The Tour de France is taking a short detour on Friday, as the competition enters its third to last day. In an unusual move, the organization announced Thursday that the route for Friday's Stage 19 will follow an altered route in order to avoid a herd of diseased cattle.
The Tour de France clarified in the announcement that as a result of the illness (an outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis), the farmers will have to cull the herd to stop the spread of disease. The choice to move the route is done both to help the race move more smoothly and also, per the Tour, "in light of the distress experienced by the affected farmers."
The herd is located in the Col des Saisies, a mountain pass that is normally part of the route from Albertville to La Plagne, two mountain towns in western France. Stage 19 is the sixth and final mountain stage of the 23-day race.
The changed route, which bypasses the Col des Saisies, shortens the route significantly, from 129.9 kilometers to 95 kilometers. Cyclists will still start in Albertville, and will travel seven kilometers before peeling off to rejoin the original route near Beaufort. The race will begin at 2:30 p.m. local time, one hour later than originally scheduled.
Stage 18, another mountainous stage in the French Alps, took riders from Vif to Courchevel on Thursdays. Australian Ben O'Connor finished first in Thursday with a time of 05:03:47.
After 18 stages, Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar currently leads all riders with a time of 66:55:42.
After Friday's shortened Stage 19, the race will take two more stages. First, Stage 20 will take riders from Nantua to Pontarlier in a hilly race. Then, on Sunday, the cyclists will conclude with a flat race from Mantes-La-Ville to Paris, with the iconic ending at the Champs-Élysées.
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