Key events

3h agoPreamble

64km to go: Speed increases as the remainder of the route stays mostly flat or downhill aside from one tricky category four ascent. Korpecky holds a two-minute lead over the main group while Haugset's advantage shrinks to one minute and ten seconds.

71km to go: Haugset maintains a one-minute-thirty-second advantage. Lotte Kopecky of Team SD Worx-Protime attempts to close the margin. The yellow jersey group trails by ten minutes and appears unlikely to recover.

75km to go: Haugset crested the Col de la Savine first with Puck Pieterse in second. Pieterse collected the three points needed to claim the polka dot jersey to be awarded at stage end.

80km to go: Sigrid Haugset rides alone out front. The Uno-X Mobility rider leads the peloton by twenty-four seconds and sits nearly nine minutes ahead of the yellow jersey group.

85km to go: The leaders tackle the category two Col de la Savine. Live images appear after cameras activated at 2.45pm BST.

87km to go: TNT Sports broadcast begins yet spends initial minutes interviewing riders on a day already half complete before cutting to commercials and further preview segments. The approach proves confusing and frustrating.

90km to go: The gap between the peloton and Lorena Wiebes yellow jersey group exceeds four minutes. Elisa Balsamo second overall at the start also rides in the Wiebes group.

97km to go: Leaders pass through Hauts de Bienne the capital of French eyewear manufacturing. The town hosts the Musee de la Lunette with a collection of 2500 objects including 450 pairs of glasses. Fewer than twenty percent of items being actual eyewear keeps observers alert.

100km to go: An eleven-rider lead group sits thirty seconds clear of the peloton and two minutes forty seconds ahead of the group with yellow jersey wearer Lorena Wiebes.

106km to go: Lucinda Brand of Lidl-Trek launched a brief solo move yet was quickly caught. A leading group of ten now includes Femke de Vries Visma Celia Gery FDJ Rosa Kloser Canyon Lotte Kopecky and Nienke Vinke SD Worx-Protime Liane Lippert Movistar Loes Adegeest Lidl-Trek Justine Ghekiere AG Insurance-Soudal and Yara Kastelijn Fenix.

111km to go: Puck Pieterse topped the Cote de Lajoux ahead of Nikola Noskova. Pieterse leads the polka dot standings ahead of Noskova.

118km to go: Leaders have completed only twenty-five percent of the stage distance yet covered nearly half the climbing with 1200m of 2500m already tackled.

123km to go: Leaders ascend the second climb the category three Cote de Lajoux.

129km to go: Puck Pieterse led over the Col de la Faucille earning ten points ahead of Nikola Noskova. The peloton sits nearly one kilometre ahead of the current race leader Lorena Wiebes group.

132km remaining: Dina Boels abandons. The Belgian finished 139th and last after stage two and barely made the time cut. An email arrives from Jez Smith who attended the Geneva start with family. Presentations and queues for caravan merchandise occurred. They watched from the Rolex Bridge 300m from the line enjoying the spectacle. A photo shows his two-year-old Australian Shepherd Shadow viewing the Tour with the Swiss broadcaster tower behind.

133km remaining: The Col de la Faucille summit nears. Shifting from pipes Jura industries feature bar turning a mechanical process using automatic lathes to shape rotating objects and luxury goods subcontracting which involves coordinating rather than performing the work.

136km remaining: Eleven riders drop from the peloton two-thirds up the Col de la Faucille including Alison Jackson of St Michel Amalie Dideriksen of Cofidis and Britain's Pfeiffer Georgi of Picnic.

138km remaining: A minor non-serious crash occurs. Attention remains on Saint-Claude home to the Musee Pipe et Diamant a joint museum of the Association of Diamond Dealers from Haut-Jura and the Brotherhood of Master Pipe Makers from Saint-Claude. The Confrerie des Maitres Pipiers de Saint-Claude awards the Premier Fumeur de pipe de l annee to those advancing pipe smokers interests often declaring no winner in a given year. Founded in 1966 by Edgar Faure who named himself the first recipient the last winner after nine years was writer Daniel Pennac in 2025. The British Pipesmokers Council ran a similar award from 1964 to 2004 with winners including Jimmy Greaves Ian Botham Rod Hull Harold Wilson and Warren Mitchell who declined calling it silly since he also used a lavatory brush. Enough on pipes.

143km remaining: The stage unfolds mainly in the Jura region. Specialities listed by the Tour begin with Comte cheese Morbier cheese Vache Qui Rit cheese yet Saint-Claude serves as world capital of pipe making featuring a large pipe outside the museum for photographs.

147km remaining: Riders begin the category one Col de la Faucille. The opening section offers the most engaging terrain before the flat run to Poligny yet lacks television coverage. Only Wednesday stage five and Sunday stage nine receive full broadcasts.

The stage began minutes ago. The route first reaches Cessy population under 6000 beneath the Large Hadron Collider. Nearby before the French-Swiss border lies the aptly named Bossy part of Collex-Bossy municipality though independence appeals.

Before the stage intensifies review yesterday via Jeremy Whittle report.

Preamble

Hello. Today marks the second-longest stage at 156.5km and the first hilly test with four categorised climbs and roughly 2500m elevation the steepest longest hardest portion in the opening 25km. Hot conditions of 33-35C plus possible rain especially early heading north from Geneva add challenge. The finish lies in Poligny known for La Maison du Comte a cheese learning centre and 2021 French National Wood Construction Award finalist though it placed behind the Halle des Fenottes in Ancy-Dornot. The average Comte wheel measures 75cm diameter 128mm thick about 1.2 times a road bike wheel size. Most wheel brands reach 1300g or less in a 50mm-deep set making a single Comte wheel 30.8 times heavier. Cycling with Comte wheels up a mountain would prove unwise.