Hello and welcome to live coverage of Stage 12 of the Tour de France - a 175.5km ride from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Alpe d'Huez via the Col de la Madeleine, the Lacets de Montvernier and the Col de la Croix de Fer. It's going to be as stunning as it is difficult.

Still no break has formed with Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) now riding out ahead. He'll need support if he wants this to work.

A reminder of teh GC today with Thomas leading team-mate Froome by 1'25" with Dumoulin at 1'44", Nibali at 2'14" and Roglic at 2'23". The likes of Kruijswijk, Landa, Bardet, Quintana and Martin are all in the top 10 and within 3'16" but you sense that they need a good day today if they want to contest for the yellow jersey.

Edward Theuns of Team Sunweb has a brief flurry off the front but he's reeled in ahead of a long tunnel. The Belgian perhaps looking to be a relay later on for team-mate Tom Dumoulin.

Numerous riders have tried their luck but nothing has stuck with Sylvain Chavanel currently riding on the front of a strung-out peloton. Earlier, Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) showed some interest.

It's a fast start today with the road sweeping downhill from Bourg-Saint-Maurice, a town that will be familiar for any of you who have taken the infamous snow train from Paris to the Alps. It's from here that you get to a cluster of resorts - including Val d'Isere, Tignes, La Plagne and, of course, Alpe d'Huez.

We have 161 riders remaining in the race following that withdrawal by Uran and the disqualifications yesterday of Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel and Mark Renshaw, who all finished well outside the time limit.

They're off! It's another sunny day on the race with the temperature currently 25 degrees.

News today is that Rigoberto Uran will not start. The Colombian EF Education First rider condeded 25 minutes yesterday - proof if he needed it that he hadn't got over that crash he had on the cobbles a few days ago. So, the defending champion has called it a day.

The Tour's 30th finish atop Alpe d'Huez takes the riders via the tried-and-tested Cols de la Madeleine and Croix de Fer ahead of the famous 21 hairpin bends of Dutch Mountain. It's a familiar zoo when the Tour comes to town and with Pierre Rolland, Christophe Riblon and Thibaut Pinot winning on the last three visits, there will be high hopes for another home victory. Can Romain Bardet or Warren Barguil perhaps do the business? Here's the stage profile...

If defending champion Froome was denied a symbolic second place by a late lunge from the rallying Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) 20 seconds later, then Sky’s raid saw the British team seize the top two spots of the general classification after overnight leader Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) suffered on the gruelling succession of Alpine peaks. Thomas now leads the four-time Tour winner Froome by 1’25” on GC as Dumoulin – the 2017 Giro champion and runner-up to Froome in Italy this May – rises to third place a further 19 seconds back.

Yesterday, Team Sky’s stranglehold of the Tour came into view as Geraint Thomas took over the race lead ahead of team-mate Chris Froome after a sensational Stage 11 victory at La Rosiere in the first summit finish of the race. Showing the form of his life, Welshman Thomas soloed clear of an elite group of race favourites on the final climb of the short but sharp 108.5km stage from Albertville, catching lone Spanish escapee Mikel Nieve on the home straight before powering to his first mountain stage win in a Grand Tour for Team Sky. Read all about it below...