Tour de France 2018: Schedule, TV/live stream options, map, and route

The Tour de France is a big, whirling, exhilarating mess. Here’s how to watch all of it.

The 2018 Tour de France may be the most intriguing edition in years. Many years. Let’s run through the reasons quickly.

• Chris Froome is vying to join the Five Yellow Jersey Club, tying the non-asterisked record.
• Speaking of asterisks, Froome was briefly barred from the Tour because of a doping investigation that miraculously got cleared up five days before Stage 1.
• Froome is also riding with a Giro d’Italia victory in his legs, which should mean he’s tired, and more vulnerable than ever to challengers.
• And what a group of challengers — Romain Bardet, Nairo Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali, Adam Yates, Richie Porte, Tom Dumoulin, and more — all with diverse skillsets and unceasing hunger to topple Froome.
• They’ll be riding a course that’s light on individual time trial kilometers and rife with cobbles and new, steep climbs that will test every discipline of rider.

This is going to be a dramatic Tour both on and off the road, from Noirmoutier-en-l’Île to Paris and the Champs-Élysées. Here’s how to watch it all.

Route map

Map via the Tour’s official site:

This year’s Tour de France starts in France this time — doing away with the recent tradition of starting on foreign soil — but Brittany can feel like another country. The first week is relatively tame until Stage 9, when riders take on cobblestones on their way to Roubaix. From there is a long transfer to the Alps, where rider will take on Alpe d’Huez on Stage 12, and then the Pyrenees, which includes a 65-kilometer cannon ball-blast Stage 17 that promises to be one of the most unique days of racing we’ve seen in decades.

Stream information

Assuming you reside in the United States, NBCSN will be broadcasting the Tour for all three weeks of racing. The broadcasts typically pick up stages in progress around 7:30 a.m. ET, and end around 11:30 (though odd stages, like the short Stage 17, begin at 9 a.m.).

You can watch the same broadcast through the NBC Sports app. And if you want to see complete stages without commercials, you can pay to get NBC Sports Gold.

You can see NBCSN’s complete Tour de France broadcast schedule here.

Stage by stage guide

Here’s a guide to the eight Tour de France stages you absolutely have to watch. Here’s the complete schedule for the remaining stages:

Stage 4, 195 kilometers from La Baule to Sarzeau

Tuesday, July 10

Stage type: Flat

Start time: 7:05 a.m. ET/1:05 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 7:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 7 a.m.

Stage 5, 204.5 kilometers from Lorient to Quimper

Wednesday, July 11

Stage type: Hilly

Start time: 6:20 a.m. ET/12:20 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 8 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 6:10 a.m.

Stage 6, 181 kilometers from Brest to Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan

Thursday, July 12

Stage type: Hilly

Start time: 7:05 a.m. ET/1:05 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 7:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 6:50 a.m.

Stage 7, 231 kilometers from Fougères to Chartres

Friday, July 13

Stage type: Flat

Start time: 6:05 a.m. ET/12:05 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 8 a.m., NBC Sports Gold at 5:50 a.m.

Stage 8, 181 kilometers from Dreux to Amiens Métropole

Saturday, July 14

Stage type: Flat

Start time: 5:35 a.m. ET/11:35 a.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN and NBC at 7:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 5:20 a.m.

Stage 9, 156.5 kilometers from Arras Citadelle to Roubaix

Sunday, July 15

Stage type: Cobbles

Start time: 6:35 a.m ET/12:35 local

Streaming: NBCSN at 6:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 6:20 a.m.

REST DAY, Annecy

Monday, July 16

Stage 10, 158.5 kilometers from Annecy to Le Grand-Bornand

Tuesday, July 17

Stage type: Mountain

Start time: 7:15 a.m. ET/1:15 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 7:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 7 a.m.

Stage 11, 108.5 kilometers from Albertville to La Rosière Espace San Bernardo

Wednesday, July 18

Stage type: Mountain

Start time: 8 a.m. ET/2 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 8 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 7:50 a.m.

Stage 12, 175.5 kilometers from Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs to Alpe d’Huez

Thursday, July 19

Stage type: Mountain

Start time: 6:10 a.m. ET/12:10 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 6:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 6 a.m.

Stage 13: 169.5 kilometers from Bourg d’Oisans to Valence

Friday, July 20

Stage type: Flat

Start time: 7:35 a.m. ET/1:35 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 8 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 7:20 a.m.

Stage 14: 188 kilometers from Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Mende

Saturday, July 21

Stage type: Hilly

Start time: 7:05 a.m. ET/1:05 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 8 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 6:50 a.m.

Stage 15: 181.5 kilometers from Millau to Carcassonne

Sunday, July 22

Stage type: Hilly

Start time: 7:10 a.m. ET/1:10 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 7:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 7 a.m.

REST DAY, Carcassonne

Monday, July 23

Stage 16: 218 kilometers from Carcassonne to Bagnères-de-Luchon

Tuesday, July 24

Stage type: Mountain

Start time: 5:30 a.m. ET/11:30 a.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 8 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 5:20 a.m.

Stage 17: 65 kilometers from Bagnères-de-Luchon to Saint-Lary-Soulon Col du Portet

Wednesday, July 25

Stage type: Mountain

Start time: 9:15 a.m. ET/3:15 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 9:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 8:50 a.m.

Stage 18: 171 kilometers from Trie-sur-Baïse to Pau

Thursday, July 26

Stage type: Flat

Start time: 7:55 a.m. ET/1:55 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 8 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 7:40 a.m.

Stage 19: 200.5 kilometers from Lourdes to Laruns

Friday, July 27

Stage type: Mountain

Start time: 6:05 a.m. ET/12:05 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 7:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 5:50 a.m.

Stage 20: 31 kilometers from Pée-sur-Nivelle to Espelette

Saturday, July 28

Stage type: Individual time trial

Start time: 6 a.m.ET/12 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 7:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 5:50 a.m.

Stage 21: 116 kilometers from Houilles to Paris Champs-Élysées

Sunday, July 29

Stage type: Flat

Start time: 10:15 a.m. ET/4:15 p.m. local

Streaming: NBCSN at 9:30 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold at 10 a.m.

Results:

Stage 3, 35.5 kilometers in Cholet

Monday, July 9

Recap

1. BMC Racing - 38’ 46”

2. Team Sky - + 4”

3. Quick-Step Floors - + 7”

4. Mitchelton-Scott - + 9”

5. Team Sunweb - + 12”

6. Education First-Drapac - + 35”

7. Bora-Hansgrohe - + 50”

8. Astana - + 52”

9. Katusha-Alpecin - + 53”

10. Movistar - + 54”

11. Bahrain-Merida - + 1’ 06”

12. AG2R La Mondiale - + 1’ 15”

13. Lotto NL-Jumbo - + 1’ 16”

14. Trek-Segafredo - +1 16”

15. UAE Team Emirates - + 1’ 39”

16. Groupama-FDJ - + 1’ 42”

17. Fortuneo-Samsic - + 1’ 47”

18. Direct-Energie - + 1’ 52”

19. Lotto Soudal - + 1’ 52”

20. Dimension Data - + 1’ 53”

21. Wanty-Groupe Gobert - + 2’ 24”

22. Cofidis - + 3’ 23”

Stage 2, 182.5 kilometers from Mouilleron-Saint-Germain to La Roche-sur-Yon

Sunday, July 8

1. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) - 4h 06’ 37”

2. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida) - “

3. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) - “

4. André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) - “

5. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) - “

6. Timothy Dupont (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) - “

7. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) - “

8. Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) - “

9. John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) - “

10. Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) - “

Stage 1, 201 kilometers from Noirmoutier-en-L’île to Fontenary-le-Comte

Saturday, July 7

Recap

1. Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) - 4h 23’ 32”

2. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) - “

3. Marcel Kittel (Katusha Alpecin) - “

4. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) - “

5. Cristophe Laporte (Cofidis) - “

6. Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto NL-Jumbo) - “

7. Michael Matthews (Sunweb) - “

8. John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) - “

9. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) - “

10. Rafael Majka (Quick-Step Floors) - “