Back down the road Jai Hindley's attempts to grab a drink don't entirely go to plan as he drops a bidon being passed to him.

Thankfully there's a spare on hand and the first one didn't roll under his wheel to send him tumbling.

Image source, ASO

The breakaway is on the gruelling climb up the Col du Tourmalet.

This is going to be a killer on the legs at 17.1km in length with an average gradient of 7.3%.

And back it comes together again at the front. Meanwhile the yellow jersey group are four minutes and 24 second back.

Mathieu van der Poel is absolutely motoring on this descent. This leading group has been whittled right down as a result to nine riders.

By the looks of things British rider James Shaw is still in this group along with Michał Kwiatkowski, the Ineos Grenadiers rider who won in the Alps at La Roche-sur-Foron in the 2020 edition of the race.

Of the original 20-man breakaway group there are 16 remaining after that leg-sapping climb.

I thought I saw Matteo Trentin drop away a little earlier but according to the Tour's official data that Italian classics specialist has made it back on.

Neilson Powless nips out of the wheel of Wout van Aert near the top of the Col d'Aspin to snaffle up the 10 KOM points on offer.

That should put him back in virtual lead of the mountains classification on 30 points.

Image source, Getty Images

Kasper Asgreen has popped after a decent turn on the front of the breakaway.

Wout van Aert is the man setting the pace now. Surely the Belgian will be looking to link back up with his Jumbo-Visma colleagues on the Col du Tourmalet.

Jumbo-Visma supplant Bora-Hansgrohe at the front of the main peloton. Has Jonas Vingegaard been having a quiet word?

The Dane will likely want to make things as unpleasant as possible for his GC rivals.

More and more riders are dropping out of the main peloton, where Bora-Hansgrohe stay at the front setting the pace.

Right on their wheels are the distinctive yellow and black jerseys of Jumbo-Visma and the UAE Team Emirates riders.

A few shots of Mark Cavendish at the back of the main bunch. The next 84km are going to be far from enjoyable for the sprinters.

Fabio Jakobsen is already out the back with a posse of Soudal-Quick Step minders for company.

Kasper Asgreen is leading the breakaway group up the Col d'Aspin. The Soudal-Quick Step man is pushing a decent pace, gradually increasing his cadence.

Benoit Cosnefroy, surprisingly looks like he's being shelled out of the back of this group.

The breakaway hits the slopes of a classic Tour de France pass. The Col d'Aspin was part of the first Pyrenean stage of the race, in 1910, and will have been crossed 76 times after today.

The intermediate sprint at Sarrancolin sees Bryan Coquard take 20 points with Wout van Aert, who for a moment threatens to open up the throttle, taking 17 and Mathieu van der Poel snaffling 15.

Despite winning the Giro d’Italia in 2022 and being the leader in the same race two years before. Jai Hindley has already led the Tour de France for longer than the Giro.

The Australian only wore the Maglia Rosa for a shade under 43 minutes because the two stages he was a Grand Tour leader were time trials.

Anyway before he set off earlier he gave a quick take on what it means to wear the maillot jaune.

"I still can't believe it," he said. "I managed to sleep all right so pretty happy about that, and yeah, I don't know. It's a pretty amazing feeling to be honest, to be here at the start in the leader's jersey of the Tour de France. It's the stuff of dreams, so it's really special.

"It's quite a hard stage today, a lot of climbing. And much shorter than yesterday. But even more altitude metres, so I think it'll be a really tough day.

"I think a lot of guys will also try to go in the breakaway, so it'll also be quite hard to control all day. I'm sure the boys are up for it, and we'll do our best to keep the jersey. The pressure is on. I mean, I've got to look good mate. Like I said, it's the stuff of dreams. Just to wear the jersey's incredible, so I'll give everything I've got to keep it."

Now then, I know the riders very much refuel on the road but the feed zone for me means a trip to the kitchen to grab a sandwich, brew and bar of chocolate.

Neilson Powless, who lost his KOM jersey yesterday, picks up two points atop the Cote de Capvern-les-Bains.

He is now eight points behind Felix Gall in the race for the polka-dot jersey.

The breakaway are heading up the first of four climbs today, the category three Cote de Capvern-les-Bains which is 5.6km in length at an average gradient of 4.8%.

A gentle opening given the the Col d'Aspin is followed by the iconic Col du Tourmalet, which takes riders 2,115m above sea level and of course there's a grinding 15.9km trip up to the summit finish at Cauterets-Cambasque.

Image source, Getty Images

The 15-man group becomes 20 at the front of the race as the five chasers make contact.

Back in the peloton Bora-Hansgrohe are at the front setting the pace and talking about trying to maintain control on the team radio.

I'd wager that will be easier said than done a little later on. Bar Wout van Aert, Jumbo-Visma have pretty kept their powder dry early doors.

Surely it'll just be an attempt to repeat their tactics from Wednesday, when they upped the tempo big time on the climbs, while UAE Team Emirates burnt through their riders.

Image source, Getty Images

The breakaway has taken nearly three minutes out of the main peloton.

Not that it matters to the yellow jersey group mind, Julian Alaphilippe, the highest ranked of the riders at the head of the race, is already over seven minutes down on GC.

There are five riders trying to join the breakaway. Neilson Powless (EF-Education EasyPost), who has his sights set on the polka-dot jersey he lost yesterday is among them.

The others are Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step), Oliver Naesen (AG2R-Citroen), Anthony Perez (Cofidis) and Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar), who is celebrating his 29th birthday today.