Tour de France 2017: Route Location, TV Schedule and Live Stream for Stage 5

After four days of action, the 2017 Tour de France will encounter its first serious climb in Stage 5, as the peloton tackle La Planche des Belles Filles.

It's a relatively new climb that only made its debut in 2012 and has featured once since. On both occasions, it produced plenty of fireworks, and it should do so again on Wednesday.

The top contenders for the general classification have barely shown their faces so far in the race, but that's bound to change in Stage 5.

Here's a look at the complete route, via CyclingnewsTV:     

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

Live Stream: Eurosport website, ITV app, NBC Sports Live service

Preview

Wednesday's stage will be all about the final climb, a relatively short but steep ascent up La Planche des Belles Filles in the Vosges Mountains.

As shared by Bleu Sud Lorraine, it's a high-intensity climb that only intensifies closer to the summit, with some of the steepest sections coming just ahead of the finish line:

That final stretch ramps up to a gradient of well over 20 percent, making it a serious test for even the best of climbers. The ascent isn't long enough and comes too early to win the Tour, but a poor showing at La Planche des Belles Filles could put riders into a hole nearly impossible to escape from ahead of the Alps and Pyrenees.

The climb is mostly a mental one. Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali have won the two stages that finished here previously, and while they did so with minimal time gains, it set the tone for the rest of the Tour. The Italian cruised to the yellow in 2014, while Froome broke the spirits of those trying to overtake team-mate Bradley Wiggins in 2012.

Peter Dejong/Associated Press

This year, Team Sky will be out to prove their superiority once again, but the list of contenders for the yellow goes deep. Movistar's Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador of Trek-Segafredo are always threats on steeper climbs, and Richie Porte of BMC entered the Tour in the form of his life.

Porte's biggest issue may be a lack of high-quality support in the mountains, an area where Sky have always stood out. On the longer climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees, good domestiques are of vital importance, but it shouldn't be as much of an issue on Wednesday.

Expect the favourites for the overall classification to push hard, with several flat days giving them the chance to recover in the wake of this stage.