Tour de France cancels highly-anticipated stage of race

[hermetic]

amid 'crazy weather conditions'

With less than 30 kilometers to go in a thrilling stage of the Tour de France, organizers were forced to cancel the rest of the 19th stage of racing due to heavy hail accumulations -- or, as one racing team put it, "crazy weather conditions." The rare stoppage was a blow to fans of the event but the decision was made for the safety of the riders.

The cyclists were pushing through the French Alps in Friday’s 19th stage when a hailstorm battered the mountain region. There are two days of racing left in the 2019 edition of the Tour, with the athletes set to close out the final stage on Sunday, July 28, in Paris Champs-Élysées.

...weather could play a factor again in Saturday’s stage, the last stage spent in the Alps. “Showers and thunderstorms will be around the mountains again, so teams and spectators will need to keep a close eye on the radar yet again,” he said.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/tour-de-france-cancels-highly-anticipated-leg-of-race-amid-extreme-weather/70008918

Then Sunday, the last stage in Paris, they will be dealing with temperatures over 100. "Crazy" indeed.

[unc70]

1. Paris heatwave has broken

Sunday in Paris expected high of 78.


Cyclists were flying down the final descent before the last climb when the road was blocked about ten miles ahead. Not only was there a large buildup of hail (or whatever) blocking the route, there was also a significant mud and rock slide blocking another section of the route.

This has been an unpredictable Tour, nothing more so than today.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Saturday stage shortened too - 2 out of 3 climbs dropped, cut from 130km to 59km

Due to the difficult weather conditions expected on stage 20 and landslides noticed, the course has been modified. After taking off from Albertville, the race will use the N90 road to head directly to Moutiers to reach the planned route at the N90-D915 roundabout 36km from the finish. The start will be given in Albertville at 14.30 for a total distance of 59km. The KOM prize at the finish in Val Thorens remains.

https://www.letour.fr/en/news/2019/stage-20-shorten-to-59km/1282785

Got to be good news for Bernal - just one climb on which anyone can try and pull pack time. He'll be able to put everything into it too.

A hailstorm and a landslide forced the race jury and organisers to stop the 19th stage with the extreme weather conditions having damaged other roads. The peloton will now go straight from Albertville to the final 33km ascent to Val Thorens and the riders will not have to tackle the category two Côte de Longefoy or the category one Cormet de Roselend, a 19.9km ascent at 6%.

The changes hand the new overall leader, Egan Bernal, a significant advantage, dramatically reducing the opportunities for his rivals to mount an attack.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jul/26/landslides-tour-de-france-cut-stage-short