Tour de France route changed because of diseased cows

Due to a herd of sickly cattle on the Col des Saisies, the Tour de France’s stage 19 route has been changed.

Two of the five planned categorised climbs have been cut, reducing the stage distance from 130km to 95km.

Riders will depart from Albertville at 13:30 BST and follow the original route near Beaufort, including the first two climbs of Cote d’Hery-sur-Ugine and Col des Saisies in the Alps.

According to Tour de France organizers ASO, the discovery of a herd with contagious nodular dermatitis that affects cattle in a particular area of the Col des Saisies led to the culling of the animals.

It has been decided to change the route and skip the ascent to the Col des Saisies in light of the suffering experienced by the affected farmers in order to keep the race running smoothly.

The final stage of the 2025 Tour is set in the high mountains on Friday, marking the third of the series.

The 22-year-old from Kelso in the Scottish Borders finished fourth overall, one minute and 39 seconds clear of Florian Lipowitz, the man he is chasing for third place overall.

Onley was dropped on Thursday’s final climb, and it appeared as though German Lipowitz, 24, would increase his lead over the Team Picnic PostNL rider.

However, his team in the valley helped him re-join the main favorites, and Onley put together a remarkable performance for such a young rider by clinging on to Pogacar and Vingegaard to slash Lipowitz’s advantage when Lipowitz, who had attacked, cracked on the 26.5km final climb.

The Team Picnic-PostNL rider’s chances of catching Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe’s Lipowitz may be diminished because of Friday’s shorter stage, but the monstrous 19.4km final climb to La Plagne could still experience significant time differences given that the race is still held in skiing-related territory.

The two-time Tour winners from Denmark and Pogacar, who are currently defending champion, have won five of their own.

World champion Pogacar holds off the competition in four minutes, 26 seconds, to take the stage with a commanding lead over Team Visma-Lease A Bike’s rival in four minutes.