Hello and welcome to live coverage of stage 12 of the Tour de France as the race hits the Pyrenees with this gruelling 214.5km ride from Pau to Peyragudes, culminating with the second of three mountain-top finishes in this year's race.

This break includes the likes of Steve Cummings, Dani Bennati, Diego Ulissi, Jack Bauer, Nils Politt, Thomas De Gendt, Stefan Kung, Cyril Gautier, Imanol Erviti, Koen de Kort as well as Matthews and Kittel. Full details coming up. They have more than a minute now, so it looks like it's going to stick - at least, for a while.

It's pretty chaotic out there as a break of around 15 riders - including Michael Matthews - opens up a gap. The Australian's presence has forced Marcel Kittel to bound out in pursuit - and the German manages to bridge over. Remember - they are the two riders leading the green jersey competition, albeit the Australian more than 130 points behind the German...

A reminder that Chris Froome of Team Sky is the yellow jersey at this half-way point of the race, having taken over at the top from team-mate Geraint Thomas - who has since withdrawn - after Stage 5 to La Planche des Belles Filles. Winner that day, Fabio Aru (Astana) is second on GC, 18 seconds behind Froome, while Romain Bardet of Ag2R-La Mondiale is third at 51 seconds. Colombian Rigoberto Uran - Cannondale-Drapac's Stage 10 winner - is fourth at 55, with the aforementioned Fuglsang fifth at 1:37.

Another rider struggling today is Alberto Contador of Trek-Segafredo, who is near the back of the pack. The Spaniard crashed twice during that stage to Chambery on Sunday - and he hasn't really been on it in this year's Tour, already more than five minutes down on GC.

Some big hitters near the front now - the likes of Geschke, Chavanel, Gallopin, Roglic, Pinot, Wellens, Barguil... but there's still no break as yet. The whole peloton is strung out and numerous splits are appearing - most notably when Guillaume van Keirsbulck, who tried his hand earlier on, struggles to hold the wheel. The big Belgian has been dropped - it's going to be a long day for him.

Barguil clearly wants to be in the break because he's driving the pace on this uphill drag. We don't have a categorised climb until 64km of racing - but after that they come thick and fast, with 51 points up for grabs. Barguil currently leads the KOM standings with 60 points, with nearest rival Primoz Roglic of LottoNL-Jumbo with half his tally on 30pts.

Those three riders are reeled in and Belgian Tom Wellens of Lotto Soudal ups the tempo, with Frenchman Warren Barguil, the polka dot jersey at Team Sunweb, in pursuit.

Three more riders have attacked to open up a small gap: Adrien Petit (Direct Energie), Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Markel Irizar (Trek-Segafredo).

Jakob Fuglsang is riding near the back with his elbow and left wrist strapped up. The Dane fell in the feed zone yesterday alongside Astana team-mate Dario Cataldo, who was forced out with a suspected broken bone in his wrist. As for Fuglsang - he completed the stage and rides on today, but tests showed that he also fractured a bone in his elbow, plus the scaphoid in his wrist. Today is going to be a very hard day for the Dauphine champion, who is currently in fifth place on GC.

It's been quite an active start with numerous riders trying to break clear - including Marcus Burghardt of Bora-Hansgrohe, the German national champion, Michael Gogl (Trek) and Guillaume van Keirsbulck (Wanty). For now, though, nothing has stuck.

It's pretty grim weather in Pau. The rain has more or less eased up but the roads are wet and it's very foggy. Which is odd, because at the finish in Peyragudes, it looks like this...

Christian Prudhomme, the race director, waves his flag from the back of the red Skoda - and we're under way! The remaining 179 riders get this stage going...

But forget Kittel and the one-way battle for green... today is all about riding uphill and zipping down the descents. Here's what the riders have to tackle...

Yesterday, Germany’s Marcel Kittel claimed his fifth victory in the 2017 Tour de France as he timed a late sprint to perfection in Stage 11 at Pau on a day of little drama in south-west France. Chris Froome retained his yellow jersey after Alberto Contador, Romain Bardet and Jakob Fuglsang all hit the deck.