Brice Feillu almost overshoots a hairpin bend. Going uphill! The French Fortuneo rider shoots off the front of the peloton with such vim and vigour that he comes close to going off the road!

There is no grass verge either. Just a big drop into the valley.

Up front Nic Roche and Lilian Calmejane are trying to stretch everyone else in the break. Direct Energie's Calmejane is out of the saddle and really pushing the tempo.

Roche misses a bottle. Could that be costly?

Nicolas Roche and Serge Pauwels have made a bit of a break and Lilian Calmejane is trying to bridge across.

And Warren Barguil, the Team Sunweb rider, has perhaps done too much, too early today. He is finding it tough going up the "final climb on stage eight" as Simon Brotherton on race commentary has decided to refer to it as from now on in.

Greg van Avarmaet is going backwards. The BMC Racing rider gives a little wave to the camera. His day is done. Jan Bakelants is also pedaling squares.

His team-mate Nicolas Roche is trying to stick with Warren Barguil and Robert Gesink, who are really turning the screw.

Direct Energie's LIlian Calmejane is also looking good.

The yellow jersey group is just 80 seconds adrift with 20km to the finish. The next 8km or so are all uphill and then it's a 12km run across a plateau to the line.

The leaders are officially on the final ascent of the day.

Want to know how hard it's going to be? Here's OJ Borg...

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I don't want to type it out too many more times today. I think I'll reduce it to Montee de la Combe for ease from here on in. Anyway, here it is in all it's glory, courtesy of the Tour de France twitter folk.

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The break is 1.6km ahead of the peloton. A group containing sprinter Andre Greipel is 8.5km adrift.

I have been hearing that Arnaud Demare is feeling a bit icky today. He was 15km back down the road a good while back. He has dropped off the radar. I'm not sure if he is still pedalling.

The eight in the leading group are Jan Bakelants (AG2R-La Mondiale), Nicolas Roche and Greg van Avermaet (BMC), Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data), Warren Barguil (Sunweb), Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo), Simon Clarke (Cannondale-Drapac), Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie).

Van Avermaet is the Olympic champion remember and he won that race on a hilly course round Rio. This mountain to come is tougher than what he faced in Rio but if he can get up it first, he'll have a good chance, particularly because he's got a team-mate with him in Roche.

The peloton is only one minute, 45 seconds adrift though and closing fast...

I've just seen a bit of footage of Chris Froome failing to negotiate a right-hand bend.

He was following four Team Sky team-mates and the fourth in line ran wide, and Froome drifted off into the grassy dust. Thankfully he was on the brakes early, otherwise he could have been munching on a tree branch or two.

Image source, Getty Images

Rob Hayles
Former GB cyclist on Radio 5 live sports extra

If the stage was to finish at the top of today's climb there would be a lot more action. But the 12km between the top and the finish could make it difficult and why you will need team-mates with you because it will be fast and you can benefit from slipstreaming.

OJ Borg and the BBC Radio 5 live team are at Station des Rousses. While Rob Hayles and Simon Brotherton are on race commentary, OJ is filming the next bit of his Tour A-Z.

They are also hoping to be live from 18:00 BST on Facebook with their daily BeSpoke podcast to analyse today's stage. Don't worry if you miss that, it will be available as a podcast a little later in the evening.

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The attacks are continuing at the front of the race. The peloton is on a bit of an incline and once they are over it, it's straight down into the valley before the final climb - the Montee de la Combe de Laisia Les Molunes.

They are about 17km from the bottom of the ascent.

The group out front are three minutes clear of the peloton and there is a group of 25 riders 45 seconds off the front.

Chris Froome drifted off on to some grass as he ran wide on a right-hand bend on the descent. A minor hiccup for the race leader.

Team Sky have four riders on the front of the peloton and one went a little wide and Froome had nowhere to go.

He rejoins towards the back of the bunch and appears untroubled.

Team Sky pay tribute to their German rider Christian Knees for his efforts today as he starts to go backwards from that big break.

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Is Warren Barguil trying to take the polka dot jersey off Fabio Aru? The Team Sunweb rider picked up five points for being first up the category two ascent.

That puts him up to seven. Aru leads on 10. He needs to keep it together for one more climb...

The 'tete de la course' contains around 40 riders again as the escapees are caught.

But almost as soon as I type that, another attempt to race clear goes again.

Four riders, Jan Bakelants, Greg van Avermaet, Serge Pauwels and Warren Barguil are the mischief-makers.

Three riders are trying to come across to them as they reach 1km from the summit.

Rob Hayles
Former GB cyclist on Radio 5 live sports extra

The word in the commentary box is that those struggling at the back of the race, such as Arnaud Demare, need to finish within 37 or 38 minutes of the stage winner to avoid been chucked off the race.

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All eight of the riders out front have won at least one Grand Tour stage in their careers.

They are on the ascent of Cote de Viry - a 7.6km climb at 5.2%.

The octet have failed to build a significant gap over the 40 or so behind them - the lead is under 20 seconds.

In fact the eight has become five as the slope begins to take its toll. Michael Matthews is one starting to pedal through treacle.

With so much going on out on the road, my BBC Radio 5 live colleagues out in France have decided to go on air 15 minutes early, which is right now. Click the link and listen in, while reading and contributing here, of course. #bbccycling for your thoughts on how the final 60km will go.

They've also been sending me pictures on their way to the finish. A bit of support for Chris Froome on the roadside today...

Image source, BBC Sport

Back in the peloton, it's a familar sight with Team Sky on the nose of the peloton.

Four men in white and black leading with Chris Froome in yellow tucked in behind Geraint Thomas. They are being tracked by the BMC Racing squad, who have Richie Porte in their midst.

A bit of a struggle for Arnaud Demare today. The French sprinter, who is second in the green jersey standings, is 15km down the road. Could he be in danger of missing the time cut?

There are a couple of big climbs still to come.