Tour de France route changed because of diseased cows

Stage 19 has had the first two climbs removed and been shortened by 35km

Organisers have changed the route of stage 19 of the Tour de France because of a herd of diseased cattle on the Col des Saisies.

The stage distance has been cut from 130km to 95km, with two of the five planned categorised climbs dropped.

Riders will set out one hour later at 13:30 BST in Albertville and will skip the first two climbs of Cote d'Hery-sur-Ugine and Col des Saisies in the Alps before re-joining the original route near Beaufort.

"The discovery of an outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis affecting cattle in a herd located specifically in the Col des Saisies has necessitated the culling of the animals," Tour de France organisers ASO said.

"In light of the distress experienced by the affected farmers and in order to preserve the smooth running of the race, it has been decided to modify the route and avoid the ascent to the Col des Saisies."

Friday's stage is the third last of the 2025 Tour, and the final stage in the high mountains.

Defending champion Tadej Pogacar leads the general classification from Jonas Vingegaard, while Great Britain's Oscar Onley starts the day in fourth place overall, only 22 seconds off a podium place and the white jersey for the best young rider in the Tour.

Can Britain's Onley move on to podium?

Onley produced a superb ride on Thursday's stage 18, battling with Pogacar and Vinegegaard until the last few hundred metres of the final climb up the mighty Col de le Loze in Courchevel.

In the end the 22-year-old from Kelso in the Scottish Borders came fourth, but finished one minute 39 seconds ahead of the man he is chasing for third place overall, the white jersey wearer Florian Lipowitz.

Onley was dropped on the penultimate climb on Thursday and it looked as though 24-year-old German Lipowitz would extend his advantage over the Team Picnic PostNL rider.

But with the help of his team in the valley, he was able to re-join the main favourites and when Lipowitz, who had attacked, cracked on the 26.5km final climb, Onley produced a staggering performance for such a young rider as he clung on to Pogacar and Vingegaard to slash Lipowitz's advantage.

Friday's stage being shortened might affect the Team Picnic-PostNL rider's chances of catching Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Lipowitz - but with the race staying in skiing country, the monstrous 19.4km final climb to La Plagne could still see significant time differences.

Defending champion Pogacar and Denmark's two-time winner Vingegaard have won the past five Tours between them.

The top two are well clear of the rest - but world champion Pogacar looks in a class of his own and starts the stage with a commanding four minutes 26 seconds lead over his rival from Team Visma-Lease A Bike.

The race concludes on the Champs Elysees in Paris on Sunday.