for it," he said.

Oh, he's a tease isn't he?

Yellow Jersey
Classification

Last year's Giro d'Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali started out life as a mountain bike rider and his bike-handling skills have helped him to a healthy lead as we start the second week:

1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Astana) 29hrs 57mins 04secs

2. Jakob Fuglsang (Den/Astana) +2secs

3. Peter Sagan (Svk/Cannondale) +44secs

4. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol/Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) +50secs

5. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel/Lotto-Belisol) +1min 45secs

6. Tony Gallopin (Fra/Lotto-Belisol) Same time

7. Richie Porte (Aus/Team Sky) +1min 54secs

8. Andrew Talansky (US/Garmin-Sharp) +2mins 05secs

9. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +2mins 11secs

10. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) Same time

Selected others:

15. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) +2mins 30secs

16. Alberto Contador (Spa/Tinkoff-Saxo) +2mins 37secs

18. Tejay van Garderen (US/BMC Racing) + 3mins 14secs

Image source, PA

As we look back, it seems hard to believe that those heady, heady days of the grand depart were just a week ago.

While the beginning of next year's Tour has already been booked in in the Netherlands, I'm not going out on a limb by saying that there will be another chance for British fans to send the riders on their way before too long.

So I'm open for your suggestions, however whimsical, however serious, on where we should host another British stage.

Shut the M25 for and all out-trash around London?

A coast-to-coast stage traversing the Pennines?

How about a trip to the Isle of Wight?

#bbccycling, external on Twitter and 81111 on text are the ways to get in touch.

Image source, PA

Secondly, Mark Cavendish, who came to grief chasing a sprint finish in his mother's hometown of Harrogate on the first day of the Tour, has come through his first physio session on his dislocated shoulder.

"Actually feels so nice to move it and it's working well," he said.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step team-mate Matteo Trentin dedicated yesterday's stage win to Cavendish.

"We win for Cav, we win for the team," he told Cycling Weekly., external