Tour de France Stage 19 shortened because of dead cows

Didn’t see cow culling on the Tour de France bingo card. But then again, given that the race travels through the countryside and farms, it’s not surprising. A mid-race detour born of a cattle health crisis has forced Tour organizers to shorten Stage 19, trimming nearly 35 km from the planned route due to a disease outbreak in a herd along the course.

The presence of contagious nodular dermatitis (a viral skin disease in cattle) near the Col des Saisies has prompted authorities to cull the affected animals. In response, the Tour’s race jury announced a rerouting of the Albertville to La Plagne stage. That means dropping two categorized climbs—Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine and Col des Saisies. It also reduces the distance from 129.9 km to just 95 km. Basically a junior race amirite? (Well, a very fast and tough one.)

In a statement, the race organization cited “the distress of local farmers” and the need to “preserve the serenity of the race” as key reasons for the decision, which was made in agreement with public health authorities. The neutral start remains in Albertville, but the official racing will now begin after a 7-km parade, with riders rejoining the original route just before Beaufort.

The revised course still features an uphill finish in La Plagne. However, the absence of the early climbs could limit opportunities for GC shakeups. This could be a bit of a blow to Jonas Vingegaard. The Visma – Lease a Bike rider trails race leader Tadej Pogačar by more than four minutes. The Dane, although quite a bit behind, has been riding very aggressively in this final week, although he hasn’t clawed back any seconds.

Pogačar, who cracked on the Col de la Loze during last year’s Tour, exorcised those demons on Stage 18 by dropping Vingegaard on the same climb and surging to second place behind Australian Ben O’Connor. With one final summit finish left, the Slovenian appears to have one hand on his third yellow jersey. And a polka dots… and maybe a green.

You can catch the action on FloBikes.com, with coverage starting a little later than usual thanks to the route change—tune in at 7:20 a.m. EDT. And as always, check back with your udderly dedicated team at Canadian Cycling Magazine for the full report and photos.