Tour de France stage rerouted to avoid diseased cows

Organisers have shortened stage 19 of the Tour de France in order to avoid a herd of diseased cattle on the Col des Saisies.

The route 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 before rejoining 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 organisers ASO said in a statement on Thursday evening.

"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."

There are three stages remaining of the Tour de France, which concludes in Paris on Sunday.

Tadej Pogacar extended his lead over rival Jonas Vingegaard to four minutes and 26 seconds on Thursday.