Tour De France 2015: TV Schedule, Route, Live Stream Coverage for Stage 9

The 2015 Tour de France will continue its picturesque ride through Brittany in Stage 9 of the race on Sunday.

The team time trial will take place on a hilly route between Vannes and Plumelec, and it will provide an excellent contest between Team Sky and BMC Racing as the teams battle it out to get their fifth rider over the line as quickly as possible.

Stage 9: Vannes-Plumelec, 28 KM

Date: Sunday July 12

Profile: Hills

TV Info: NBC Sports (U.S.), ITV4 (UK)

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S.), ITV Player (UK)

For a look at the Stage 9 route and others throughout the competition, check out the Guardian’s interactive guide.

Standings

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	31:01:56
2	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	0:00:11
3	Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:00:13
4	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal	0:00:26
5	Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team	0:00:28
6	Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx-Quick Step	0:00:34
7	Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	0:00:36
8	Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin	0:01:07
9	Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx-Quick Step	0:01:15
10	Bauke Mollema (Net) Team Lotto NL - Jumbo	0:01:32

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	213
2	Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal	210
3	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step	159
4	John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin	158
5	Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar	102
6	Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team	73
7	Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step	63
8	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal	61
9	Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R-La Mondiale	52
10	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	51

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN - Qhubeka	4
2	Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha	2
3	Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R-La Mondiale	2
4	Michael Schar (Swi) BMC Racing Team	1
5	Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar	1
6	Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo	1
7	Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal	1
8	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	1
9	Daniel Martin (Ire) Cannondale-Garmin	1

Preview

Speaking to BBC Sport, Team Sky's Geraint Thomas explained the strategy that goes into a team time trial: "The tactics for a team time trial are simple: Ride as fast you can and get the fifth guy over the line as quickly as possible because that is when the clock stops and all the riders in your team get credited with that time."

The Press Association's Matt McGeehan believes the format of the "TTT" should be changed in order to produce a more tactical affair:

Nevertheless, Stage 9 is sure to produce an exciting contest as each team pushes for the vital win.

As noted by the Guardian, the stage will come as an important test for Thomas' team, who underperformed in time trials at both the Giro d'Italia and the Criterium du Dauphine in May and June.

Leader of the Tour Chris Froome believes the stage will be crucial to deciding the general classification. Speaking to the Tour's official website, he said: "Tomorrow's team time trial will be very decisive for GC. It's a tricky TTT. The course is undulated and we need five riders for the final climb. I expect substantial time differences."

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

The time trial is particularly important this year, as it is occurring at a much later stage in the race than usual.

This naturally brings the added difficulty of fatigue, as the riders are yet to have a rest amid eight long days of cycling, which could account for the time gaps Froome is anticipating.

Further, for those that have lost riders due to injury the task will be even more difficult.

Orica-GreenEdge would have been considered the favourites for this stage, but they will likely struggle after losing Simon Gerrans, Daryl Impey and Michael Albasini to injury.

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Per Sadhbh O'Shea of CyclingNews.com, sporting director Matt White said: "We were taking it day by day, but we haven’t got a chance to win the time trial with six riders and some very key athletes missing."

The stage ends with a steep, uphill climb to the finish, which is sure to push the riders to their limits.

Expect Orica-GreenEdge to have a difficult time on the run to Plumelec and find themselves well off the pace by the end.

Team Sky and BMC Racing in particular will look to set fast times as they compete at the top of the general standings. Should Sky struggle as they have in recent time trials, then expect Tejay van Garderen to claim the yellow jersey for Stage 10.