The Tour de France organisers have decided to finish tomorrow's stage short, cutting off the planned Mont Ventoux summit finish.
Cycling fans hoping for a major battle up the slopes of Mont Ventoux at the end of Thursday's stage 12 on the Tour de France have been left disappointed with news that the climb has been scrapped from the route.
The organisers had already flagged that if forecast high winds on the mountain came to pass, the stage would need to be shortened.
They said conditions would be too dangerous for riders and fans on the exposed mountain, with temperatures also expected to plummet.
Riders have frequently said the breeze near the summit, even on otherwise calm days, makes the climb extra challenging.
And with breezes of over 100km per hour forecast for tomorrow - and already having made their presence felt on today's stage 11 - the Tour organisers ASO have taken the decision to finish the stage short of Mont Ventoux.
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⚠ Stage 12 is shorten due to weather conditions at the top of Mont Ventoux, the finish will be at Chalet Reynard ⚠ pic.twitter.com/BcSweLJ5eD
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 13, 2016
Instead, the finish line will be atop the climb of Chalet Reynard just down the road.
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The change has the effect of cutting the final climb of the day short by approximately 5km.
The stage will end at Chalet Reyanrd after 9.5km of climbing at an average gradient of 9 per cent.
The Ventoux ascent is one Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) may have excelled on on a good day. However, sprinter Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) will be less than devastated to see 5km of hard climbing gone.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme said the race was doing the right thing, adding it could not place two finish lines – one up the mountain and one lower – and see how the day went.
It had to be responsible and decide on its course of action now.
"Finishing at Chalet Reynard is traditionally a Paris-Nice final,” he said.
“Tomorrow the weather is going to be like March, so maybe it's appropriate."
And he did not believe the route change and the loss of an iconic mountain, on Bastille Day, was a big blow to the race.
"We saw the riders arriving at the finish at Arcalis in the hailstones,” he said of Sunday’s stage in Andorra.
“Then they came down the descent of the Envalira in the fog, so I think it's the decision of a responsible organiser."
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