Hello and welcome to live coverage of stage 19 of the Tour de France - a short, sharp, sadistic schlep from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to the ski resort of La Toussuire. The 138km stage includes four big climbs and should see fireworks from the outset. We're live from 12:20 UK time - bring it on!

Laurens ten Dam is driving the pace for LottoNL-Jumbo on the front of the pack, his jersey undone and his face gurning with determination. Jarlinson Pantano of IAM is the latest rider to blow off the back.

Here's that crash by Wellens in the feedzone...

LottoNL-Jumbo and Astana drive the pace ahead of Sky and Movistar. Valverde looks to be laughing after sharing a joke with Geraint Thomas, his rival for the podium.

Numerous riders starting to get tailed off by the yellow jersey group, including Tony Gallopin, who has really struggled in this third week.

Sicard, Kreuziger and Bardet drive the early pace on the front of the break. They have two minutes on the pack.

We're onto the huge Cat. HC Col de la Croix-de-Fer (22.4km at 6.9%). This is basically the Col du Glandon but from the north side, followed by a small detour up the Croix de Fer at the top. We'll return tomorrow for a third alternative ascent of this climb tomorrow to replace the Galibier, which is shut because of a landslide between the Lautaret and Bourg d'Oisans.

Wounded Wellens is back in the leader's group - and he has his lunch, you'll be pleased to know. The gap is down to 1:45 thanks to the pace-setting of LottoNL-Jumbo.

Plat du jour: The creamy yet crumbly Beaufort cheese is produced near to the town of La Chambre, an area the peloton passes through after the opening climb of the Col du Chaussy.

Tour tipple: Produced by monks in the area since the 1737, Chartreuse is a dark green liqueur aged with 130 herbs, plants and flowers which, to be fair, is pretty foul and will give you a stonking hangover.

Belgian youngster Wellens is back on his bike after a fair amount of hobbling around. He has cuts to his elbow and hip after going down hard on his right flank. The worse thing? He didn't even get his lunch in the end...

CRASH: Tim Wellens makes a hash of picking up a musette from his Cofidis soigeur and hits the deck in spectacular fashion.

Usual service has been restored: Chris Froome now has all seven Sky team-mates with him in the main pack.

The 22 leaders are: Tanel Kangert (Astana), Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale), Roman Kreuziger and Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo), José Herrada and Adriano Malori (Movistar), Tony Gallopin and Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), Joaquim Rodriguez and Alberto Losada (Katusha), Rigoberto Uran (Etixx), Pierre Rolland, Cyril Gautier and Romain Sicard (Europcar), Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), Ruben Plaza (Lampre-Merida), Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Garmin), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Stef Clement and Jarlinson Pantano (IAM), Stephen Cummings and Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka).

Teklehaimanot has managed to catch this leading group on an uncategorised mound. They have 2:50 over the yellow jersey group and include the likes of Gautier, Rolland, Bardet and Rodriguez. We'll bring you their names in a second.

Here's a GIF of that Oliviera crash... it's hard to see what actually happened.

Michael Valgren of Tinkoff-Saxo has abandoned the race just two days from Paris. It's his debut Tour but he's been battling illness... a big shame.

CRASH: As the riders pick up musettes at the intermediate sprint the pace slows and it looks like Lampre's Nelson Oliviera is clipped from behind by an official ASO team car - he's send flying to the ground, but the pace was very slow so it's not too serious. But one wonders if the commissaires will now chuck themselves off the Tour...

The break pass through the intermediate sprint and it's uncontested because that man Sagan is back with the main pack, which is trailing the leaders by about 1:20. Daniel Teklehaimanot is riding solo in between, 30 seconds down.

Some interesting stats from the last descent... and no surprise that the fastest man was Bardet.

There's a group of about 20 riders that has formed around Joaquim Rodriguez, Pierre Rolland, Rigoberto Uran, Romain BArdet and Steven Kruijswijk. They have 30 seconds over the yellow jersey group - and Froome has both Wout Poels and Geraint Thomas.

Peter Sagan is back with the yellow jersey group in anticipation of some green jersey points. The intermediate sprint is coming up in about 5km.

And that quartet looks to be sitting up. Gautier is burying himself to join the leaders ahead of a little group just out ahead of the yellow jersey group. Froome is waiting to see if he has any team-mates left...