Image source, EPA

A breakaway succeeded yesterday, with Mads Pedersen beating Britain's Fred Wright to the line in Saint Etienne... and today's escapees could do worse than to follow the Dane's tactics in the final 10km or so.

Pedersen attacked twice, first to whittle down a six-man break to three... and then again with a decisive surge to take his first stage win in a Grand Tour.

"It's incredible to finally take a win," Pedersen said afterwards. "I knew my shape was really good and I definitely missed out on the opportunities in the first week.

"In the last two weeks of this race there's not a lot of chances for a guy like me.

"So to take the chance and get the reward is really nice, not only for me but for the whole team. We came here with riders only for stages and now we have one so it's such a relief."

The riders in this 23-man breakaway must already be thinking about how to play their cards near the finish.

One of the escapees is Thibaut Pinot, who was in the break when Steve Cummings took that famous win at Mende Aerodrome in 2015 that I mentioned a little earlier.

If he's learned from that day, then Pinot will definitely be looking over his shoulder this time if he makes it up the top of Cote de la Croix Neuve at the front of this break.

Image source, Getty Images

The gap to the 23-man break is now above 10 minutes.

I haven't forgotten about Caleb Ewan, who is another eight minutes further back, along with his three Lotto-Soudal buddies.

Michael Matthews is one of the 23 men in the break. The Australian has won three Tour stages before now, most recently in 2017... and has finished second twice in this year's race.

Image source, Reuters

Thumbs up from race leader Jonas Vingegaard, who is safely near the front of the peloton - around nine minutes and 45 seconds behind the 23 escapees.

It's baking hot out there... hot enough to melt tarmac, but the Tour de France organisers have got a plan to deal with this weekend's sweltering temperatures.

French departments road safety organiser Andre Bancala told AFP on Friday: "The absolute record for heat was in 2010 with a road temperature of 63 degrees when Sylvain Chavanel won in the Jura.

"But this weekend we may even break that, so we are mobilising between us and the fire brigade, to combat that.

"In certain places, the asphalt is going to start melting, not everywhere of course, but it is going to get much softer. So you can imagine how that might end?

"The solution will be to pour water on it. We will have vehicles with 10,000 litres of water taken along the way, the regional departments are going to help us to cool the roads."

"You have to do it at just the right moment, if you do it too early it just heats up again. If you do it too late the peloton rides onto wet surfaces. It has to be around 15 minutes before they get there."

Tim Wellens, Frederik Frison and Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg are the Lotto-Soudal riders who are trying to nurse Caleb Ewan home.

They are 17 minutes and 30 seconds behind the race leaders.

Looks lovely out there, doesn't it?

Some good news at last for Caleb Ewan - three of his Lotto-Soudal team-mates have dropped back to join him, which means he can talk to them instead of his legs, I guess.

The 23-man break is eight minutes and 18 seconds clear of the yellow jersey bunch and Ewan and his mates are almost exactly the same amount of time behind them, which must feel like a heck of a lot on a hot day like this.

So, things have quietened down a lot after that frantic start to the stage and a lot of men in the peloton are taking the chance to refuel, but it is far from calm at the front of the race... Jakob Fuglsang just tried to break away from the break and took a couple or riders with him.

They are all back together now though, and the gap from them to the yellow jersey group is a very healthy seven minutes and 50 seconds.

I wonder what Caleb Ewan is saying to his legs right now?

I don't think I can print it here...

He is now more than 16 minutes behind the 23 leaders, who have got a seven minute-gap on the peloton.

Today's race is in three parts now.

There is the 23-man break, which is six minutes and 50 seconds clear of the yellow jersey bunch, and then all on his own at the back is Caleb Ewan - who is still soldiering on, another eight minutes further adrift.

Michael Matthews takes the maximum 20 points in the intermediate sprint at Yssingeaux, but that's unlikely to worry Wout van Aert, who is so far ahead in the points category that is is mathematically guaranteed to keep the green jersey until the end of Stage 16.

These are the 23 escapees, who are five minutes and 45 seconds clear of the yellow jersey bunch. The race has really settled down now.

Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers), Benoît Cosnefroy (Ag2r-Citröen), Felix Grossschartner, Lennard Kamna and Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Gregor Muhlberger (Movistar), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Luis Leon Sanchez (Bahrain Victorious), Stefan Kung and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty Gobert), Alberto Bettiol, Neilson Powless and Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Andreas Kron (Lotto-Soudal), Bauke Mollema and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Jakob Fuglsang, Krists Neilands and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels-KTM)

South African rider Louis Meintjes, who is 14th overall and 15 minutes and 46 seconds behind Jonas Vingegaard, is the highest ranked man in the break. He finished second behind Tom Pidcock on Alpe d'Huez on Thursday.

There are 23 riders in the breakaway, which is now three minutes and 30 seconds clear.

A chance for us to get our breath back, and even time for green jersey leader Wout van Aert to answer a call of nature on the roadside.

That early attack by Pogacar split the peloton but it is all coming together now the pace has dropped... apart from poor old Caleb Ewan who is on his own at the back of the race, more than 13 minutes behind the leaders.