Tour de France 2014: TV Info, Live Stream and Full Race Schedule

Leeds will host the Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France on Saturday as Chris Froome attempts to defend the title he won last year and make it three consecutive British winners in Paris at the end of July.

Harrogate, York, Sheffield, Cambridge and London will also be seeing the action in the first three stages of the famous race before the peloton finally makes its way toward France.

The 101st edition of this storied race is likely to be as hard fought as ever with a winner eventually emerging after 21 stages of gruelling battle.

Here is the full schedule for the race, as well as full television and live streaming information.

Stage	Date	Start/Finish	Distnce
1	5 July	Leeds/Harrogate	190.5 km
2	6 July	York/Sheffield	201 km
3	7 July	Cambridge/London	155 km
4	8 July	Le Touquet-Paris-Plage/Lille	163.5 km
5	9 July	Ypres/Arenberg Porte du Hainaut	155.5 km
6	10 July	Arras/Reims	194 km
7	11 July	Epernay/Nancy	234.5 km
8	12 July	Tomblaine/Gerardmer La Mauselaine	161 km
9	13 July	Gerardmer/Mulhouse	170 km
10	14 July	Mulhouse/Planche des Belles Filles	161.5 km
/	15 July	Rest Day
11	16 July	Besancon/Oyonnax	187.5 km
12	17 July	Bourg-en-Bresse/Saint-Etienne	185.5 km
13	18 July	Saint-Etienne/Chamrousse	197.5 km
14	19 July	Grenoble/Risoul	177 km
15	20 July	Tallard/Nimes	222 km
/	21 July	Rest Day
16	22 July	Carcassonne/Bagneres-de-Luchon	237.5 km
17	23 July	Saint-Gaudens/Pla d'Adet	124.5 km
18	24 July	Pau/Hautacam	145.5 km
19	25 July	Maubourguet Pays du Val d’Adour/Bergerac	208.5 km
20	26 July	Bergerac/Perigueux	54 km
21	27 July	Evry/Paris	137.5 km

Dates: Saturday, July 5 to Sunday, July 27

TV Info: Available live on ITV4 (UK) and NBC (US)   

Live Stream: ITV Player (UK), NBCSN (US)

Froome Facing Tougher Test

David Ramos/Getty Images

Although still the favourite to win this year's Tour de France, the 29-year-old Froome faces tough competition for the yellow jersey, and he will be well challenged in 2014.

Last year was almost a procession from Stage 8 when the Team Sky rider stamped his authority on the race and never really looked like losing control.

Froome has not been in as irresistible form in the lead up to the 2014 race and neither has his trusted wing-man, Richie Porte—as cycling journalist Mike Tomalaris alludes to—who was so crucial last year for Team Sky's victory:

Sky will also be without 2012 champion Sir Bradley Wiggins after he was omitted from the nine-man squad, reports suggesting Froome preferred Porte to be his No. 2 per BetVictor:

However, despite the possibly disrupted preparations, Froome has proven quality and will no doubt be in the mix come the later stages.

The penultimate stage is the only time-trial of the race and could be key for Froome who made up a great deal of time in the two time-trials last year. It is the first time since 1953 that the Tour has had only a single time-trial stage. 

Kristof Van Accom/Getty Images

His closest challenger is likely to be Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador, with many billing the 2014 edition as a straight shootout between the pair.

The Spaniard is a two-time previous winner—most recently in 2009—and he has shown terrific form this season, beating Froome in the recent Criterium du Dauphine, a key Tour warm-up.

Contador has a strong team around him who can help him through the mountains where he can stay in touch with Froome and potentially overcome the Kenyan-born rider.

His weaknesses lie in the time-trial, thus the presence of only one such stage in the race this year gives Contador an edge over Froome.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The Tour de France rarely fails to live up to the hype, and along Froome and Contador's battle, Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel will all be fighting to be the top sprinter.

As the Sunday Times' David Walsh notes, the Stage 1 finish has significance for Cavendish, and he will no doubt be desperate to get off to a winning start in Harrogate this year:

It's all set up for a fascinating few weeks of cycling through Britain and France with battles to be won all through the field. However, it remains to be seen whether Froome can once again win the Tour de France for Team Sky.