Tour organizers shorten stage 20 to 59 kilometers
Tour organizers have eliminated most of Saturday's 20th stage of the Tour de France, and will instead stage a 59km route from Albertville to Val Thorens. Organizers cite landslides and more expected bad weather for shortening the stage.
The 2019 Tour de France continues to shrink.
On Friday afternoon Tour organizers revealed they would shorten Saturday’s 20th stage of the Tour de France by more than half and create a shorter 59-kilometer route that finishes atop Val Thorens. The shortening is due to the expectation of extreme weather conditions, and due to landslides in the area.
The route still begins in Albertville, however it eliminates the climbs of the Cormet de Roselend and the Cote de Longefoy.
After taking off from Albertville, the stage will go on the N90 road to head directly to Moutiers and then go on the initial end of stage at the N90 – D915 roundabout, 36kms from the finish.
The start will be given in Albertville at 14:30 for a total distance of 59kms.— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 26, 2019
The race announced the modification on the official Tour de France social media pages.
“After taking off from Albertville, the stage will go on the N90 road to head directly to Moutiers and then go on to the initial end of stage at the N90 — D915 roundabout, 36kms from the finish. The start will be given in Albertville at 14:30 for a total distance of 59kms.”
Door deze modderstroom wordt de Cormet de Roselend morgen uit het parcours gehaald → https://t.co/yB5WLTXnxV pic.twitter.com/LwY8QL71sE
— NOS Sport (@NOSsport) July 26, 2019
The truncating of the final stage follows the chaotic scene that played out during Friday’s 19th stage. A strong hail storm dumped ice and rain and set off a landslide on the descent of the Col de l’Iseran, forcing organizers to shorten the stage midway through the action.
🇫🇷 #TDF2019
also tomorrow stage will be modified due to expected landslides. just the last climb up to Val Thorens will decided @LeTour 2019. pic.twitter.com/4iLniMyj4z— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) July 26, 2019
🇫🇷#TDF2019
Due to the difficult weather conditions tomorrow’s stage has been modified to 59 km. The start will be in Albertville and the riders will only climb up to Val Thorens. https://t.co/HsdED1s3nR— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) July 26, 2019
Got closer to Paris by 70km just by sitting at the dinner table#TheRealTDF
— Toms Skujiņš (@Tomashuuns) July 26, 2019
Stay tuned to velonews.com for more news and information about Saturday’s 20th stage of the Tour de France.