Tour de France 2015: Route Location, TV Schedule and Live Stream for Stage 19

One of the most difficult stages of the 2015 Tour de France awaits the riders on Friday as they face another series of gruelling Alpine climbs in Stage 19.

Chris Froome has so far enjoyed an excellent Tour, but the British rider will face strong competition from the likes of Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde, who are the Sky team leader's nearest pursuers in the General Classification.

At 138 kilometres, the route for Stage 19 is relatively short, but the four major climbs will ensure a tactical battle as the riders seek to make significant gains while avoiding burnout for the remaining days of the competition.

Here's a look at the route in question, as well as the information you need to catch the day's action.

Stage 19: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to La Toussuire/Les Sybelles, 138km

Date: Friday, July 24

TV Info: NBC Sports (U.S.), ITV4 (UK)

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

The riders will be thrown straight into the action on Friday with a 15-kilometre climb to Col du Chaussy.

They will then need to take full advantage of the descent and relatively flat run to Saint-Etiennes-de-Cuines that follows, because awaiting them is a category H, 6.9 per cent gradient climb on the Col de la Croix de Fer.

As the Guardian noted in its interactive guide, the finish will be an incredibly tough one with "two major climbs and one descent in the final 50 kilometres" between Saint Sorlin D'Arves and La Toussuire.

IKON Mazda's Melissa Brand helpfully relayed the route on Twitter:

Team Sky's Geraint Thomas anticipates a tricky start for the leaders before an exciting finish in his BBC column: 

"

With a difficult climb straight from the off, whoever has the yellow jersey will not only have to watch out for the top-five riders but those just outside. There is always somebody in the top seven or eight who can still be pretty dangerous on a stage like this, even if they are four or five minutes down. ...

There's likely to be a big breakaway with more than 10 riders, Vincenzo Nibali's Astana team and [Alberto] Contador's Tinkoff-Saxo team too could send a man up the road.

And Team Sky might do the same. When it comes to the final climb, each of the big contenders could have a good carrot to chase, what with the time bonus for the stage win, and people to help them down the road. We should see a big showdown.

"

As letourdata illustrate on Twitter, Froome has dominated proceedings for much of this year's Tour:

However, he will face a tough challenge from the likes of Quintana and Valverde.

The Colombian and the Spaniard have great pedigree in the mountain stages, so expect them to remain in contention heading into the final 18-kilometre climb.

The long 22-kilometre ascent at Col de la Croix-de-Fer will likely prove crucial to separating the contenders from the remainder of the peloton.

Froome can take another big step toward a second Tour victory on Friday, but in such a tricky Alpine stage, there's plenty of scope for a shake up in the general classification.

Be sure to check out the Guardian's interactive guide for a full look at all of the stages.