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...

It's far from settled with Movistar and Ineos both quite active on the front of the pack. Michal Kwiatkowski, who has had a rotten race, tried to ping off in pursuit of the chasers, but it came to nothing. Fabio Aru is having a go now ahead of the first categorised climb.

Politt and Rosskopf have been joined by that chaser, Sicard, and five others: Perichon, King, Gesbert, Verona and Haga.

If you haven't yet seen this video from the Galibier, then thank me later...

The chasing duo are 27 seconds down on the leaders. Movistar tried a counter but it came to nothing and now it's the turn of Total-Direct Energie - one of 12 teams yet to win a stage on the race.

Nils Politt and Joey Rosskopf are trying to bridge over to the four leaders, whose gap grows to 38 seconds.

Personally, I can't help but think there's a sense of finality with all these lion pictures... it's as if Alaphilippe and his team are squeezing out the last drop of blood from these cuddly toys knowing that, well, there may be no more heading towards the team bus after today.

Julian Alaphilippe riding his 15th day in yellow - that's a lot of lions...

We have a break de-luxe of Vincenzo Nibali, Pello Bilbao, Dan Martin and birthday boy Jesus Herrada with a 15-second gap on the pack now - but many are trying to bridge over, which could spell the end for this. Nibali and Martin have had very poor Tours by their standards. Could today bring some salvation, as it did yesterday for Quintana?

Already, the lanterne rouge Yoann Offredo is off the back for Wanty-Gobert. It's going to be a long day for him. The Frenchman is three hours 49 minutes and 52 seconds behind Alaphilippe - in short, an entire stage (today's ride should take around the same time in all fairness).

We've already covered yellow, while the green jersey is something of a formality as Peter Sagan closes in on a record seventh title in eight years. Bernal, after yesterday's stage, stretched his lead in the white jersey standings to 17'07" over David Gaudu, so he's a shoo-in for that (while having loftier, yellower ambitions to boot). We still have a battle for polka dots, though, with Romain Bardet yesterday seizing the jersey from the long-standing wearer, Tim Wellens. The Belgian trails the Frenchman by 12pts with 59 KOM points up for grabs today.

It's now Marc Soler of Movistar who's on the front of the strung-out peloton. Austrian champion Patrick Konrad is there - which is promising, for perhaps he could act as a foil for Bora teammate Emanuel Buchmann further up the road, just as Soler could for any one of Movistar's top 10 riders.

The road goes uphill from the gun on a small uncategorised hill. Michael Woods of EF Education First is driving the pace with Rui Costa of UAE Team Emirates right behind.

They're off! Today's key stage is under way...

Here's what on the menu today... What Stage 19 lacks in length it makes up for in vertical gain with five categorised climbs on the menu, including the highest point in the race, the 2,770m Col d’Iseran. With time running out to dislodge Alaphilippe from the race summit, the 126.5km stage could prove a decisive day in the battle for yellow as the Frenchman’s rivals look to put him under pressure before the final, relatively gentle ascent into Tignes.

The remaining 165 riders are currently pedalling out of the start town of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in the neutral zone of today's decisive stage. It's a hot day with the sun out and a temperature of 32 degrees - but thunderstorms are expected for the finish in Tignes...

And the rumours were hearing from Ineos insiders is that - while Dave Brailsford says he'd be happy if either Thomas or Bernal wins, provided one of them does - the team are backing Bernal over this final weekend. If true, that's big news. Will the defending champion accept that, or does he still have a say in this year's race - surely his final chance to win the Tour (again) what with Chris Froome's expected comeback and Bernal's continued progression...

The most interesting thing yesterday - besides Quintana's win - was seeing Bernal attack from the main group and take time from his teammate Thomas. Many were confused by the defending champion's tactics of counter-attacking - a move which no doubt reduced the advantage that Bernal could have taken...

Here's how things are on GC with Alaphilippe's nearest challenger now Egan Bernal, who is 1'30" down. The next four riders - Thomas, Kruijswijk, Pinot and Buchmann - are within 44 seconds, while Nairo Quintana is up to seventh place and lurking with his Movistar teammates Landa and Valverde, who sandwich another Colombian in Uran.

So, today's the day, with three leg-warming lower-category climbs ahead of the highest point of the Tour - the Col d'Iseran - a fast descent towards Val d'Isere, and then a gradual final Cat.1 climb to Tignes. It's only 126.5km but it's going to be action-packed and offensive from the outset.