Latest updates as Bordeaux awaits sprinters

03:31 PM BST

36km to go

There is currently a strong tailwind which means the pace is very high. Guglielmi has been swallowed up by the peloton. A courageous ride from the Frenchman. Out in front Peters and Latour are going at it really hard.

03:29 PM BST

39km to go

We have just had a very short category four climb up the Côte de Béguey, where Peters and Latour, who broke away from the peloton after the intermediate sprint, have dropped Guglielmi. A bold ride from Guglielmi but it was always going to end in disappointment. Latour got the one king of the mountains point at the top. The peloton are a minute behind the lead duo.

03:22 PM BST

43km to go

With just over 40km to go on today’s stage, the teams are getting their lead-out trains in order. After a quiet start to the stage the pace is beginning to pick up as we head towards Bordeaux.

03:19 PM BST

45km to go

Good news. Cavendish is back in the peloton, who are 40 seconds behind the breakaway. We are very much in wine country down in southwest France. Beautiful scenery.

03:14 PM BST

49km to go

Slightly concerningly Mark Cavendish is still off the back of the peloton by around 20 seconds. The peloton are now just 50 seconds behind the lead trio.

03:07 PM BST

55km to go

The pace is pretty high at the moment on the front of the peloton. Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) has had a wheel change but he has a couple of team-mates to help him back to the peloton.

03:03 PM BST

59km to go

As previously mentioned, the lead group is now made up of three riders. They have a lead over the peloton of one minute 10 seconds.

02:52 PM BST

69km to go

Points classification standings after the intermediate sprint:

1. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), 165pts

2. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), 117pts

3. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), 92pts

4. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), 86pts

02:49 PM BST

71km to go

Latour and Peters have caught up with Guglielmi. The peloton are only 30 seconds behind though.

02:45 PM BST

75km to go

There has been an attack off the front of the peloton after the intermediate sprint. Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Nans Peters (AG2R-Citroën) have gone after Guglielmi. They are 20 seconds behind the lone leader.

02:43 PM BST

76km to go

Result of the intermediate sprint:

1. Simon Guglielmi, 20 pts

2. Biniam Girmay, 17 pts

3. Jasper Philipsen, 15 pts

4. Bryan Coquard, 13 pts

5. Jordi Meeus, 11 pts

6. Mads Pedersen, 10 pts

7. Corbin Strong, 9 pts

8. Alexander Kristoff, 8 pts

9. Mark Cavendish, 7 pts

10. Mikkel Bjerg, 6 pts

02:37 PM BST

82km to go

Guglielmi takes the maximum 20 points. Behind in the peloton it is Binian Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) who goes over in second place, narrowly edging out Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who currently leads the points classification. The gap to the leader is now down to just 40 seconds. That run to the intermediate sprint was a false flat so not a simple sprint to get those points.

02:34 PM BST

83km to go

Guglielmi is 1km from the immediate sprint. Meanwhile in the peloton the sprinters team are forming their lead-outs, which will bring the lead down dramatically. 20 points for first, 17 for second and 15 for third.

02:30 PM BST

85km to go

We are nearly at the intermediate sprint at Grignols. Guglielmi still has a lead of two minutes and 20 seconds so he will take maximum points. Which of the sprinters will claim second?

02:15 PM BST

94km to go

The gap out in front is coming down. It is down to two and a half minutes. We are just over 10km from the intermediate sprint.

02:11 PM BST

97km to go

On a day in which the Manx missile could make history, the whole Cavendish clan are in town:

02:06 PM BST

100km to go

We have just dipped under the 100km to go mark. Guglielmi’s lead is excatly three minutes.

01:59 PM BST

105km to go

We have an intermediate sprint coming up in just over 20km at Grignols. There are 20 points available for the first across the line at the intermediate sprint, with 17pts for second and 15pts for third. The question is will the peloton have caught Guglielmi by that point so that maximum points are available for the sprinters. The gap currently stands at three minutes 15 seconds.

01:52 PM BST

111km to go

Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-Samsic) is still out in front, all on his own. His advantage back to the peloton is three and a half minutes.

01:44 PM BST

Points classification

Today we fully expect a sprint finish in Bordeaux, so here is a look at the point classification going into stage seven:

1. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 150pts

2. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) 104pts

3. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) 92pts

4. Victor Lafay (Cofidis) 80pts

5. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 76pts

6. Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) 73pts

7. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 70pts

8. Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) 62pts

9. Jain Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) 51pts

10. Neilson Powless (EF-Education EasyPost) 45pts

01:36 PM BST

Reminder of the general classification

Today should have no bearing on the general classification, but after an explosive couple of stages in the Pyrenees let’s have a look at the standings going into today:

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 26hrs 10mins 44secs

2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +25secs

3. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 34secs

4. Simon Yates (Jayco-Alula) 3mins 14secs

5. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) 3mins 30secs

6. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +3mins 40secs

7. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +4mins 03secs

8. Romain Bardet (DSM) +4mins 42secs

9. Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) Same time

10. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) +5mins 28secs

01:34 PM BST

Vanmarcke retires from professional cycling

In other cycling news this morning, Sep Vanmarcke has announced his retirement from professional cycling effective immediately due to medical reasons. The 34-year-old will call time on his 14-year career, of which the past two and a half years were spent at Israel-Premier Tech, during which time he won the likes of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Bretagne Classic, the inaugural Maryland Classic, and graced the podium of Paris-Roubaix and Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Following an abnormally high heart rate detected while on the bike, Vanmarcke underwent testing including a cardiac MRI which confirmed the presence of scar tissue. The high risk of further cardiac complications posed by the scar tissue means that Vanmarcke will no longer be able to continue racing as a professional cyclist. 

01:22 PM BST

131km to go

The peloton are just gradually reeling Guglielmi in. His advantage is now down to around four minutes having been up at about seven. On a flat stage it is so difficult for one rider to hold off a peloton of over 150 riders who can just rotate who is on the front.

01:15 PM BST

Can Ewan win the sprint?

It has been a torrid last couple of years for Australia’s Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) at the Tour. He came so close to winning though on stage four when Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) pipped him to the line in Nogaro. The Lotto-Dstny team have been on the radio feeling that today is their day. Will Ewan be able to end his misery at the Tour in recent editions in the sprint in Bordeaux.

01:11 PM BST

Tweak to the closing stages

There is a change to the final stages for today’s finish in Bordeaux. Usually we have a 3km rule meaning anyone who crashes in the final 3km is given the same time as the leaders across the line. Today though that has been extended to 3.5km so for all the general classification teams looking to take care of their leaders that 3.5km mark is the key point for them to reach today.

01:05 PM BST

Could it be 35 for Cavendish today?

As John mentioned earlier, today marks the 16th anniversary of Mark Cavendish’s Tour debut. Today’s stage ends in Bordeaux, where Cavendish won the last time a stage finished there in 2010. He is gunning for stage win number 35 today, which as everyone knows by now would create history. Let’s hear from the Manx missile on what he remembers of that day in 2010 which will help him today:

12:59 PM BST

What’s happened so far

As we could have predicted on a flat stage like today, it has been a fairly quiet start to stage seven. When the flag dropped, four riders attacked off the front of the peloton; Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-Samsic) and Mathieu Burgeaudeau (Total Energies). Very quickly though Abrahamsen, Oliveira and Burgeadudeau were called back by their teams which left Guglielmi out all on his own.

The pace in the peloton has been very pedestrian to say the least allowing Guglielmi’s advantage to go out to over seven minutes. Conisdering it is a very flay stage, the peloton have this completely under control and there is no way Guglielmi will be able to stay out on his own all day.

11:33 AM BST

Stage seven preview

Hello and welcome to our live rolling coverage from stage seven at the Tour de France, the 169.9 kilometre run from Mont-de-Marsan to Bordeaux. With just one categorised climb – the 1.2km long ascent of the Côte de Béguey – and only 808 metres of vertical elevation, this is one that is widely expected to end in a bunch sprint.

While it is unlikely that anybody will be desperate to burn too many matches to take the solitary point atop the aforementioned category four climb, there is plenty to fight over for those with designs on the maillot vert, the green jersey worn by the leader in the points classification.

Given he has won the only two sprint stages at this year’s Tour – and the last two available at last year’s race – the in-form Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is man to watch this afternoon. Not only does the Belgian have the leg speed to finish this type of stage off, but he also has a certain Mathieu van der Poel (a man more than capable of winning  sprint finish) riding as the perfect lead-out man.

Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quick Step) has the traditional lead-out train to assist him, but the Dutchman crashed on Tuesday and has suffered like a dog in the Pyrenees so it will be interesting to see how, if at all, he has recovered. Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Al Ula), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Sam Welsford (DSM Firmenich) will also fancy their chances too.

Students of the sport will be aware that the last time a Tour stage finished in Bordeaux (in 2010), a certain young Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) prevailed after beating Julian Dean and  Alessandro Petacchi to the line at the end of stage 18. If they have been doing their homework, those students will also realise that today marks the 16th anniversary of Cavendish’s Tour debut on the streets on London, a stone’s throw from us here at Telegraph Sport Towers.

Incidentally, on that July afternoon in 2007 when the rosy-cheeked youngster barrelled his way around the London prologue, Cavendish was a T-Mobile team-mate of Axel Merckx; today he will be hoping to pull one stage win clear of another Merckx – Axel’s father Eddy – and become the outright Tour’s all-time stage record holder with a 35th victory etched into his palmarès.

Anyway, whatever happens today, Telegraph Sport will be here to guide you through all of the key moments, taking you all the way to the line in Bordeaux..

Live coverage here will get under way at 1pm (BST).

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