Tour de France 2018: Stage 11 time, TV schedule, and live stream info

Stage 11 of the Tour de France damn well better produce the yellow jersey battle we’ve all been waiting for. The route is practically begging for fireworks, with its short length and mountain top finish. At no point will riders not be ascending or descending, and in theory that means attacks attacks ATTACKS.

Of course, Stage 10 seemed ripe for a general classification battle, too. Yet despite a sinister 11.2 percent Hors Catégorie climb early in the race, the yellow jersey favorites were content to help each other save their legs, maintaining a tight peloton until the finish line and letting Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe win the stage with a brave solo attack.

One innocuous day in the mountains is forgivable coming off a rest day. Two we cannot abide, not when it adheres so closely to the script that Team Sky likes to follow. Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas are sitting comfortable on the general classification in sixth and second position, respectively. Meanwhile, riders like Nairo Quintana and Romain Bardet — riders who need to crack the Sky train in the mountains if they’re as serious about winning the Tour as they say — are, respectively, 4’11” and 4’29” out of yellow.

Wednesday’s stage will begin at 8 a.m. ET (2 p.m. local time). NBCSN will begin broadcasting the stage right at 8 a.m., as will the NBC Sports app. Commercial-free coverage for NBC Sports Gold subscribers will begin at 7:50 a.m. Those with subscriptions to FuboTV can also access coverage.

Stage 11 was designed for the bold.

At 108.5 kilometers, it’s the second-shortest stage of the 2018 Tour de France, and in many past years it would be the shortest. From the outset, riders will be climbing. The intermediate sprint comes just 11.5 kilometers in the stage at the end of a long rise seemingly designed for Peter Sagan. Then riders are immediately on the slopes of Montée de Bisanne, which Podium Café named the sixth-hardest climb of the Tour in its Mountains Preview.

A 12.4-kilometer ride at 8.2 percent is rough, but as soon as riders finish their descent they’ll immediately be back on another Hors Catégorie climb — 12.6 kilometers up Col du Pré, which Podium Café called the Tour’s seventh-hardest climb.

From there is a small Category 2 climb, and then a Category 1 climb to La Rosière and the finish line. The last ascent isn’t particular fearsome at an average 5.8 percent gradient — at least, it’s not fearsome for these guys — which will make the first two climbs critically important. If the Sky Train is still intact at Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs, Froome will be one step closer to a fifth victory in Paris.

It’ll be up to Bardet, or Quintana, or Mikel Landa, or someone to detonate the race, or else lose yet another chance to rewrite what is becoming a too-familiar story every July.

TV schedule: NBCSN, beginning at 8 a.m. ET. Also available on FuboTV.

Streaming: NBC Sports app (free, with commercials) beginning at 8 a.m. ET., and NBC Sports Gold (paid, no commercials) beginning at 7:50 a.m.