124 riders yet to start.

45 riders have started.

11 have finished.

Taylor Phinney remains the fastest so far.

Luke Rowe on ITV4: "It was pretty cool coming into the Velodrome - now I know how Wayne Rooney feels when he scores a goal. It was like a gladiator coming into the ring.

"I felt pretty sluggish - the main part for me was remembering to absorb information and assess it and feed it back. There is a bit of wind out there and a few cobbled sections where I was seeing where it is best to ride.

"But it is not that technical - lots of long, straight boulevards."

OJ Borg out at the Tour de France is currently watching inside the Velodrome.

I'm not sure what he has on his headphones at the moment but he has just pointed out that SL2's On a Ragga Tip - Hey rhymes rather nicely with Romain Bardet.

With two and a half hours until Chris Froome goes down the ramp, I wonder if he has time to think of any more cyclists that could be easily slotted into song.

Hmm, time trial specialist Taylor Phinney has just come in at 29mins, 21 secs.

An early marker.

Luke Rowe finishes, clapped over the line. 31 mins, 9 secs for the man at the back of the field. Right at the back!

Before we asked how Chris Froome will kill time between now and the start of his time trial....

John McEnerney: CF cud watch Thelma & Louise which has the greatest cyclist ever to appear in a movie!

Steve Cummings - who perhaps missed out on a few breakaway opportunities during the race - has just gone down the ramp.

What has the Team Dimension Data man got left? Will a tricky, lumpy time trial course like this suit him?

So Luke Rowe went through the second checkpoint at the top of the climb at Notre-Dame de la Garde in 22.35.

Taylor Phinney has just reached that point in 21.13.

Taylor Phinney is the fastest of those out on the course so far.

22 have started, 145 to go.

The more I see of the bump/mountain (see 13:11) on the TV, the trickier it looks, especially the descent.

Luke Rowe is through the second checkpoint at 22.35.

quixoticgeek: just had to explain to my Dutch friend that the bump in the road is not a mountain, despite her claims that 116m makes it such.

Good point - do point out to your Dutch friend how quickly his/her compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten got over it earlier on her way to winning La Course.

I wonder what Chris Froome does for the next hour or so? It is the best part of three hours before he takes to the road.

Does he have lunch? Or take a nap?

Or just watch it all on TV?

Looking at the speed Luke Rowe is moving, I'm not sure exactly how much relevant feedback he will be able to provide.

It's sunnypublished at 13:04 British Summer Time 22 July 2017

13:04 BST 22 July 2017

Very much so.

The sun glistening off the water as the overhead shots sweep across the city.

Austrian Bernie Eisel makes his way down the ramp, but not before sharing a joke with the starter.

We've almost cracked this Tour, it is almost time to put the yellow, the white, the green and the red and white flags away for another year.

And the Radio 5 live team inside the Velodrome have started to express their creative skills.

Image source, BBC Sport

Seven riders on the course, just another 160 to go.

American Taylor Phinney - a time trial specialist - is one of them.

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

Image source, Gemma Sterba

OJ Borg, Rob Hayles and Simon Brotherton inside the Velodrome in Marseille - and there will be commentary from them from 14:30 BST on the website and on 5 live sports extra.

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Luke Rowe is on the course - he has just gone down the ramp.

Riders will head down the ramp every two minutes now until his Sky team-mate appears at 16:04 BST.

....it's the same for the men and the women.

And if you're wondering what Lizzie Deignan was on about when she referred to the bump in the road...

Image source, Getty Images

So, the pursuit format, was it a good idea? The fact that nobody got close to Annemiek van Vleuten would suggest they've not quite nailed it.

Lizzie Deignan: "The format needs some work - it was good but there is definitely work to be done - I'm open minded to the concept but it needs tidying up.

"I wish I had done a recon today - I was not expecting that climb.

"I thought of Thursday as a race but today was a bit of fun.

"There needs to be changes in modern cycling - you've got to give the consumer something new.

"We got exposure today but it's not where it needs to be - behind the scenes, in terms of logistics, we were left wondering what was going to happen at times but I enjoyed the crowds, it's not something we get that often."

Image source, Getty Images

Just a reminder, the men's ITT starts at 12:45 BST.

"I enjoyed the last 100m - and it was a beautiful course, I very much enjoyed it," said winner Annemiek van Vleuten.

"I did not have much information so I thought 'just go'. When riders work together it can be very hard but I thought if I could just smash the climb......and to win by one minute 40 seconds is very special.

You'd like to think that the first man to finish today's time trial will be Sky's Luke Rowe. He is last in the GC standings at the moment and thus will be first out - at 12:45 BST.

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