Tour De France 2015: Sunday's Stage 21 Live Stream Schedule, TV Info and Route

The peloton heads for Paris on Sunday for the final stage of the 2015 Tour de France, as Stage 21 will once again conclude on the legendary Champs-Elysees. NBC Sports and ITV will carry full coverage of this short stage, which is expected to end in a bunch sprint.

All the major classifications have been decided, as Peter Sagan only has to finish to claim his fourth consecutive green jersey and Nairo Quintana will need a minor miracle to catch Chris Froome in the general classification. The Team Sky leader will also become the first Briton to win the mountain classification in over 30 years, per the Guardian's William Fotheringham.

It hasn't been an easy Tour for Froome, but we'll get to that in a bit. Here's everything you need to know about the final stage of this year's Tour de France:

Stage 21: Sevres-Grand Paris Seine Ouest – Paris Champs-Elysees

Date: Sunday, July 26

Distance: 109.5 Kilometers

Profile: Flat

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 21 route and others throughout the competition, check out the Guardian’s interactive guide.

Standings

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	81:58:33
2	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	00:01:12
3	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	00:05:25
4	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team	00:08:36
5	Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	00:09:48
6	Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	00:10:47
7	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek Factory Racing	00:15:14
8	Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling	00:15:39
9	Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	00:16:00
10	Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar	00:17:30

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	420
2	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal	316
3	John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin	281
4	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step	192
5	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	139
6	Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar	122
7	Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr	113
8	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	103
9	Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal	90
10	Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Lampre-Merida	86

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	119
2	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	108
3	Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	90
4	Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr	82
5	Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha	78
6	Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar	74
7	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	72
8	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team	64
9	Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky	58
10	Serge Pauwels (Bel) MTN - Qhubeka	55

Preview

Christophe Ena/Associated Press

The ride toward the Champs-Elysees remains one of the most unique stages in cycling. The sprint teams usually control the peloton from start to finish, ensuring no breakaways find success, while the winners of every classification sip champagne and spend the bulk of the ride smiling for the cameras.

The finish line lies on the Champs-Elysees, a wide avenue in the heart of Paris that allows the peloton to keep the pace high. The surface isn't the smoothest and the actual sprint is slightly uphill, but the speed on the final circuit always lies extremely high. There are no sharp corners, so the riders hardly have to touch the brakes.

No rider has managed to win ahead of the peloton since Alexandre Vinokourov did it in 2005, per Cycling News, and it's extremely unlikely to happen this year. Former Tour winner Bernard Thevenet agrees, as he told Cycling News:

"

I won the Tour the first year it finished on the Champs Elysees. It was only going to be a one-off, but the crowds were so incredible, and large, that it became an annual event. Previous finishes at the velodrome had good crowds, but this was another level - the Champs Elysees is the ideal place for a beautiful finish.

This is, of course, a stage for the sprinters. But it’s still more complicated than that. With such a hard Tour, some of the sprinters might not have made it this far, and even if they have, they will probably have lost team-mates. Every now and again you get an escape on the Champs, but you have to be a really strong rouleur, and attack on the final lap.

"

Froome spent the bulk of the Tour in yellow and is undoubtedly a deserving winner, although plenty of fans will be left wondering what could have been had Quintana not lost time during the first week. The Colombian proved the better climber, and with no individual time trials beyond the prologue, he had a golden opportunity to win in 2015.

It will be the second Tour de France win of his career, but the 2015 edition wasn't easy for Froome. As reported by the Daily Mail's Dan Ripley, the 30-year-old had urine thrown at him, was spat on and endured a miserable time in the high mountains. Oliver Brown of the Daily Telegraph doesn't think it can get much worse:

Team Sky surrounded Froome with a fantastic group of domestiques, and the Kenyan-born Froome didn't forget about his team-mates after the brutal stage toward Alpe d'Huez, per the team's official website:

"

There were so many things going through my mind going up that last climb. There were moments where I thought, 'hold on a second I could be in danger here'. But then always having my team-mates with me and having Wout and Richie there all the way until the end. Especially after the job all the guys had done today.

"

Cycling writer Michael Hutchinson couldn't help but crack a joke about Froome, whose career has really blossomed in the last few years:

None of the top sprinters finished outside the time limit on Saturday, so all of the big names will be gunning for the final stage win. With the exception of Milan–San Remo, the final stage of the Tour de France is the most important sprint of the year, so expect Andre Greipel, Mark Cavendish and company to give it their all.

Sagan will also be involved, as he's still looking for his first stage win of this year's Tour, but with the green jersey already in the bag, he probably won't mind if one of the others manages to win on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.

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