This is more like it. The drinks are out and the pace is dropping as one or two of the riders stop off for comfort breaks.

Trek-Segafrdeo's Latvian rider Toms Skujins looks in a bad way though as he drops back to the medical car for treatment on cuts to his left arm, side and shoulder.

His kit did used to cover those areas but it looks like it has gone through a grater.

The race heads towards La Rochelle, which if I am honest takes me back to my old French GCSE textbooks.

Hands up if you can remember Tricolore and all those pictures of southwestern France, the Bay of Biscay.

This coastal route is stirring the old memory bank but what's your favourite seaside bike ride? Feel free to let me know and drop any pictures into the mix using the hashtag above.

Image source, .

The peloton is more like gas mark two than five now.

And it has allowed the likes of Thibaut Pinot and Emanuel Buchmann to jump back on board at the back.

Matt Warwick
BBC Sport

This coronavirus pandemic he seen its fair share of irony: first the Iranian health minister, then Boris Johnson and now the man at the very head of organiser ASO’s campaign to get this race on Christian Prudhomme has tested positive.

If that’s not a warning the race should probably try to implement tests more regularly, then what is? The system they have in place means temperatures are taken daily, along with a questionnaire about symptoms. But what if people are asymptomatic? Currently the race's only remaining test is on the next rest day on Monday (14 Sep).

Michelton-Scott is one of the team’s to have a staff member who has had to leave their ‘bubble’ after failing a test – and they were asymptomatic. “Everyone else is doing well,” they tell me.

They are a very close team, many members of whom have been there from the start. It feels so unfair in this current system for them to fall foul of ASO’s direction that teams could be expelled from the race if there are two cases within one bubble.

Image source, Getty Images

There is indeed no coming back from that crash for New Zealand's Sam Bewley.

He has abandoned on his Tour debut.

Sunweb's Nicolas Roche was one of those off his saddle in that crash as was Mitchelton-Scott's Sam Bewley.

He does not look in any condition to get back up.

Wow. A huge crash in the peloton sends about a dozen riders flying off their bikes onto the tarmac or the grass verge at the side of the road.

It looked like an EF Pro Cycling rider set the wheels in motion for that tumble, veering off from right to left into two or three others...Was it Neilson Powless?

Domino effect from there I'm afraid.

Thibaut Pinot is in a group of a dozen or so riders to have dropped off the back of the peloton.

He's just rolling along rather leisurely now his GC ambitions have gone up in smoke.

Definitely a stiff breeze in the air now as Deceuninck-Quick Step move up towards the front of the race.

The peloton is starting to scatter a touch as the breakaway duo come well into view.

The teams of the main GC riders all look pretty wary at present as they sweep out of Royan.

Looking at some of the roadside flags I can see why. The wind looks as though it is picking up and nobody wants to be caught out.

The breakaway duo are now within 40 seconds with 110km to go.

The average speed in the first hour of racing was 49km/h so very little chance for the riders to admire great views like this.

Someone pass me an ice cream.

Image source, Getty Images

Stefan Kung and Michael Schar are slowly being reeled in.

The peloton have brought the gap back to under 60 seconds.

Time for a quick reminder of how the GC standings look after nine stages:

1. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Jumbo-Visma) 38hrs 40mins 01secs

2. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) +21secs

3. Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +28secs

4. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R-La Mondiale) +30secs

5. Nairo Quintana (Col/Arkea-Samsic) +32secs

6. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Pro Cycling) Same time

7. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE-Team Emirates) +44secs

8. Adam Yates (GB/Mitchelton-Scott) +1mins 02secs

9. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col/Astana) +1mins 15secs

10. Mikel Landa (Spa/Bahrain McLaren) +1mins 42secs

Normally this stage of the race would be a time to sit back, relax and have a chat.

But at present the peloton is motoring along almost on full gas.

Yep, it's a pretty flat track (in fact the lowest altitude of any stage this year one metre above sea level) but the riders are trying to hold their concentration to avoid any mishaps on some fairly narrow tracks.

Plenty of reminders that the world's greatest bike race is in town.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Tour de France

Thomas de Gendt is on the front of the peloton pushing the pace.

The Lotto Soudal rider presumably wants to keep the leading duo well within range with his team-mate Caleb Ewan likely to be a major player if it comes to an end-of-stage sprint.

Swiss duo Stefan Kung and Michael Schar are pressing along nicely pinching the odd second here and there to take their lead up to around one minute and 35 seconds.

Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) and Michael Schar (CCC) zipped off up the road as the peloton crossed the Oleron bridge.

And they have managed to put over 60 seconds into the main bunch.

Image source, Getty Images

Primoz Roglic took the yellow jersey from Britain's Adam Yates on Sunday and has the distinction of being the first Slovenian to lead the Tour.

He’s got 21 seconds over defending champ Egan Bernal, who is in second, which basically amounts to the number of time bonuses he has accrued so far.