Tour de France 2014 Stage 13 Route Map, Live Stream, Schedule, Standings: Riders Faces Highest-Rated Climb Friday

By Paul John Rivera First Posted: Jul 18, 2014 10:02 AM EDT

Vincenzo Nibali is still comfortably ahead in general classification, but the 13th stage could lead to a major shakeup on the leaderboards as the peloton heads into the highest-rated climb in the 2014 Tour De France on Friday.

Nibali is still two minutes, 23 seconds ahead of Richie Porte heading into the 13th stage, but the Team Astana rider will have to step up if he wants to keep the yellow jersey.

Friday's stage is one of the most crucial races in this year's Le Tour as the riders are facing a 197.5-kilometer route from Saint-Etienne to Chamrousse, where they will encounter two critical climbs.

The first one will be a 24-kilometer Category 3 climb at Col de la Croix de Montvieux; then, the riders will face a daunting final climb in Chamrousse, which could lead to changes on top of general classification.

Porte, who became Team Sky's top bet after Chris Froome crashed out early in this year's tour, is expecting a tough stage on Friday and Saturday, but he is hoping that he will finally overtake Nibali.

"The last two days have been anything but easy and suddenly it's got hot -- it's just nice to get through these stages and into the mountains on Friday," Porte said. "It's not an easy two days coming up. I think it's going to be absolutely crucial for the general classification so I'm looking forward to taking more time on the guys behind me."

Schedule, How to Watch

The race will be shown live at 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Friday on NBCSN and will also be available through online streaming via NBC Sports Live Extra.

Maps and Classification

The full stage 13 route map can be seen on the official Tour De France 2014 website via this link, while the general classification top 10 can be seen below: