Tour de France Cuts Final Stage to 89km as Wildfires Force Security Redeployment
Updated
Updated · CyclingWeekly · Jul 25
Tour de France Cuts Final Stage to 89km as Wildfires Force Security Redeployment
3 articles · Updated · CyclingWeekly · Jul 25
Summary
Stage 21 on July 26 will start on the Champs-Élysées instead of Thoiry, trimming the Tour de France finale to 89km from 133km.
French authorities said wildfires, especially in Gironde, have stretched emergency services and prompted the Interior Ministry to reassign security forces originally planned for the race.
ASO kept the team presentation in Thoiry, but riders will travel by bus into Paris before a route featuring two extra Champs-Élysées laps and the Montmartre circuit.
The revised schedule sets the official start at 5:50 p.m. CEST and the finish at 7:45 p.m., while the publicity caravan leaves Thoiry at 1:20 p.m.
Near Bordeaux, almost 200,000 people have been evacuated and more than 32,000 hectares have burned, underscoring how France's summer wildfires are disrupting major national events.