Bonjour le Tour! Hello and welcome to live coverage of Stage 17 of the Tour de France - a lumpy 200km ride from the historic Pont du Gard to Gap.

There's a split as around 35 riders manage to zip clear of the peloton. This is a big move and contains some big-name riders.

Attacks from the outset with Maxim Bouet (Arkea-Samsic) kicking things off before Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) picks up the pace. Katusha and Astana show some interest...

And they're off!

Two non-starters today: Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Cees Bol (Sunweb). The Dutchman went down in that crash which saw Sanchez's teammate Fuglsang withdraw yesterday. As for the Spaniard, it's unclear if he also was hurt or is just calling it a day because of the team's upset dynamic. Presumably the former, because today's stage would have suited him on paper... So, we're down to 160 riders in the peloton now.

It's another sweltering day in south France with the temperature currently 35 degrees but likely to break through the 40-degree barrier later this afternoon. The riders are currently rolling through the neutral zone, which started at the Roman aqueduct of the Pont du Gard, which the riders also crossed yesterday.

Here's the stage profile with those two categorised climbs ahead of a fast finish into Gap. It's a perfect breakaway scenario - although it also suits the punchy sprinters like Sagan, Matthews, Van Avermaert and Colbrelli. It’s also the kind of stage that would usually suit the yellow jersey Alaphilippe to a tee - although given Jakob Fuglsang’s predicament, it’s safe to assume that Astana will be keen to get bodies in the break. Alexey Lutsenko or Omar Fraile for the win, then.

Yesterday, Australia’s Caleb Ewan notched his second win of the Tour de France with a well-timed surge to the line to deny Elia Viviani and Dylan Groenewegen in Nimes on a day Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang crashed out of the race and defending champion Geraint Thomas survived a scare.