Tour de France 2016 live stream: Time, TV schedule and route for Stage 20

Did you enjoy Stage 19 of the 2016 Tour de France? Why, of course you did. Short, punchy, super-steep mountain stages make for brilliant racing, and Friday was proof. Stage 20 offers more of the same, except the stakes are even higher. Friday’s road to a mountaintop finish at Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc blew up the general classification behind Chris Froome. Romain Bardet and Nairo Quintana replaced Bauke Mollema and Adam Yates on the virtual podium, and a paltry 1 minute, 6 seconds currently separate fifth-place Richie Porte from second place.

Stage 20 features climbs -- four of them, the last a hors categorie rated as the fourth-toughest of the 2016 Tour, before a fast descent to the finish line in Morzine. The route is a treacherous 146.5 kilometers beginning in Megève at approximately 7 a.m. ET. NBCSN will broadcast the stage beginning at 6:30 a.m. Streaming will begin at 6:50 a.m. for subscribers to NBC Sports Gold.

Overall, Stage 20 has three of Podium Cafe’s top 20 hardest climbs. The final climb, the Col de Joux-Plane, has been known to send shivers through the cockles of the best riders’ hearts. With so many riders competing for the podium, the final descent -- i.e., the last 12 kilometers of real racing among the general classification contenders -- may feature truly reckless riding. And the forecast, once again, calls for rain, which means slick roads and kick-out crashes.

Stage 20 will be difficult, it will be fierce, it will be dangerous. It will be exactly what Christian Prudhomme hoped it would be, and if you’ve been following the Tour since the beginning it should be the proper send-off to a race that was bat-poop crazy for the first half and disappointingly procession-like for most of the second half. It should be the best of everything: Proper tribute to Chris Froome’s brilliance, and cutthroat and wacky for everyone else who is now realizing that this massive, silly enterprise is coming to swift end and -- oh no -- now it’s time to show your work.

I can’t make a prediction of who will win. Look at the top 20 of the general classification and put your finger on a name. It’s going to be great. Are you excited? Why, of course you are.

Map and profile courtesy of the Tour’s official site.

Start time: 7 a.m. ET (approx.)

Route: 146.5 kilometers from Megève to Morzine

TV: NBCSN, beginning at 6:30 a.m.

Streaming: NBC Sports Gold (subscription required), beginning at 6:50 a.m.