Final Tour de France stage shortened to 89 kilometres due to wildfires

Shortened 89km stage begins at 5.50pm CEST/4.50pm BST Stage 20 report | Share your thoughts with Tom via email In a Tour de France where the events away from the road have often been more prominent than the racing perhaps it was always going to end like this. A race seared in its early stages by a heatwave, now sees its finale shortened to divert vital services to the south of France to help battle the wildfires that have gripped the region and seen nearly 200,000 people evacuated. The riders have already done their pre-stage presentation in Thoiry, then been bused into Paris where the shortened 89km stage now starts and ends. The Tour is all over, bar the shouting, everything except the winner of stage 21 has been settled. Continue reading...

Sunday’s procession to Paris has been truncated by nearly 50km after security forces were redeployed to relieve overwhelmed fire services

The Tour de France's final stage is being slashed in length by a third to divert officers to the fight against wildfires in the country's southwest.

Sunday's final stage of the Tour de France has been shortened to 89 kilometres and will be effectively limited to Paris because emergency services are needed to deal with wildfires in the country. Organizers said on Saturday that the stage will have 44 kilometres less than the originally planned 133km from Thiory to the Champs-Élysées in the capital, with the finish on the famous avenue now also the start.