Sunday's Tour de France ninth stage shortened due to 'intense heatwave'

Tour de France organisers announced on Saturday that the next day's ninth stage would be shortened by 30km due to the extreme weather conditions in the central Correze region.

The decision was made after French weather authorities declared a "red alert due to an exceptionally intense heatwave" in Correze.

"In light of this, it has been decided to adjust the route of Stage nine of the Tour de France, from Malemort to Ussel, on Sunday 12 July 2026," race organisers ASO said in a statement.

"This decision has been made necessary by the exceptional weather conditions.

"It aims to ensure that the race can take place under conditions compatible with the red heatwave alert."

Most of the Tour so far has been raced in temperatures of over 35C with some stages even seeing temperatures of over 40C.

It has led to teams facing a constant challenge to keep their riders cool and hydrated.

Some have used ice vests before and during stages and ice socks stuffed down riders' jerseys during the race to try to cool their body temperature.

The ninth stage was originally due to take in four categorised climbs in a rolling 185.5km route.

It has been shortened to 155.5km by cutting out a hilly loop at the beginning of the stage.

However, the four categorised climbs, one which is 4.8km-long and another which has an average gradient of a punishing 7.7 percent, remain on the shortened route.

bc/ea

© Agence France-Presse