Bardet could star as the going gets tough

Stage seven | ITV4/Eurosport, 12.15pm

Now it gets serious. After a six-day trek due south from Normandy the Tour de France competitors face three days in the Pyrenees that won’t necessarily decide who will win the race but will eliminate scores of riders.

Before the roads head skywards Mark Cavendish nailed his third stage of the race with a perfectly timed show of power to pip Marcel Kittel in Montauban yesterday.