Tour de France 2018: Live-Stream Schedule, TV Info, Route for Monday's Stage 3
July 9, 2018
Stage 3 of the 2018 Tour de France will see the return of the team time trial, which has not been included in cycling's most prestigious event since 2015.
The 35.5-kilometre route begins and ends in Cholet in the Pays de la Loire region of France, heading out of the town and into Saint-Leger-sous-Cholet, La Romagne and La Seguiniere before returning.
Teams will depart every five minutes, starting from 3:10 p.m. local time (2:10 p.m. BST, 9:10 a.m. ET) and the last team is expected to arrive at 5:34 p.m. (4:34 p.m. BST, 11:34 a.m. ET).
Here are the viewing details for Monday's stage:
Date: Monday, July 9
Route: From Cholet to Cholet, via Saint-Leger-sous-Cholet, La Romagne, La Seguiniere
Here's the route and profile for Stage 3, which includes several uphill sections for the riders to contend with:
The squads will face a pair of 700-metre, five-per-cent gradient climbs on the Avenue Francis Bouet and at the 16-kilometre mark, while on the Rue de la Bastille in La Seguiniere, a 1,500-metre climb awaits before the rolling course heads back to Cholet.
BMC Racing Team will be the favourites to win on Monday, as they're team time trial specialists.
They won four UCI World Tour team time trials last year and opened the 2017 Vuelta Espana by winning the first stage:
BMC Racing Team @BMCProTeamIt doesn't get any better than starting your first Grand Tour with a victory in the team time trial! @LoicVliegen found that out when he lined up at this year's @lavuelta and stood on the podium, surrounded by his teammates, on day one. #BMCBestMoment #Ride_BMC https://t.co/Ep4owRs16b
BMC's Richie Porte, who won the team time trial on his way to winning the Tour de Suisse earlier this year, will be eager to make up time after a difficult first two stages.
Porte lost time on the likes of Vincenzo Nibali and Tom Dumoulin in first stage after being held up by a crash, while a puncture added an unnecessary complication to the second:
The Australian is level with Team Sky's Chris Froome, but the pair are one minute, seven seconds off the lead in general classification and winning this stage could get their Tour back on track.
Team Sunweb won the men's team time trial event at the UCI World Road Championships last year, so don't rule them out either, and Dumoulin has the chance to open up a bigger gap on the pair.