Tomorrow’s final mountain stage at the Tour de France has
been slashed in length due to a fear of landslides as a result of the weather.
The stage is cut from 130km to just 59km after storms in
the region increased the risk of landslides.
An announcement has been made by the Tour organisers,
ASO, confirming the development, which comes after a landslide and hail forced
today’s stage 19 to be cut short.
Tomorrow’s stage, the last before the procession into
Paris, will start in Albertville at 1:30pm Irish time.
However, while the race has been cut short the new route
retains the 33.5km climb of Val Thorens. The stage will conclude, as was always
planned, at the summit of that climb.
And while seeing the two big showdown stages cut back is disappointing,
the very short stage - which is more than half uphill – could be a great
spectacle.
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The final climb goes up to just under 2,400 metres in
altitude and will hopefully see a battle fitting of the 2019 race, which has
been superb.
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Unfortunately tomorrow a number of early climbs are lost
from the route – the cat 1 Roselend and cat 2 Cote du Longefoy.
That plays into the hands of Romain Bardet (AG2R-La
Mondiale) as he holds the climbers’ jersey.
His closest contenders are unlikely to score on the only
climb that now remains in the competition – the Val Thorens ascent to the
finish line tomorrow.
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