Tour de France has been forced to change, with very little a notice, the route of Stage 19 between Albertville and La Plagne, drastically shortening it from 130k to 95km, because they found an outbreak of a contagious disease in cows.
"The discovery of an outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis affecting cattle in a herd located specifically in the Col des Saisies has necessitated the culling of the animals" Tour de France organisers ASO announced on Thursday evening, explaining that the ascent to the Col des Saisies has been cut "in light of the distress experienced by the affected farmers and in order to preserve the smooth running of the race".
The reduced stage drops two climbs the Cote d'Hery-sur-Ugine and Col des Saisies, and will now start one hour later, at 14:30 CEST, 13:30 BST. Riders will start at Albertsville as planned, but there will be a 7km neutral section before the official start.
There are only two more stages beyond Friday's, with the final one on Friday ending in Paris as usual. Tadej Pogacar leads the General Classification 4 and a half minutes above Jonas Vingegaard.