Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig is into the descent, taking these sharp bends at high speed.

She has edged her lead back out to 1'27'' over the chasing peloton.

Can she keep that advantage onto the final climb?

All the favourites are still in the main group over the top - Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, Anna van der Breggen, Megan Guarnier, Annemiek van Vleuten, Amanda Spratt, Lucinda Brand, Tayler Wiles, Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Katie Hall.

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig holds her effort and takes the summit of the Col de Romme solo.

Leah Thomas hangs on for second over the top, closely followed by the chasing peloton.

Not much respite for the riders here - 2km of false flat, 4km of descent and then they hit the fearsome Col de la Colombiere.

Ludwig now has 1km to go until the summit, leading the peloton by 26 seconds.

Leah Thomas is in the hurt locker, with the peloton now in sight down the road.

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig flicks her elbow but Thomas isn't there to help out. The Dane instead has to drive for the summit, still 1.5km away.

Boels-Dolmans have a one-two punch of their own though - Megan Guarnier now hits the front in service of Anna van der Breggen.

That briefly has Lucinda Brand in trouble but the Dutchwoman is still in touch.

Mitchelton-Scott launch the first of their one-two punch as Amanda Spratt zips off the front, bringing Ashleigh Moolman Pasio with her.

It all settles down quickly but that brief surge is enough to spit riders out the back, including Spanish champion Eider Merino.

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig has sustained her excellent attack and bridged across to the leader Leah Thomas.

The group are dragging back the riders out front as the race heads towards the summit of the Col de Romme.

Leah Kirchmann will soon be swallowed up by the bunch - can she hold on to work for her team leader Lucinda Brand?

Thomas digs again and extends her advantage over Kirchmann to 15 seconds, while Ludwig is a further 10 seconds adrift.

A select group of the peloton continue to steadily rise down the road.

Leah Thomas drives on out front, still leading Leah Kirchmann by five seconds and holding her advantage over the peloton at 1'05'' with 3.5km of this climb remaining.

Moolman Pasio's team-mate Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig goes on the attack. Is the Dane trying to weaken Van Vleuten and Van der Breggen by forcing them to counter?

They can't let her get too much of an advantage - she finished sixth in the Giro Rosa and is a player in this race.

This climb will feature on the men's Tour de France stage 10 later today. It's going to really hurt.

Malgorzata Jasinska, who had been in the early break, is swallowed up by the peloton.

Leah Kirchmann is holding her own, hovering about seven seconds down on leader Leah Thomas.

Malgorzata Jasinska will soon be caught by the peloton.

The first km of this climb peaks at around 11% and it's shredded the peloton down to a select group.

South Africa's Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, the first African to podium at a Grand Tour in finishing second at the Giro Rosa on Sunday, is still up there.

Leah Thomas is now out front alone, with Leah Kirchmann dropping back.

She's still got 7km of climbing to go to the summit but is holding a gap of around one minute over the peloton.

World champion Chantal Blaak is falling away, as is Boels Dolmans team-mate Christine Majerus. Perhaps their job is done for the day, having got Anna van der Breggen and Megan Guarnier to the base of this climb.

Britain's Dani Rowe is also getting dropped - she's better on shorter, punchier climbs and just rode a tough Giro Rosa.

Malgorzata Jasinska becomes the latest to fall away from the break, leaving Leahs Thomas and Kirchmann out front.

Unsurprisingly, the sprinter Lotta Lepisto has been dropped from the leading break on the climb.

Leah Thomas, Leah Kirchmann and Malgorzata Jasinska drive on.

And straight away the advantage of the break tumbles down to 1'15'' on the lower slopes of the climb.

Shara Gillow and Anna Christian were off in pursuit but were caught straight away once the climbing began.