Enjoy your final day on Tour and thanks for the photos! The riders have 66.6km remaining as I type this. I kid you not.

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The two out front have been joined by six other riders.

Diego Ulissi (UAE), Michael Matthews (Sunweb), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Marcus Burghardt (Bora) Jan Bakelants (AG2R) and Diego Ulissi (UAE) have got across to Warren Barguil and Serge Pauwels.

Their lead over the big group following them is only 25 seconds with the peloton only two minutes 40 seconds adrift.

It's a complete guess Matt - but given the way this stage is going, I'm not ruling anything out.

Maybe Chris Froome will try and eke out a few seconds by going for it on the final climb and time trialling his way to the finish on the 12km plateau to the finish line!

I think OJ means road 'surface', but you get the general picture. He's on the Montee de la Combe de Laisia Les Molunes which is probably easier to say than type.

It's the final categorised climb of today's stage. A category one ascent which is 11.7km in length, with an average gradient of 6.4%.

Image source, BBC Sport

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Warren Barguil is the first over the col de la Joux and he gets two King of the Mountains points for his efforts.

And that means his fellow escapee Serge Pauwels nabs one.

It's pretty much downhill from here for the next 28km or so to the bottom of the next ascent, the category two Cote de Viry.

It's a bit longer at 7.8km and a bit steeper with an average gradient of 5.2%.

Team Dimension Data's Serge Pauwels and Warren Barguil of Team Sunweb have gone clear on the ascent of Col de la Joux.

They have a lead of almost one minute over 48 riders. The 14 remaining riders who broke clear of that initial group of 50, are now all back together.

It continues to be quite complicated out on the road. But the key thing is that all the race favourites are together, three minutes, 35 seconds behind the stage leaders.

It's a question I've often asked but never got the answer to. Until now.

How does BBC Sport's cycling expert Rob Hayles prepare for an afternoon in the commentary box. It's all coloured paper, glue and nail scissors...

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The second group of 34 riders is still just 35 seconds adrift of the leading pack though so there is no time to rest on laurels.

Emanuel Buchman is the highest ranked of the breakaway group. He won the best young rider at the Criterium du Dauphine last month so is an obvious threat to Britain's Simon Yates who currently holds the white jersey.

Buchman of the Bora-Hansgrohe team was just one minute, 29 seconds adrift of Froome at the start of the day. A big gamble to get in yellow?

Deep breath now...they are:

Marcus Burghardt (Bora-Hansgrohe), Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step Floors), Warren Barguil (Sunweb), Jan Bakelants and Mathias Frank (AG2R-La Mondiale), Koen de Kort (Trek-Segafredo), Michael Schar and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Michael Valgren (Astana), Jens Keukeleire (Orica-Scott), Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Laurens ten Dam (Sunweb), Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) and Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale-Drapac).

They are nearly four minutes clear as they head towards the first of today's three categorised climbs. They get progressively harder and the first is the category three Col de la Joux. It's 6.1km with an average gradient of 4.7%.

Simon Brotherton and Rob Hayles will provide live commentary from 14:30 BST. The link will be on this page.

Here's what they've made of the race so far...

Simon: I think the likelihood is there won't be a big GC shake-up. It's more about the riders who aren't GC contenders but are trying to make the most of the stage by getting in the break."

Rob adds: "As long as Chris Froome's got a couple of team-mates with him, even if he is attacked on the final climb, there's still 12km over the top where it will be even more important to have team-mates with you."

Thirteen riders have managed to ride clear of the break from the peloton. Could this be dangerous for Team Sky and Chris Froome's hold on the yellow jersey?

I'm waiting for confirmation of the riders in the baker's dozen and how close they are to Froome in the overall standings.

Before the start of today's stage, Richie Porte, BMC Racing team leader and huge rival to Chris Froome, said: "Its going to be a big fight for the breakaway. It's going to be so tactical between all the teams."

The understatement of the day so far.

The attacks keep coming in the break.

The powerhouse that is Thomas de Gendt wants a smaller selection. Steve Cummings appears to have missed out. The Tour website is saying there are 50 in the break.

Team Sky have three riders in the big group out front. Christian Knees is among them

The peloton with all the main general classification contenders in appears to have finally knocked off the chase.

Geraint Thomas pedals alongside Chris Froome for a chat. "Time for a breather Froomey."

Team Sky have five riders on the front of the peloton and the lead moves out to over a minute.

Sometimes the Tour de France can deliver extremely dull days. This is not one of them.

#bbccycling for your thoughts

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What do I know? The race is all coming back together again. How hard do you want it to get Steve Cummings?

Actually there is a large group of maybe 30 riders slightly off the front of the peloton.

Diego Ulissi of the UAE Emirates team is among the chief instigators.I'm not going to even try and name all of them.

When does a break become the peloton?

Let's all have a little breather. A swimming pool one day, a sauna the next. OJ Borg and Rob Hayles bare their torsos again as they tell you what to expect in the rest of stage eight.

"It could be a day for Steve Cummings, touch wood," quips Hayles.

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Have I gone too early here? Riders are all over the road. Sprinters are dropping out of the back of the peloton and they have a long, long ride to the finish.

Four riders are still trying to snap the elastic. Mathias Frank. Diego Ulissi Marcus Berghardt and Cyril Lemoine are the plucky triers. They are 15 seconds clear.

The bigger group trying to bridge across was nullified. Team Sky are controlling the pace of the peloton and burning lots of energy doing so. Will that have an effect of the category one climb near the finish?

This is great to watch but a nightmare to write about! I hope you are following!

This break is going to stick. Which means you now, finally, have chance to take a breather.

If you missed it last night, catch up with OJ Borg, Rob Hayles and Simon Brotherton as they discuss stage seven's ridiculously tight finish.

Simon reckons there was one a few years ago that was measured at 2.5mm...

The BeSpoke daily is also available as a podcast on the BBC Radio 5 live website.

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The attacks keep coming. A bigger group starting to form as the road starts to go uphill again.

There are maybe a dozen riders in this break but no Steve Cummings as far as I can see.

So, Michael Matthews managed to nip past Marcel Kittel on the line and collect second place. A good win for Andre Greipel because the sprinters were going full gas there.

Kittel will stay in the green jersey though. Arnaud Demare was the only man who could have moved past him today but the French national champion was dropped on the climb.