Bonjour le Tour! Hello and welcome to live coverage of Julian Alaphilippe's second day of destiny as the Frenchman bids to defend his yellow jersey from Egan Bernal et al in Stage 19 of the Tour de France...

Confusion still reigns and it will take a while before we get confirmation of the outcome of today's stage. I don't think there could have been any doubt to the decision to neutralise the stage - but now it remains to be seen what the race organisers do going forward with regards to the stage, the result, the times and the GC. We'll call it a day here on the live blog but be sure to keep checking the website for updates - and we'll see you again tomorrow for the final stage in the Alps, the 130km ride from Albertville to Val Thorens.

And some of the earlier scenes...

Here's why the stage was cancelled... well, one of the main reasons...

This one is going to rumble on... there are some who claim the stage has to be completely re-run or cancelled altogether...

The moment Julian Alaphilippe learnt of the decision to neutralise the stage...

Also, there's a school of thought that takes the line that, although he's understandably angry now, Julian Alaphilippe may be one of the major beneficiaries of that neutralisation. Yes, he's out of yellow, but perhaps his losses would have been bigger had the race gone all the way to the finish. This way, he can still target a podium finish in Paris.

The voice of reason...

We're waiting to see the official confirmation of today's stage - curtailed at the top of the Iseran - and the rejigged top 10. But we know that Alaphilippe is out of yellow and Bernal is the new leader with one mountain stage to go.

Rigoberto Uran is one of the angriest riders at that decision to neutralise the stage - but I'm not sure he's fully aware of what is going on up the road on the final climb. Julian Alaphilippe is very down - he'll have hoped that the stage would have been neutralised at the foot of the climb so that he had more time to fight back on the descent. It's a sorry way for his reign in yellow to end. Thomas, meanwhile, is being consoled by Prudhomme, because the defence of his own Tour crown was badly hit by the decision, too.

Confirmation of today's big news...

Now the rain starts to fall as Bernal, the white jersey who is about to be yellow, starts to don his jacket as he soft-pedals into Val d'Isere.

Apparently it's not only the hail but there's been a landslide which has blocked the road. I don't know if this picture is authentic, but if so, that's incredible.

This is why the stage had been cancelled...

Tempers rising... the riders are still descending even though they stage has been neutralised...

Simon Yates is currently in a heated debate with Christian Prudhomme in the race director's car. They don't understand what is going on because, where they are, the weather is fine. They can't see, nor can they comprehend, that the road to the finish has been blocked.

No one knows what is going on. The riders are being told to stop. Alaphilippe is livid because the GC times are going to be taken at the top of the Col de l'Iseran. He thinks he's lost the Tour.

SCENES ON THE TOUR! THE STAGE HAS BEEN CANCELLED WITH 28KM REMAINING!