Breakaway riders Yukiya Arashiro (Lampre-Merida) and Jan Barta (Bora-Argon) have a four minute 20 second lead as they and the following peloton descend from the rugged Cantal. 

Those excerpts from Rob Hayles and Rob Hatch were from their daily Radio 5 live podcast, which I can fully recommend. You can download it here and listen to it on the way to work, as I did this morning. 

It also includes discussion about how they managed to dismantle a table during the closing stages of stage four, a video which has apparently gone viral! 

Rob Hayles
Former GB cyclist

For the sprinters, this is where they have to dig in deep. For a lot of the top guys looking for the yellow jersey, they can afford to switch off a little bit on days like this. They don't have to ride full gas. When Sprinters are on a stage like today, they really do have to concentrate fully. And they can't switch off on the mountain stages either, they are racing around to fight tooth and nail to get within the time limit. So they are fighting every day.   

The peloton are starting to push the pace as Mark Cavendish's team Dimension Data, stride out in front. 

They are still over four minutes behind Slovakia's Jan Barta and Japan's Yukiya Arashiro. 

Rob Hatch
BBC Radio 5 live commentator

The opportunists have had their first day in the mountains, but there are only two third-category climbs and one fourth-category climb today and none of them are particularly close to the finish and the final 40km are almost pan-flat. So it should be another day where the sprinters teams work to set up the fast men.

Up ahead, Jan Barta and Yukiya Arashiro have opened up a four-minute gap with 11km gone. The peloton is yet to bite.  

It was 24 degrees at the start line at Arpajon-sur-Cere, with a high of 33 degrees at the finish in Montauban. 

Scorchio. 

The race started officially at 11:52 BST. No new injuries to tell you about, so 198 riders are heading south-west as it hots up today. 

Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18) and Yukiya Arashiro (Lampre-Merida) have opened up an early lead. 

Image source, Getty Images

Should Mark Cavendish make it a third win at this year's Tour - following victory on the opening stage and stage three - it would make it 29 overall for Manxman.

That would make him the second most successful stage winner in Tour history, taking him one clear of Frenchman Bernard Hinault and five behind five-time Tour winner Eddy Merckx of Belgium. 

The likes of world champion Peter Sagan and Germany's Marcel Kittel might have something to say about that, though. 

Image source, Tour de France

It's all change for stage six, despite what the profile of the route might look like. Tour route director Thierry Gouvenou calls it a "puzzle".

Once the undulations of the Cantal are behind them, the riders will face a fairly flat stage, which is 190.5km or 118.4 miles in length. 

Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas says in our guide: "It may look a little lumpy but this is a stage for the sprinters because it's their final chance for a while with us heading into the Pyrenees mountains."

So can Mark Cavendish step up to make it three wins on this year's Tour?  

Image source, Getty Images

Hands up if you predicted what would happen in stage five on Wednesday? 

The first hint of the hills saw a big breakaway with BMC's Belgian rider Greg van Avermaet taking the win and now wearing the yellow jersey. He now has a gap of over five minutes to those chasing him down, including defending champion Chris Froome. 

Can he end stage six in yellow? And which sprinter will fancy their chances as things flatten out again today?