A huge mountain stage provides the final test of the race with 4 massive climbs on the day, and two smaller ones too. Anything could happen. So many will want to be in the breakaway, not only for the huge amount of KoM points available, but also for a stage win opportunity, and furthermore, a chance for time gains.
And there's attacks straight away, led by 17th overall Lachlan Morton! 15th overall Markus Fothen follows, as do Kenny Elissonde and Javier Moreno.
Tom Jelte Slagter and Petr Ignatenko also try to attack, but there is already a furious response by a few teams - who presumably would like to be in the breakaway themselves. Wildcards Grupo Nutresa and Euskaltel both contribute to the chase, as do Festina. Nutresa do a lot of damage to the peloton, and with Martin Hacecký carrying it on it is decimated to just 37 riders!!
The Col de la Croix de Fer has really been raced hard, it's been tough work for the breakaway to survive. Elissonde, Morton and Fothen do lead over the top, but only with a 2 minute lead. Ignatenko and Moreno clung on for some KoM points but were caught over the top.
It was only half way up the short Cat 2 Col du Mollard ascent that the peloton decided to give it a rest. The group swelled back up to 114, with Taylor Newton amongst the last to make contact. Tinkoff have taken over pace setting, but it's not too strenous for now.
Meanwhile Paolo Scarponi attacked on the Mollard to take points for 4th place, and of course kept it going on the downhill. and was able to link up with the brekaway at the foot of the next HC climb, the Col de la Madeileine.
He attacks at the summit to take maximum points, and this seals his victory as King of the Mountains for this year.
At this point the 4 man breakaway led by 9 and a half minutes, but it did not remain that size for long. In the downhill and valley roads that followed, Tinkoff - with some help from Metinvest - have reduced that to 5 minutes.
Up the next big Cat 1 climb they close the gap to the leaders to the 1'20, with the peloton only 2 more minute behinds and dropping riders once again. Scarponi did try to attack for yet more points but this seems to have put him in the red zone and he is dropped from the group. Morton rolls over first instead.
No early action here for the peloton but on the small Cat 3 that interrupts the downhill, we are up and away. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya is first, and followed by fellow South American Yonathan Monsalve. But always following the first move is Aleksandr Pluchkin!
Pluchkin's closest rivals don't react immediately, but are all keeping a close track of each other a few moments later. Sicard, Alarcon, Amador, Martin and Taaramäe.
The descent prior to the final Mont Bisanne climb is chaos, as the GC attackers mix in with the chasing group of 4 (plus Scarponi) and others try to escape the peloton. Amador stands out with a strong descent, but it is hard to keep track of who is where.
The start of the final climb (13km to go) allows things to settle, and we see that Elissonde, Morton and Fothen remain in front - but they now have a gap of just 48 seconds to Henao Montoya, Monsalve and Pluchkin.
+ 1'13: Amador and Taaramäe
+ 1'51: Dombrowski, Herrada, Martin, Nesset and Hacecký
+ 2'52: Sicard and Alarcon
+ 3'12: Velits and Úran
+ 3'40: Scarponi, Kennaugh and Lecuisinier
+ 4'13:
46 man peloton
So Sicard and Alarcon have had a really bad descent, losing over a minute and a half to Amador and Taaramae, and being passed by Dombrowski. There's a bit of team support for Martin ahead of them, while Uran and Velits are trying to come across.
It's hard for Monsalve to move up from 10th, but his Alps form is incredible and he is really trying, while this can secure Henao 11th and some form of pride. Andrei Amador catches up to these two and Pluchkin, and immediately attacks in a bid to distance Taaramae.
However the Estonian is able to keep up with these moves.
Jose Alarcon has jumped away from Romain Sicard, and it is Peter Velits who is going after him. Sicard now finds himself with Rigoberto Úran and Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier for company. You wouldn't know that Sicard is meant to be the climber with the best recovery in the race, as he is struggling today!
Into the final 10km and after a long day of climbing, the catch of the break seems inevitable with only their 48 second lead. Former champion Markus Fothen now goes on the attack though.
It seems to work and give him a little gap, but soon Lachlan Morton has responded and ridden straight past him. Elissonde however, cannot react.
Alarcon is climbing very well and has reached Martin and Dombrowski. Disappointing for the Venezuelan that he is on the defensive rather than offensive though, but he at least stands to bounce back past Sicard.
Alarcon/Martin/Dombrowski are 1 minute behind group Pluchkin, and 52 seconds ahead of Sicard's group, which has settled down with Velits and Uran - Lecusinier is dropped. Sicard's Top 5 place is secure so long as he stays within 2 and a half minutes of Martin.
Pluchkin leads the way in his group, alternating relays with Monsalve and Henao, while Taaramae and Amador play mind games. The pace cannot be too high though, as Morton has now pushed out to a minute's advantage on this group.
After dropping from the Sicard group, Lecuisinier seems in trouble now. He cannot respond as Rafael Valls flies past him, looking set to regain 12th place overall from him. Kolesnikov is trying something in the background, with his 14th spot under pressure from both Fothen and Morton. In fact, Valls and Lecuisinier could be in danger there too.
And still it is Morton who leads the race, but looking forwards shows the very steep finish to this stage that waits. Fothen has not given up, but that gap is slipping out to 25 seconds, and quickly growing.
Still no movement in the chasing group, with Martin, Dombrowski and Alarcon closing the gap somewhat to 50 seconds - still holding 50 of their own to Sicard, Velits and Uran. It's all being pretty constant on the climb so far.
Now it's Pluchkin time! A 13% gradient and 1.5km to go, Fothen is 30 seconds down the road, Morton a further 40.
The maillot jaune simply breezes up to Fothen though, really on a charge.
Morton has entered the final kilometre, but a glance over the shoulder would tell him that Pluchkin is coming!
Amador was the first to try to follow Pluchkin's wheel, but now he has cracked, and is slipping back.
And at the same time Rein Taaramäe kicks hard, looking to take 2nd place overall. He needs a gap of 1 minute and 1 second.
Heartbreak for Lachlan Morton. In the lead for 214.7 of today's 215.2km. But Aleksandr Pluchkin has no time for sentiment, and is through for yet another stage win, sealing his Tour de France victory in some style!
Every second counts for Taaramäe, and he lunges past Morton on the line for 2nd place and a few more crucial bonus seconds. Their gap to Pluchkin today is 17 seconds.
Top effort by Monsalve and Henao Montoya, finishing today 56 seconds down, with Fothen on the same time in 6th.
Amador?
He is 1'17 down! That's exactly a minute behind Taaramae but of course with time bonuses that is not enough. He may still be on the podium, but he will slip down to 3rd place now.
Alarcon and Martin distanced Dombrowski in the final kilometre to finish at 1'38, nearly catching Amador. The downhill doing more damage than the uphill for them today.
Dombrowski seals his U25 jersey at 2'12, and finishing at 2'42 is safe enough for Sicard to secure 5th overall.
The pain on the faces of Úran and Velits is clear as they finish, to secure 8th and 9th overall - Velits having enough in the bag to keep clear of Monsalve.
Elissonde holds on for 14th on the stage, and depending on the gaps behind, could be moving into the GC Top 20.
Valls is next at 4'12, while Lecuisinier suffers in at 4'48. It leaves Morton, Fothen and those two separated by just 24 seconds for positions 12-15.
Valls just sneaks into 12th, and Lecuisinier holds on to 13th ahead of Fothen and Morton, who gain 1 and 2 GC positions respectively today.
Ji and Duarte are the next over the line, with Kolesnikov, Wellens, Faiers, Cattaneo, Brenes, Preidler and Kirsch after that, coming in between 5 and 6 minutes down.
That puts pressure on De la Cruz's Top 20 position as he finishes 8'42 down alongside Siutsou. 21st overall Talansky cannot capitalise as he is way back at 18 minutes today.
That is still ahead of Scarponi. King of the Mountains he may be, but he paid for his aggression, losing nearly 23 minutes today to slip from 18th overall to 29th.
Ji moves up to 18th, while De la Cruz holds on to 19th. It is Siutsou who benefits today, and from his earlier breaks, to take the final Top 20 position - 19 seconds ahead of Elissonde. Not a bad day for Pendleton's then as they finished comfortably stronger than Tinkoff to confirm the Teams Classification.
It was a bad day for Sam Bewley though. The stage win for Pluchkin means that the Moldovan will win the Points competition, despite Bewley's best efforts.
Other sprinters make it to the finish within the time limit - Van Stayen and Swift included - but a number of riders have not been so lucky. Out of the race are: Adam Blythe, Andreas Stauff, Benoît Sinner, Brenton Jones, Bryan Coquard, Daniel Schorn, Daniele Bennati, Danilo Napolitano, Greg Van Avermaet, Guillaume Boivin, Ivano Lo Cicero, Luke Rowe, Marcel Kittel, Mohamed Harrif Salleh, Nacer Bouhanni, Óscar Guerao, Rick Zabel, Roman Maksimov, Ruben Zepuntke, Salvatore Puccio, Steven Kruijswijk, Tobyn Horton, Tom Scully, Vojtech Hacecký, William Bonnet, Wouter Wippert and Yoeri Havik.
Plenty of sprinters gone, including Zabel, Guerao and Lo Cicero. With Lanterne Rouge Salleh out, we are left with two Project 1t4i riders at the foot of the standings. The last of which being Yves Lampaert.
