Tour De France 2016: Live-Stream Schedule, TV Info, Route for Monday's Stage 3

The Classics specialists and general classification favourites took the spotlight during Sunday's Tour de France action, but on Monday, the sprinters will once again get the chance to shine on the road to Angers.

Stage 3 of the 2016 Tour isn't completely flat, and there's even a categorised climb early in the stage, but things should level out after the intermediate sprint some 50 kilometers before the finish line.

Tinkoff-Saxo's Peter Sagan will try to defend his yellow jersey, and the likes of Lotto Soudal's Andre Greipel, Etixx-Quick-Step's Marcel Kittel and Dimension Data's Mark Cavendish will be among the favourites to finish off the expected bunch sprint.

Date: Monday, July 4

Time: Noon (BST), 7 a.m. (ET), 1 p.m. (Local)

Route: Granville – Angers

Stage Profile: Flat

Live Stream: ITV Hub (UK), NBC Sports App (U.S.)

TV Info: ITV 4 (UK), NBC Sports Gold (U.S.)

Preview

Here's a look at the stage profile, courtesy of Il METEO.it:

Grand Tours are usually littered with stages like these in the opening week, giving the sprinters and less-heralded riders the chance to steal the spotlight while the favourites for the general classification cruise along.

Peter Dejong/Associated Press

For several riders, the stage to Angers couldn't have come at a better time, after Sunday's stage to Cherbourg shook up the general classification. Tinkoff's Alberto Contador and BMC's Richie Porte already lost good chunks of time on their rivals―the former due to a second crash in as many days, and the latter because of an unfortunate mechanical problem.

Global Cycling Network's Dan Lloyd noted riders have come back from setbacks like these, but Porte will need a strong showing in the Massif Central and Pyrenees just to get back in the race:

Contador has now fallen on his right shoulder twice, and he just couldn't keep up with the other favourites during the final climb. Cycling author Simon Warren fears for his chances of claiming another maillot jaune:

It's a blow for Tinkoff, but the team did have reasons to celebrate on Sunday. World champion Sagan finally claimed his first stage win since 2013, and the Slovak seems primed to again claim the points classification.

Per Cycling News' Barry Ryan, Tinkoff director Sean Yates told Eurosport the team felt rather conflicted:

"

One has to be happy for Peter because he hit the goals he set out to hit, he won the stage most suited to him and took yellow so one cannot be anything but happy for him. On the other side of the coin we’re depressed for want of a better word over what happened to Alberto. He had another crash and lost a big amount of time to the other GC contenders. It’s far from ideal on that front. But the show must go on. Alberto's a fighter. He's not going to throw in the towel. It's a long way to Paris.

"

Sagan is no longer the pure power sprinter he was at the start of his career, and while he can still keep up with the likes of Kittel and Greipel, he shouldn't be counted as the favourite to win Stage 3. He will battle to keep hold of his yellow jersey, however, and barring an unlikely winner from an early break, he should be successful.

In-form Cavendish will also be in the mix, and a bunch sprint seems almost certain. Tuesday's stage should provide much of the same, before the peloton hits the Massif Central on Wednesday.

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