Marky G:, external Crowds are gradually building near the Tower of London.

Bruce from Old Colwyn on text: As a cycling geek living in N Wales I made the journey over to just outside Harrogate Fri night, cycled into Harrogate Sat morning and spent the whole day lapping up the immense atmosphere, met a good bunch of guys at roadside about 2 miles from finish line, including a guy with a Brittany flag cheering on Bretagne-Seche. Adrenalin filled goosebump moments had when the peloton cycled past me, amazing experience. Yorkshire did an amazing job hosting the Grand Depart of the TDF 2014, and I am honoured to have been able to experience it! Merci beaucoup Yorkshire! Cheers.

Polkadot Jersey
Classification

A black bull outside a pub that shares its name is nattily dressed in a polka dot jersey. A bull's not really got the right physique to get up a mountain, I'd have it down more as a sprinter.

Suzanne Taylor:, external Just over an hour before the cyclists and this is the scene in London.

Alex Prout:, external ‏@letour fan hub at Trafalgar Square already bustling.

A bit of rain in that there London could liven things up for the sprint finish in a little over an hour.

The leaders are two minutes clear of the chasing peloton who are timing the catch to perfection here. They don't want to reel them in too soon, otherwise separate breaks could go off and because those riders have been sitting in the comfort of the peloton all afternoon, they will be fresh enough to maybe make a break stick.

Joseph Neil Conrad:, external ‏Somehow rain adds to the atmosphere #bbccycling #letourdewoodford.

Chris Porter:, external Settle on second to last bend, all crossing points closed on the Mall.

Stephen Wiles:, external Wow! Loads of spectators for tour de France in E17. As far as the eye can see.

Talking of fighting over souvenirs, I heard a tale from the weekend about a bottle cast aside by Jens Voigt. For those of you who don't know Jensie, he is a legend of the sport, the daddy of the peloton and riding in his last Tour at the age of 42.

After being in the breakaway, he dropped to the back of the peloton. He threw a finished drinks bottle to a young lad on the side of the road which an older gentleman promptly wrestled from him. Jensie saw all this going on, stopped, turned round and retrieved the bottle for the youngster. I so hope that story is true.

Rob Hatch
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra commentator

"It has been a brilliant race so far. Two very different stages. Yesterday was an epic day, it was like a mini classic. What a day it was."

You can listen to live commentary of the race on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra from 15:00 BST. Click on the Live Coverage tab at the top of this page to listen.

BBC Radio 5 live

Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity on BBC Radio 5 live: "It has exceeded expectations. I am still letting the huge crowds sink in, to get 4 or 5 million is unbelievable. My phone has been inundated from people all over the world saying how beautiful Yorkshire is."

Colin Taylor, from Somerset, on text: Waiting for Le Tour in the Olympic park with the velodrome behind us. Just had a rain shower but brightening up now.

Mike Coleman: Waiting under London Bridge. Crowd and excitement building as the bonkers caravan passes by.

Clare in London: Promotional cars have passed along the embankment and even the barristers at Temple have been seen fighting to catch the free souvenirs!

The riders have just gone through the halfway point in today's stage and that means it's time to take on a bit of food. It's a tricky time in the peloton because everyone's hungry and the only way to get some scran is to pluck a musette from the outstretched arm of a team helper as you cycle by.

It's then a case of picking out the best bits from your food bag, swapping those bits you don't like with a friendly face and discarding the rest for the vultures on the side of the road, eager to snare any souvenir that they can.

The leaders are still 2'30" up the road and have 70km to the finish line on The Mall in London.

James Winter:, external How are the climbs defined? What equates to a C4/C3 climb? Is it distance & gradient? Is it possible to compare to a local hill?

Hi James, you've got it pretty much spot on. There is a formula that involves the distance and gradient - basically the longer and steeper the hill, the higher the category climb. C4 and C3 are seen as mere bumps in the road by the real mountain goats in the peloton. Look out for the C1 and Hors Categorie climbs once we reach the Alps and Pyrenees. Hors Categorie are the ones off the scale and were originally for climbs that cars were not expected to get over. Check out the stage-by-stage guide to compare Yorkshire with the mountains - particularly stages 17 and 18.

Dr Abbe Brady:, external Waiting excitedly for Tour de France cyclists in Epping - Amazing crowds and festival feel.

Following Mark Cavendish's abandonment, there are just three British riders left in this race.

Everyone knows defending champion Chris Froome and hopefully you're aware of Olympic and world track champion and BBC Sport columnist Geraint Thomas.

The third is Simon Yates - a 21-year-old from Bury who was a late addition to the Orica GreenEdge team - he is a track world champion too.

He spoke to Eurosport before today's race: "It has been really incredible to see the people on the roads. I got a lot of support on the climbs on Sunday and I wont forget that for a long time. I wasnt' down to start the Tour de France at the start of the year and I'm enjoying it."

Yorkshire Kev in Huddersfield: After the success of the Tour over the weekend I firmly believe that every major international sporting event should be held in Yorkshire. Even Lancastrians (Tobias 13.52) are giving praise, and sneaking in.

Sir Dave Brailsford has stated his wish to win the Tour de France with a French rider for the first time since 1985.

Brailsford established Team Sky with the aim of producing a first British winner and has succeeded, with Sir Bradley Wiggins' 2012 triumph in the 99th edition followed last year by a win for Chris Froome, the defending champion in this year's race.

Now Brailsford has told French newspaper L'Equipe, external of his desire to give France a first winner since Bernard Hinault won the last of his five titles in 1985. "We have won the Tour with a British rider, but when are we going to see a French rider win the Tour? That would be enormous."

Image source, Cannondale Pro

Cannondale Pro team on Twitter:‏, external On the roads of @letour - the AMAZING show of the fans in Finchingfield #thanks #WeLoveCycling.

Ahhhhh...it was Finchingfield (see 13:36). Thanks Cannondale! And chapeau Finchingfield. Great turn out.

Nick from Canary Wharf on text: For all of us in Canary Wharf who can only dash out for 10 mins, how long away is the peloton and when are they expected around London? Thank you on behalf of all of us at Canary Wharf.

Tough one this Nick! My timing map suggests it's heading to Limehouse between 15:05 and 15:22 depending on how quickly they pedal. However, they are racing about 30 minutes behind schedule, although they will speed up as they approach London. They are about 75km from you right now. I'm waffling. Feign illness?