88km to go: The average speed thus far is 38.3km/h. Which is extremely fast when you factor in the small matter of the category one climb they’ve been over, even while factoring in the immutable law that what goes up, must come down.

92km to go: Utter confusion reigns in regard to the Eurosport TV schedule, as per.

On their website the listings state that the live coverage starts at 11.30, but it appears to be 12.30 BST / 13.30 CET.

97km to go: Puck Pieterse, who won stage four in dramatic fashion, was first over the top of the Col de la Croix de la Serra.

1. Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) 10 pts
2. Ghekiere (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) 8 pts
3. Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) 6 pts
4. Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) 4 pts
5. Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) 2 pts
6. Lippert (Movistar Team) 1 pt

Kool abandons

A quick recap of stage six …

Cédrine Kerbaol took the first-ever stage win by a French rider in the modern Tour de France Femmes, with a daring attack 15km from the finish in Morteau, to move up to second in the overall standings, with two mountain stages of the race remaining.

“First French winner on the Tour de France Femmes, that’s something super-cool,” Kerbaol said after victory on stage six. “I hope it gives a lot of motivation to the next generation. That’s what I’m thinking about.” Her Ceratizit-WNT team’s social-media feed was more succinct. “Holy shit!” it exclaimed on X.

The path to her success was laid by an initial attack from the local rider Juliette Labous, who was racing on the roads of her youth. But if Labous was too tightly marked by the favourites to break away, Kerbaol was not and she moved clear over the top of the final climb, the Côte des Fins.

Read more here …

Preamble