The composition and size of the front group seems to be ever changing.

It was 22, then three tried to get away, now we have 13 in front with another eight just behind them. The splits are occurring going up, the coming back together is happening going down.

They have a lead of pushing 10 minutes over the main group. At what point do we start to think they might stay away? 

And might the real race still unfold behind them, with attacks from GC contenders in the yellow jersey group. 

BBC Sport's Mark Ansell was at the start line in Lannemezan this morning. It wasn't that long after 10:00 BST when the riders rolled out for today's stage. It was pretty hot then but looks a lot more changeable now. Not unlike my view out of the window here in Salford, if I'm being honest.

Image source, Mark Ansell

Image source, Mark Ansell

We asked for your stories of mixing with the pros. I kind of expected you lot to be crashing the party, not the other way around... 

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Radio race warning the riders about gravel on the descent. Some of the roads look fairly slippery as well. There is 90km to go - but a lot of climbing (and aggresive attacks?) before we reach Plateau de Beille.

Team Sky still at the front of the peloton.

Hmm, suns out now.

Careless Philip. Very careless.

Fail to prepare...

Lots of people in their swimwear by the side of the road in the mountains. While it's raining. Still, they look pretty happy with life as they cheer on the riders.

Lampre-Merida's Kristijan Durasek burst off the front of the breakaway to ensure he was first over the Col de la Core and is now on his way down.

Chris Froome, of course, is currently top of the King of the Mountains standing, although because he is in yellow Richie Porte (second in the KOM standings) is currently wearing the polka dot jersey.

Alberto Contador might be in a scrap to try to haul his way up the general classification standings but he took time out this morning to thank everyone who has been in touch to offer their support.

It got me thinking, anyone ever found themselves in conversation with a top cyclist, a twitter exchange perhaps? Or just bumped into them randomly in the supermarket and soon found themselves in conversation?

I'd love to tell you when it happened to me but sadly that cupboard is bare. I just get people telling me all about the mistakes I've made.

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Yes, it is raining a little. Thunderstorms are forecast for later in the afternoon.

We're back to 22 riders in the leading group. These include the likes of Jakob Fuglsang, Michal Kwiatkowski, Romain Bardet Bryan Coquard, Sylvain Chavanel and Joaquim Rodriguez.

They have a lead of eight-and-a-half minutes. 

Georg Preidler, another member of the breakaway, was the first man over the category two Col de Portet-d'Aspet earlier and he collected five King of the Mountains points for that.

Before we zone right in on the business of getting up and down mountains, let's sort out what happened at the day's intermediate sprint.

It was won by birthday boy Andre Greipel, who turns 33 today. Alas for the Gorilla, with Peter Sagan finishing third the Slovak will remain in the green jersey. He has a two-point advantage over Greipel.

I guess the Sagan fan club will be happy...

Movistar rider Alex Dowsett has been struggling ever since crashing on the cobbles and limping in last on stage four.

The Maldon-born rider finished yesterday in 175th place on the GC, with only Michael Matthews behind him.

Sadly Dowsett slipped off the back of the main group early on today's stage and abandoned soon afterwards.

Hope that elbow heals soon.

Image source, Reuters

Just to bring you right up to speed, the race has reached the category one Col de la Core, with roughly 107km remaining.

At one point we had a 22-man breakaway with a seven-minute lead. The group is now down to 16 but their lead is up to eight-and-a-half minutes.

The Sky train is controlling the front of the peloton. 

Image source, Reuters

Arguably, yesterday was a relatively comfortable day for the race leaders, with Team Sky's Chris Froome maintaining his two minutes 52 second lead over Tejay van Garderen.

Of the GC contenders only out-of-form defending champion Vincenzo Nibali lost time as he laboured up the final climb. The Italian is having a seriously tough time of it - and it will not get any easier over the next few hours. 

Today takes us 195km from Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille. It encompasses one category two climb, two category one climbs and rounds off with a punishing 15.8km climb up to the hors catergorie Plateau de Beille (average gradient 7.9%).

Good luck with that one.

The first day in the Pyrenees saw Chris Froome smash apart the field with his late surge up to La Pierre-Saint-Martin. 

Yesterday took us over Col d'Aspin and the Tourmalet. The stage was the first breakaway victory of the Tour, with Pole Rafal Majka first over the line.

What does the third and final day in the mountains have in store for us?

What does the Tour de France do to a cyclist? Just ask Bora-Argon 18 rider Sam Bennett...