The breakaway has reached the foot of the Col du Firstplan, a second category climb, and the peloton have not mustered the collective will to chase it.

The gap is up to four minutes 26 seconds.

The seven escapees in full are Giovanni Visconti (Movistar), Lieuwe Westra (Astana), Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Amael Moinard (BMC), Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Markel Irizar (Trek) and Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne).

There is good news and bad for the peloton.

The weather bods forecast a comfy 20 degrees Celsius,, external albeit with the risk of the odd downpour.

However the profile of the final two climbs is not for the faint-hearted. Particularly when you consider the riders will already have 140km under the belts when they hit the foot of the first.

There is an average gradient of 14.9% for one of the kilometres on Col de Chevreres, with sections of 20% on the final kick to the finish.

Image source, Tour de France

Image source, TdF

No wonder they look like vert-ramps on the stage profile.

This is what the GC main men were saving themselves for yesterday.

Four category-one climbs to get the lactic flowing and plenty of swift descents to get rattle the fillings.

This is Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas's take on it all in his stage-by-stage guide over the way:

"This is the first big day in the mountains and there is a lot of climbing. There is not one massive climb but it's definitely a solid day and the finish at La Planche Des Belles Filles is where Chris Froome won in 2012.

"This is a tougher day than when Froome won though. It's all up and down, there's no flat section to rest on. It is likely to be hot as well and that will take a lot out of the guys."

Image source, Tour de France

If there is one man likely to set off on a patriotic burst from the front it is Thomas Voeckler, the last Frenchman before Tony Gallopin to wear yellow, way back in 2011.

Sure enough Voeckler is in a seven-man breakway in the opening 10km along with Giovanni Visconti of Movistar and Lieuwe Westra of Astana. They have opened up a lead of almost a minute on the peloton.

They are being pursued by the green jersey of Peter Sagan, Katusha lead man Joaquim Rodriguez and Jan Barta though. They are 32 seconds away from bridging the gap.

Sagan might have half an eye on the sprint points 39.5km into the stage, while Rodriguez was hoovering climbing points up on yesterday as well.

Today's stage rolled out the blocks at 12:30 BST.

There are intermediate sprint points on offer from approximately 13:30 BST. And the peloton should start ascending the final two climbs just after 16:00 BST.

There will be plenty of drama in between those checkpoints though. Stay with us.

Image source, AP

If yesterday had a Teutonic twang, today has a Gallic flavour.

As Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador and Richie Porte sat back and let Tony Martin go yesterday, content in the knowledge that he was not going to trouble them in the general classification, Frenchman Tony Gallopin gave chase and, even if he didn't catch Martin, ended up bagging the yellow jersey.

Today is Bastille Day, freeing up thousands of patriotic French workers to cheer their yellow-clad compatriot on his way.

It is going to be buzzing 1789-style, external out there.

Tony Martin might claim a small, spooky role in Germany's World Cup success.

On the 8 July 1990 compatriot Olaf Ludwig won a stage of the Tour from Epinal to Besancon. Later the same day West Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final.

Image source, Getty Images

This past weekend has been a good one for Tony Martin.

On Sunday afternoon, he produced an astonishing 60-kilometre solo ride to win the ninth stage of the Tour de France.

A few hours later he settled down on sofa to watch his native Germany win their first World Cup in 24 years.

And all this after his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team presented him with a snazzy personalised cycling cap on Saturday.

Image source, @tonymartin85

Things are coming up PanzerWagen alright.