Matt Warwick
BBC Sport

Really hope Pavel Sivakov isn't too hurt and can carry on tomorrow. He looked absolutely furious when having his bleeding cuts attended to by the medical car after crashing twice.

He’s a lovely bloke when not scraping divots into the tarmac with his elbows, and is one of the most important riders for Ineos at this year’s race, chalked in as he is to be a key domestique in the mountains. He had “one of my best ever performances physically” during the last stage of the Dauphine a few days ago, finishing fourth despite another crash, in which he hit his head on the road hard.

“It’s a part of it. A cyclist’s life is not easy, there is a lot of sacrifice – you can’t think too much how dangerous sport it is," he told me. "Some days you wake up feeling shit.”

Tomorrow will be one of those days, but hopefully he’ll still be part of this race. The 23-year-old is “very French” having been born there to Russian pro-cyclist parents and “winning the Tour would be my biggest dream”.

I’m told he easily has the ability to do it in the future, too.

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Benoit Cosnefroy is slowly being reeled in as George Bennett looks to attach himself to the back of the main group.

Obviously I could throw in the likes of Emanuel Buchmann, Nairo Quintana, Tadej Pogacar, Mikel Landa, Daniel Martinez et al into that list, I was just trying not to go too heavy on the graphics..

All of those boys and a few more are in with a shout of a podium finish depending on how this race pans out.

Basically it's wide open.

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Hard to look past Egan Bernal isn't it?

The 23-year-old became the first Colombian rider to win the Tour in 2019 and the youngest GC winner for a century.

And even without Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas he's still in arguably the most powerful team and will be ably supported by the likes of 2019 Giro d'Italia winner Richard Carapaz, Britain's Luke Rowe and Poland's Michał Kwiatkowski.

Still, with a time trial in the penultimate stage, he'll want to have built up a cushion as that's one area where he could come under pressure.

AG2R La Mondiale rider Benoit Cosnefroy is having a dig.

The French rider quickly opens a gap of 15 seconds but once the sprint trains line up it'll be difficult for him to stay out there.

George Bennett is the latest rider to feel his skin scratching along the tarmac.

The Kiwi who is Jumbo-Visma's stand-in for Steven Kruijswijk looks shaken but okay.

He is expected to be a key man for the Dutch squad when the race hits the mountains.

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Primoz Roglic looked in pretty good nick before crashing at the Criterium du Dauphine.

Though of course he's probably used to taking the odd tumble as a former junior ski jumping world champion.

He dominated the Tour de l'Ain before a superb victory on the summit finish on the Col de Porte in the Dauphine.

If he is in good shape here, Egan Bernal could have his work cut out to defend his title.

Looks like Primoz Roglic and Julian Alaphilippe are having a natter just as things start to speed up a tad.

Maybe discussing what they are having for tea tonight.

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Tom Dumoulin reckons that up to 20 riders are in with a shout of winning the Tour de France this year.

And as long as he's still fully fit I'd have him in my top 10 names of contenders, never mind a top 20.

The 29-year-old missed the 2019 edition of the Tour after getting injured in the Giro but he finished second back in 2018. Much will depend on how he and Jumbo-Visma team-mate Primoz Roglic go together.

Good effort Neil....

Like your Twitter profile picture by the way.

Image source, @mrneil80

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Julian Alaphilippe lit up the 2019 Tour, wearing the yellow jersey for 14 days of the race.

While perhaps not quite as popular in his homeland as Pinot, his swashbuckling style has won many admirers and the 28-year-old could yet spring a surprise this time around.

The Deceuninck-Quick Step rider, eventually ran out of gas last year after fighting valiantly in the Pyrenees and into the Alps, as well as stunning the field by winning a technical time trial in Pau to put forward his GC credentials.

Victorious or not, there are sure to be sparks if Alaphilippe is in the mix once again.

Bar the odd rider here and there the bunch seems to have regrouped fully now.

They are coasting along at a very sedate pace on a fairly lengthy and winding descent towards the finish on Promenade des Anglais.

These conditions aren't great are they? And not something you would typically see in Nice if this race was taking place in its usual July slot.

Reminds me of riding into work on newly laid tarmac (lots of potholes where I am) in the middle of November, with the rain/sleet sheeting down.

But what are the worst conditions you've come across when out on your bike?

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A tearful conclusion to Thibaut Pinot's 2019 Tour saw French hopeful forced to abandon through injury on stage 19 when placed fifth.

Pinot recorded a mightily impressive victory on the Tourmalet as he appeared to grow in strength last year, and is a favourite of fans in France, who are hoping to see a first French winner since Bernard Hinault in 1985.

However, the 30-year-old has only finished on the podium at the Tour once and that was back in 2014, the same year he won the young rider classification.

Nothing really doing at the moment on the road given the futility of trying to attack in these conditions...

So maybe a chance to run through some of the main contenders for yellow.

The rest of the peloton don't appear happy.

The Astana lads were pushing the pace off the front of the main group before that crash and Tadej Pogacar and Tony Martin are having a word.

Ouch!published at 16:07 British Summer Time 29 August 2020

16:07 BST 29 August 2020

Crash. Bang. Wallop.

One of the Astana riders loses his back wheel and slams into an advertising board on the descent.I think that was Miguel Angel Lopez....

Looks like Ion Izagirre has let his team-mate have his wheels.

Not a good birthday for Andrey Amador.

The Ineos man is celebrating turning 34 but he'll have probably had better days in the saddle. He was down earlier and now looks to have picked up a mechanical fault.

Not a good day for Sam Bennett. Looks like Deceuninck-Quick Step's designated sprinter has had a flat.

He's already been off his bike today in different circumstances. What's he got left in the tank for the finish?

Matt Warwick
BBC Sport

Well, what looked on paper like a rather sedate three laps around Nice is turning into something of a nightmare on ice. At least the riders are making it look as if the wet roads are as slippery as a frozen pond.

We’ve seen several crashes already and the stress is already beginning to tell in the peloton, with the teams’ road captains on high alert to avoid their star men hitting the deck.

The bunch can revel in quite a jovial atmosphere on warm sunny days early on in Grand Tours, but this is setting the tone for what could be a very unpredictable race.

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