The riders are out on the road, which is good because a cycling race requires participants. Christoph Roodhooft, Jasper Philipsen’s boss at Alpecin-Premier Tech, tells Hannah Walker on TNT Sports that his sprinter is “feeling better … but that doesn’t mean he will win today.” Reassuring. As for letting Mathieu van der Poel sprint instead, no word - but historically, riders have tried salted codfish to acclimate to dehydration, and as late as the 1980s, cycling magazines showed riders stuffing cabbage leaves down their hats. So, you know, innovation.

The temperature is forecast to peak at 33°C in Nevers. Not a full-on heatwave like last week, but still enough to make you crave a cold shower. Tim Merlier made the time cut by three minutes yesterday, which is nice for him. Today features two categorised climbs: the Côte de Billonnière (category-four, 1.1km at 5.8%) and the Côte de Billy-Chevannes (1.5km at 5%, 37.9km from the finish). The intermediate sprint arrives after 27.8km at Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule.

Points classification standings: 1. Pedersen 293pts, 2. Girmay 239pts, 3. Merlier 213pts, 4. Philipsen 205pts, 5. Kanter 192pts, 6. Kooij 110pts, 7. Pogacar 107pts, 8. Waersenskjold 89pts, 9. Del Toro 80pts, 10. Turgis 79pts. Pedersen’s lead looks intimidating, and Lidl-Trek will likely control early to set him up for the intermediate.

General classification: 1) Pogacar 36hr 15min 02sec, 2) Vingegaard +3min 36sec, 3) Evenepoel +4min 06sec, 4) Ayuso +4min 22sec, 5) Seixas +4min 35sec, 6) Lipowitz +4min 44sec, 7) Del Toro +5min 08sec, 8) Skjelmose +5min 45sec, 9) Martinez +6min 34sec, 10) Pidcock +11min 49sec. Isaac Del Toro dropped from third to seventh - oops - but Pogacar extended his lead to 3min 36sec. The usual.

Yesterday’s stage 10 was classic Pogacar: a solo victory on a stage with seven climbs, including the Puy Mary Pas de Peyrol and Col de Pertus. He attacked on the penultimate climb and won, met with some boos from the crowd - reminiscent of the Team Sky/Froome era of dominance. Davide Piganzoli’s pace-setting for Vingegaard was essentially cosplay. Most cheered the 27-year-old, a minority booed his relentless dominance.

Today is a “flat” stage (1,400m climbing in 161.3km), so we can focus on the points classification and a potential sprint finish. Sprinter teams like Alpecin-Premier Tech (Philipsen) and NSN (Girmay) will try to prevent a breakaway. Tim Merlier might make it a hat-trick, because why not.