45km to go: William Preston gets in touch: “There’s something beautiful about a summer’s day in the mountains. It’s made even better that it’s the antepenultimate stage, and as a strong gaggle of cyclists ascend the roads, they gradually shell out the slower ones, until there’s only one.

“I think Pogacar is going to go for it. He’s surely going to really put a stomp on his authority over this cohort of cyclists, despite their their thrillingly heroic efforts to break him. It’s a mesmerizing watch, he’s a machine and a half. What can be done, or should we all just enjoy it? Is Thomas on his swansong? Do all the polka dot jerseys come from the Caravan of Tat that precedes the race? I know there’s some hats and so on, but is it a supermarket purchase? Have a great day and thanks for all the coverage so far.”

So does Stephanie Wilson: “Do the riders who are in the green jersey group today get a longer time to finish given the climbs/altitude they have to do. Given that the bulk of them aren’t climbers!!” They’re being given 3% leeway, we are told. If the grupetto comes in as one, then there may not be a time cutoff.

Shaun O’Hara asks another question: “What bike settings are optimum for downhill? What tyre options are there depending on the road surface?”

47km to go: The speed of the descent is terrifying, and Carapaz continues to drive the break on. Pogacar is surrounded by teammates as they continue on this lengthy, 35km descent. Vingegaard is there, watchful, and so is Evenepoel. The clicks dropping quicker and quicker. The big showdown will have to happen on the final climb.

Carapaz leads over La Bonette, taking maximum points

60km to go: Hindley, Simon Yates, Carapaz, Jorgenson, Kelderman and Cristian Rodriguez are the remainders of the breakaway with 3km left to climb. The peloton is so small as to resemble a breakaway group itself. The altitude is high, the air thin. No jokes about carbon monoxide now. The two Visma riders lead the break. They continue to stretch the elastic. This doesn’t lool like it has the drama of 1993 yet. The winner that day was Tony Rominger.

62km to go: It feels like La Bonette may not be where the attack happens but with darkening weather, and the possibility of rain, there are tangible factors afoot. Carapaz, the gap dropping to 3’40”, is determined to claim those polka points.

65km to go: Politt steps aside, having reduced the pack to under 20 riders. Pogacar offers his thanks, though it seems that the UAE team want Politt to stay in the pack to accompany his leader down the hill. A squad of white jerseys surround the yellow. Vingegaard is rather more lonely.

68km to go: The speed with which they are attacking this legendary hill is something else. Geraint Thomas has been spat from the back. UAE are eating up the road, the gap coming down. When do the wildcat attacks start? Possibly not until later. The two groups snake their way up the hill.

72km to go: Nils Politt is giving the peloton a pull for Team UAE. Up ahead, the Visma pair of Jorgensen and Kelderman are driving the breakaway, the aim being to crack the main group. Still 15km to climb.

Here comes La Bonette

80km to go: After that excitement over that first climb and the descent, Pogacar and the main contenders take on refreshment. Pogacar throws his bottle into the Team Intermarche car. He has mountain points to defend – should Carapaz take double points on top of the Bonette, the Ecuadorian will be in virtual polka. The UAE riders are told to follow “the Gorka nutrition plan”.

85km to go: Richard Carapaz is eating a banana as he’s flying through the valleys. Nils Politt leads the peloton as it fans behind him. The Bonette beckons.

95km to go: The speeds of the descent are up to 100km/h, and terrifying. The gap to the peloton is 3’40”. That’s getting larger but it’s bridgeable. A lot of energy has been consumed by the breakaway. All eyes on Vingegaard after his crash in the Tour of the Baque country, even if he’s proved his mettle already. Mere mortals would have lost their nerve.

Carapaz leads the race over the first climb

107km to go: The road winds up and up, on and on, and this climb looks to have been used by Visma to set up the Vingegaard charge. The hope is that UAE and Pogacar crack. It’s a high-risk strategy – but one that can deliver yellow back to the defending champion. The word from Adam Blythe on the Discovery motorbike is that Pogacar looks full of beans. Nils Politt continues to pull along a reduced peloton.

110km to go: The gap to the peloton is 1’ 30”, and the sprinters are approaching five minutes behind the yellow jersey group. Food and drink are being taken on. It’s been gruelling so far.

Here’s that lead group: Matteo Jorgenson, Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike), Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale), Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-Quick Step), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Cristian Rodríguez (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL.)

115km to go: Neilson Powless paces Carapaz to the front, and that means Romain Bardet is dropped back. No heroics from the people’s champion today. Simon Yates makes it across, too, and Visma, having planted the early detonation, find that Vingegaard is rather lonesome in the GC group. Still 13 clicks to the top of this climb. Brutal scenes.

118km to go: Here we go on that opening climb, 18km or so, an often steep gradient. Simon Yates, denied the other day by Carapaz, is joining the vanguard. In the peloton, Marc Soler is setting a pace for UAE that has meant Wout van Aert has been shelled. A few years back, Van Aert was capable of competing in the highest mountains. The word is out: Pogacar wants this one. Louis Meintjes, breakaway king, has a dig.

120km to go: Three chasers – Carapaz, Romain Bardet and…Egan Bernal. The former champion has had a chastening Tour. That crash continues to take it out of him. The opening break is beginning to shell riders, including Laporte – bad news for Team Visma.

In other news: Jasper Philipsen is way out the back already. That would close the door on Girmay winning green. There’s been an extra allowance for stragglers today.

123km to go: Bryan Coquard takes the intermediate sprint but he’s nowhere near touching distance of Girmay. The gap reduces to 45 seconds after a bit of chicanery. Back in the field, the other sprinters are coagulating into the grupetto. Now, is the peloton catching them up? Some good work by Matt Healy and Sean Quinn of EF Education, working for Carapaz, who goes after the break. The Olympic champion is going for it once more.

125km to go: This course is full of small bits of descent followed by sharp climbs and hairpins. Treacherous stuff. There’s an intermediate sprint coming but the likes of Girmay and Philipsen will be nowhere near it. The gap is a minute now to the GC group. Those in the breakaway’s task, should they be up for it, is to act as bridges for Vingegaard. That relies on tactics and legs. The best-laid plans? Visma are going for it.

130km to go: One absentee from the breakaway is Richard Carapaz, who is chasing polka-dot points. Does that mean his EF-Education team will push hard to get their man up the road, lending help to UAE? It does. Ineos Grenadiers need something from Carlos Rodriguez too.

Reminder of the standings there.

• 1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 77

• 2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma – Lease a Bike 58

• 3. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal – Quick-Step 42

• 4. Oier Lazkano (ESP) Movistar Team 41

• 5. Richard Carapaz (ECU) EF Education – EasyPost 37

• 6. Jonas Abrahamsen (NOR) Uno-X Mobility 36

• 7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama – FDJ 30

• 8. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP) INEOS Grenadiers 24

• 9. Ben Healy (IRL) EF Education – EasyPost 21

• 10. Tobias Johannessen (NOR) Uno-X Mobility 19

135km to go: It’s a sizeable group, with plenty of quality within it to cause problems. It’s full of one-day, puncheur and climbers. The gap is out to 35 seconds as UAE deliberate, with super domestiques Soler and Politt seemingly caught at cross purposes. Early anxiety. There’s a third Visma rider – Wilco Kelderman – that break of 22 riders. Or is it 25?

140km to go: Breakaways! Christophe Laporte – of Team Visma – is among it. As is Matteo Jorgensen, from the same team. What will UAE – Pogacar’s team – do? The gap is 10 seconds or thereabouts. A lot more work required to go away and stay away.

Away we go on 4400 of climbing!

The Bonette looks like the hill upon which to die for the contenders.

Pippa York, as shown below, knows all about these climbs. Here’s her expert view. And, yes, someone put her back on the telly. Few speak with such expertise.

Could be another day when we see Cav expertly dart for the line, and make the time limit. Though with so many tired riders and the sprints all but done, the grupetto is bound to be large.

Thursday’s race saw a very popular winner but another disappointment for the Big Sir Jim team.

William Fotheringham’s verdict on stage 19

An early green jersey sprint is the last time we will see the sprinters in action, and after that it’s a climber’s day. The Col de Vars is a brute, but the Bonette is in a class of its own, the highest ascent the Tour tackles. Some will recall Robert Millar’s gutsy escape over that monster in 1993; as on that day, the chances of a break getting to the finish are minimal as the overall battle will take centre stage.

Preamble