Loving these images of the mountains you've climbed. If only I could say I'd done the same.

Less than 70km left. Which means we have about 55km to the start of the final climb.

The two-man breakaway have a lead of 12km. Warren Barguil is still trying to rejoin the main group after his crash in the feed zone.

Image source, Tour de France

With it being Bastille Day, Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas was expecting French fireworks as well as our first look at who is really in form.

You can read Geraint Thomas's stage-by-stage guide on the BBC Sport website - here is his take on today's action: "Froome rode this stage after the Criterium du Dauphine and said it's pretty tough.

"Sometimes after a rest day your legs can feel pretty weird - after racing full gas for nine days and then having a day without that high intensity you can feel pretty lethargic.

"There's a flat start so a good chance for a breakaway to stay away on Bastille Day, but on the final climb we'll see the first real showdown between all the contenders for the yellow jersey."

And indeed, Kenneth Vanbilsen was first over the Cote de Viellesegure. Another point in the bag.

Not sure they will be first up the last climb of the day, which is already looking pretty spectacular. 

Image source, Gemma Sterba

There are three category four climbs today - with one point for the first rider over the top of each (this, of course, is dwarfed by the 50 points for the stage winner). Kenneth Vanbilsen was the first over the Côte de Bougarber.  

The first mountain stage of the Tour today. Have you ever struggled up a mountain? Got any photos to share with us?

Image source, Getty Images

There has been a crash (I think) and Giant-Alpecin's French rider Warren Barguil, who has been in decent form, is struggling. He gets off his bike just past the feed zone and heads to the side of the road. He looks a little bashed up but after catching his breath is back on his bike.

So, with a touch more than 80 km completed, Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo and Belgian Kenneth Vanbilsen have a lead fast approaching 15 minutes.

It looks like very hard work in the heat for those two.

Some riders like to sleep, others are more upbeat in their approach to their day off.

If you had just cycled well over 1,000 km in a little over a week - what would you do with a day off? 

After more than a thousand kilometres of cycling covering nine stages and involving numerous crashes that saw two race leaders forced out through injury, the remaining riders in the Tour de France (there were 183 this morning) finally had a day off on Monday.

I say a day off, lots of them did press conferences and all will have kept those legs turning to some extent or another.

The race paused in Pau, where temperatures were pushing 30C, but given that race leader Chris Froome, for example, has already spent 31 hours, 34 minutes and 12 seconds on his bike in the race, nobody would have begrudged the peloton if they found some time to relax and take in some rays. 

That ends today, with the first of five summit finishes in this year's race at the top of the Col de Soudet.

Speaking before today's stage started, Tinkoff-Saxo leader Alberto Contador predicted that Team Sky would attack from the bottom of the climb up the Col de Soudet in order to try to gain some more time for race leader Chris Froome.

Personally speaking, I'm very interested to see how Colombian climber Nairo Quintana does today. I think he has looked pretty good so far.

Today is the start of the next phase of the race, when we will really start to see who is strong, with climbing legs to carry them to the top of the general classification.

These riders are the best of the best and often make cycling up a mountain look ridiculously easy. I, on the other hand, do not.

Not far from my house is a hill known as Brickworks that I often climb so slowly I feel as though I'm sliding down it. Yet every time I get to the top the satisfaction outweighs any thought of imminent cardiac.

What mountains have you climbed? Ever been to the top of the Col de Soudet? I'd love to hear from you - and see those photos.  

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Today's stage ends with the hors categorie climb - the steepest category of climb and the first of the Tour - up to La Pierre-Saint-Martin. The weak or the out of form could be exposed here.

Race leader Chris Froome, a man very much in the headlines at the moment (more on that in a bit), is in no doubt that today's stage will be on the tough side.

Before we get round to discussing various issues, a quick update on how the stage is shaping up at the moment.

We are nearly 60km through the stage and there is a two-man breakaway almost 13 minutes clear.

They are - surprise, surprise - Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo of Bretagne Seche Environment and Belgian Cofidis rider Kenneth Vanbilsen. 

Today's stage started a tad after 11.30 BST (12:30 local time) with the riders rolling out of Tarbes. As you can see from these photos, it is a pretty nice day to be entering the Pyrenees, although whether the peloton (or what remains of it) will be feeling like that at the end of the stage remains to be seen.

Image source, Mark Ansell

Image source, Mark Ansell

Image source, AP

It's Bastille Day. We're in the Pyrenees. We've got a mountain-top finish.

What more could you possibly want?