A boring first week of the Tour de France has become almost a tradition in itself, right there with the yellow jersey, leering camera shots of hay bale art, and, sadly, Richie Porte crashing out early. (Please, PLEASE get well soon and win the Vuelta by 37 minutes).
Tour de France 2018: Stage 10 time, TV schedule, and live stream info
The Tour de France throws riders right back into the fire off a rest day, introducing the 11.2 percent ascent to Plateau des Glières.
If the fireworks on the cobblestones this past Sunday weren’t quite enough for you, however, then you can take heart that the Alps are here, and they are going to be mean. Any one of the coming three days could be the decisive stage of the 2018 Tour de France, with six Hors Catégorie climbs and two mountain top finishes forthcoming.
Tuesday’s stage will begin at 7:15 a.m. ET (1:15 p.m. local time). NBCSN will broadcast the stage beginning at 7:30 a.m., as will the NBC Sports app. Commercial-free coverage for NBC Sports Gold subscribers will begin at 7 a.m. Those with subscriptions to FuboTV can also access coverage.
This is how I framed the coming days earlier this month:
From a physiological standpoint, the second week may be the hardest of the three-week Tour. Riding a bike as fast as you can for hundreds of miles on successive days is a shock to the body, and after the first week, Tour riders are in a state of near-trauma — they’re losing muscle mass, they can’t possibly put back in all the nutrients and calories they lose, their immune systems tank, and so their bodies quite literally fight back against them. It is common for many riders to abandon the Tour due to illness on the first rest day.
So imagine feeling like absolute shit — perhaps the worst you have ever felt in your life — then being told you have to climb this:
“This” refers to this:
According to the essential Podium Café Mountains Preview, Tuesday’s stage features four of the 12 hardest climbs of the Tour, the most sadistic being the trek up Plateau des Glières, which is making it Tour debut. Relatively speaking, it’s not long — just six kilometers, as opposed to, say, the 29 kilometers up Col de la Croix de Fer on Stage 12 — but it ascends at an average 11.2 percent gradient, making it by far the steepest climb rated Category 2 or higher.
Glières should set up a fascinating day. Ostensibly, this is a day purely for the general classification contenders, and with such tough climbs early in stage, there may not be as many lieutenants available as the Chris Froomes and the — well really just the Chris Froomes might like. This is a day that Romain Bardet, Nairo Quintana, Mikel Landa, and anybody else without a reliable time trial needs to take full advantage of.
This is truly the start of the Tour de France. During the first week, every rider with yellow jersey intentions suffered his share of setbacks, meaning that as they all enter the second week — arguably the hardest week of the Tour for the body — the field is still relatively even. If you’re not Poor Damn Richie Porte, you still have everything to gain.
The first week told us who has the legs to survive this year’s Tour. Starting Tuesday, we’ll start to learn who has the legs to win.
Tour de France Stage 10 TV schedule and live stream info
TV schedule: NBCSN, beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET. Also available on FuboTV.
Streaming: NBC Sports app (free, with commercials) beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET., and NBC Sports Gold (paid, no commercials) beginning at 7 a.m.
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