Europcar and Giant-Shimano lead the peloton over the line and the pace drops slightly as riders frantically reach out for bottles of juice to power them to the finish.

Polkadot Jersey
Classification

Our leaders are approaching the summit of Col des Brosses and there are hundreds of fans lining the road, soaking up the rays.

Simon Clarke is spraying water over his head in an effort to cool himself down. he follows Langeveld over the line - they are not interested in the two and one points for reaching the summit ahead of the peloton.

They have their eyes on the bigger prize. One category four climb and 47km to survive with a two minutes, 15 seconds advantage.

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

"When it is hot it's difficult to refuel. I would've struggled to take on solids on a day like today. It takes a lot of training to get used to doing."

Luke Smith:, external Has anyone won the green jersey without a stage victory?

Can anyone help Luke out? I'm a little busy to go searching...

If Britain's Mark Cavendish was still up and running in the race, he would have '25V' on his race number on his bike, which was 71 - marking his 25 stage wins in the Tour de France.

Wednesday's stage winner Tony Gallopin opened his account on Wednesday.

Lotto-Belisol:, external From today on, for the rest of his life, '1V', one victory @letour for @tonygallopin

Image source, Lotto-Belisol

The break is starting to fall apart. First Florian Vachon runs out of gas and rather quickly after Gregory Rast calls it a day. Our leading quartet is down to a duo - Sebastian Langeveld and Simon Clarke push on.

Their lead is just over two minutes as they continue to ascend Col des Brosses. Once they reach the top, there is a plateau and a descent before the final climb up Cote de Grammond, which tops out some 20km from the finish.

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

"Are Giant-Shimano riding for Kittel? Unlikely. It's a similar stage to yesterday. Sagan will be there but I think Giant are riding for Degenkolb. Arnaud Demare has already been back to the FDJ team car and taken a 'sticky bottle'. He was holding on to the bottle while it was being handed to him from the car for about 15 pedal revolutions which is a little bit naughty."

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

And we have live commentary from Rob Hayles and Rob Hatch on this very website. Click on the live tab at the top of this page to listen in.

Two Europcar riders continue to pace the peloton with a train of eight Giant-Shimano zebras in their wake, enjoying the blazing sunshine and near 30C temperatures. It's a far cry from the cold and rain of the last week.

I've just been watching a replay of the De La Cruz crash. It gets worse on every viewing - he apparently had a front-wheel puncture, so not a lot he could do about that.

The leading quartet are 68km from home and heading towards today's biggest climb the category three ascent of Col des Brosses. The average gradient is only 3.3% but the length of the climb is 15.3km. They hold a two minutes, 10 seconds advantage over the peloton.

BBC Sport's Matt Slater:, external Despite 6 broken ribs, punctured lung, bust collarbone & lots of grazing, Brian Robinson is 'chipper' & eager to get back on bike. Brian's spirits are being lifted by messages he's getting from around cycling world. TdF boss Christian Prudhomme is phoning later.

Yellow Jersey
Classification

Nibali leads team Sky's Richie Porte in the general classification by two minutes, 23 seconds with Alejandro Valverde a further 24 seconds back. There's some big mountains coming in the next couple of days that could change all that.

1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Astana) 46hrs 59mins 23secs

2. Richie Porte (Aus/Team Sky) +2mins 23secs

3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +2mins 47secs

4. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) +3mins 01secs

5. Tony Gallopin (Fra/Lotto-Belisol) +3mins 12secs

John McEnerney:, external Too early to crown Vincenzo Nibali but he's in good shape & has a strong team, the main threat is Alejandro Valverde who is close & will make a move soon!

Andrew Harvey:, external Difficult to see who can topple Nibali for yellow, Valverde/Porte have the strongest claims. Penultimate TT stage will be key.

Team Europcar have put Alexandre Pichot on the front of the peloton, showing that they mean business for their sprinter Bryan Coquard and that they reckon he can get over these final two climbs and be in with a chance at the finish.

Behind Pichot is the black-and-white train of Giant-Shimano. Are they riding for Marcel Kittel - the German who won three of the opening four stages? Or are they pulling for John Degenkolb, who is better suited to getting over these types of climbs and then having a sprint for the line.

Adam, via text on 81111: I'm currently suffering from Sacroilitis and the thought of spending 5 hours in the saddle is horrifying. Poor bloke, he could have had a great opportunity with the other big names gone too! Adam

Iain, via text on 81111: Talansky - previous high-profile appearance of that nerve in Disney's Jungle Book. Kaa the snake lands badly after tangling with the wrong tiger: "Ooh, my s-s-sacroiliac."

The leading quartet lost about one minute of their advantage in the aftermath of that De La Cruz and Langeveld crash and are three minutes, 30 seconds clear of the chasing peloton, which is starting to up its pace with just 77km remaining.

We've got a couple of hours or until we reach Saint Etienne, so plenty of time for you to tweet or text me your thoughts on the state of the race so far. Has Vincenzo Nibali got the yellow jersey sewn up? Has Peter Sagan done likewise with the green? Will the Slovakian taste a stage win on this year's Tour though?

Texts to 81111 - please put CYCLING at the front (so I can find then among the golf and cricket messages) and your name (so I can use it).

Tweets to #bbccycling, external

We have live radio commentary coming up on the website from 15:00 BST with the two Robs, Hatch and Hayles in the booth at the finish line in Saint Etienne. It's a little blurry but you get the picture.

You can get their take on the closing 90 minutes or so of today's stage in 26 minutes.

Image source, Getty Images

And while I'm dealing with crashes, it's probably a good time to tell you of Andrew Talansky's demise. You may recall that the American, who won June's traditional Tour warm-up race - the Criterium du Dauphine, was the 179th and last rider to finish stage 11, more than 32 minutes behind winner Tony Gallopin and 12 minutes adrift of the group ahead of him on the road.

Unsurprisingly, the Garmin-Sharp rider did not make the start line today, saying he was "heartbroken" to become the latest high-profile name to pull out.

Officially, he has quit due to acute sacroilitis - an inflammation of the sacroiliac joint, which connects the iliac bone, in the pelvis, to the spine. No, me neither.

Image source, Getty Images

De La Cruz is not the only one in a bit of pain today.

A little bid of sad news involving British cycling legend Brian Robinson. The 83-year-old, who in 1955 was the first from these shores to complete the Tour de France, was knocked off bike near his home in west Yorkshire.

Robinson, who was also the first Brit to win a stage, in 1958, was taken to hospital with a suspected broken collarbone on Wednesday evening and kept in overnight.

If you're reading Brian - get well soon!