Summary

  • Van Avermaet wins stage to take yellow jersey

  • Froome and GC contenders are 5mins 17secs behind

  • Contador and Nibali struggle

  • Stage five: 216km from Limoges to Le Lioran

  • Get involved using #bbccycling

Live Reporting

Chris Osborne

  1. Rob Hayles
    Former GB cyclist

    The peloton has been absolutely decimated.

    I'm just wondering if Nibali has just totally run out of energy. There was no fight in him there as he dropped off.

  2. Get Involved - Your first climb

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  3. Nibali struggling?

    29 km to go

    Vincenzo Nibali's Giro success this year seems to be taking its toll. The Astana man is drifting away from the peloton.

  4. Polka dot jersey

    30km to go

    Greg van Avermaet seems to allow his fellow Belgian to take the mountain points. Van Avermaet is not in the running for the polka dots so that's a very nice gesture.

  5. There are a lot of pain-stricken faces out there. Bikes are crumbling off the back of the peloton on this ascent.

  6. Polka dot jersey

    So, Greg van Avermaet or Thomas de Gendt - who will be first to the top of this category two summit?

  7. Gap shrinks

    31km to go

    The peloton is now 8mins 34secs off the leaders. That is seven minutes less than it was at its maximum. But surely there is not enough time to catch up.

    Mark Cavendish is falling off the main group.

  8. The climbs take their toll

    32km to go

    They're dropping like flies now. The chase group of six is now a chase group of four - Romain Sicard and Florian Vachon drop off.

  9. Grivko a gone gone

    32km to go

    Three become two.

    Thomas de Gendt and Greg van Avermaet look forlornly behind them as Andriy Grivko's legs start going through treacler.

    The Ukranian can't do it any more and drops off on the ascent to Pas de Peyrol.

    Is our stage winner in this front two?

  10. Get Involved - Your first climb

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    Buttertubs.

    I like funny words.

  11. Avermaet in yellow?

    33km to go

    Out of the breakaway threesome, Greg van Avermaet has the most Tour pedigree.

    He has one career stage win under his belt and is on course to take the yellow jersey.

    Unbelievably, the Belgian's BMC team have only held the maillot jaune for four days in their nine-year history.

    Two of those days were the final two of the 2011 Tour, when Cadel Evans won the whole shebang.

  12. BBC Radio 5 Live

    There's been a bit of a reshuffle on the schedule and as it stands, you can only hear commentary from the Tour online.

    It's live now, just click the audio button at the top of the page.

  13. Get Involved - Your first climb

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    Oh this is wonderful...

  14. And on cue, Movistar out leading out the peloton and really giving it some.

    Directly behind them Team Sky grit their teeth and tag along.

  15. 37km to go

    Here we go then. Climbs, descents, climbs, descents.

  16. Peloton pick up

    38km to go

    The peloton has definitely lifted a gear. The gap is 11mins 48secs now.

    Movistar's sport director Jose Luis Arrieta has just told Francetelevisions that his team and Team Sky "want to reduce the gap a little bit”.

    The insinuation is that they don't expect to close it fully. It's the breakaway's to win - or should that be to lose?

  17. Get Involved - Your first climb

    #bbccycling

  18. Polka dot jersey

    42km to go

    That threesome reach the category three Cote de Neronne - and it's Thomas de Gendt to pick up his second set of maximum climb points. That will put him in a good position to snaffle the polka dots today.

  19. Yellow jersey

    So, a reminder that Greg van Avermaet, Thomas de Gendt and Andriy Grivko are the three chaps out in front.

    Van Avermaet is the only man level with Chris Froome in the general classification - so Froome's potential deficit in the race for yellow would currently stand at 13 minutes.

  20. Get Involved - Your first climb

    #bbccycling