Cav has only got one Astana team-mate left with him but he is going to use Philipsen's train to take him to the line. Will it work?

Mark Cavendish has got Jasper Philipsen's wheel. Philipsen is on Mathieu van der Poel's wheel... Jumbo-Visma are there in numbers.

Astana and Cavendish continue to move forward. Wout van Aert's Jumbo-Visma team are up there too, right in the middle.

Mark Cavendish's Astana team drift closer to the front. the pace is ferocious.

The road narrows and the pack thins out, for a while. From above it's like watching a giant piece of elastic.

Astana aren't near the front at the moment. What is Mark Cavendish's plan?

As the pace riders, the peloton starts to stretch out... then everyone comes together again. The roads are nice and wide here, they won't be when they get into Bayonne.

Bayonne, and the end of this stage, is not far away now. There are three roundabouts to negotiate before they get to the finish line - should be interesting...

Everyone is jostling for position, constantly, trying to hold their part of the road and protect their sprinter. No attacks yet.

Mark Cavendish has been well looked after by his Astana team-mates through the often brutal Basque Country hills in the first couple of the days of the Tour, but can they deliver him to the line in first place to make history today?

Cav and his mates are massed near the front, as the pace lifts again...

The pace of the race slows again. The calm before the storm...

Lots of teams are trying to get to the front of the peloton - Lotto-Dstny are there at the moment, and they will be trying to launch Australian Caleb Ewan towards the finish line very shortly... although not too soon.

I feel like going to get some ice myself to be honest. Things are going to get very lively in this race the next few minutes and the peloton is already speeding up, with the sprinters' teams trying to get their fastest man in prime position.

Wout Van Aert has dropped back to his team car, to get some ice. It does look hot out there. At the front, the sprinters are getting on the wheels of their team-mates, ready for this race to explode.

It won't be long now...

Laurent Pichon escaped with Neilson Powless in the first 10km of this stage and he has been out on his own for about 40km... but not anymore.

The catch is complete and the race is back together again.

Mark Cavendish is near the front of the bunch as they prepare to swallow up Laurent Pichon.

Escapee Laurent Pichon is still riding hard but his day is almost done - the gap is down to 25 seconds now. Pichon can't see the peloton but he can probably smell them.

This was the moment he led the race into France and he has had a day to remember, despite the inevitable ending.

Image source, Reuters

The lead of lone escapee Laurent Pichon has come down quite quickly to one minute and 10 seconds, but he's probably known for the majority of this stage that he is not going to make it to the finish line before being caught.

The sprinters' teams don't want that to happen too soon, though, because that will invite more attacks from riders who don't have the pure speed needed for the burst to the line. They are controlling this race, and they don't want to invite chaos.

We are officially in France. Last rider over the border was Neilsen Powless, who has spent more time at the front of the race than anyone else in the past three days.