Tour de France stage 8 winner Tim Merlier has welcomed the shortening of Sunday's ninth stage to Ussel, after red alert heatwave warnings in the Corrèze department forced organisers to cut 30km from the planned route.
Merlier was asked about the changes just minutes after they were announced and the official message from the ASO circulated around the press room, but he took no time to hesitate when it came to his opinion that it was a good idea – and after eight days of sweltering racing, often pushing 40°C, can you blame him?
Until Saturday's stage, only the threat of wildfires had forced the race to be altered, with spectators asked not to attend the final 40km of stage 3, but as the heatwave has continued to beat down on France and the riders, something had to give.
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"Definitely, it's not a bad idea in my opinion. Maybe other riders of GC riders or breakaway riders will give another idea about it because they see an opportunity for tomorrow, but we are now one week of racing always above 35 degrees," said Merlier, having been left exhausted on some steps after his stunning long-range sprint into Bergerac.
"It's definitely a fight to have water ice and drinks between the cars. In the three sprint stages, I was busy with the race, but the other days were just busy having enough drinks and having enough ice to cool down because it's so warm.
"So for me, it's a good idea to shorten the stage. There are not a lot of other things they can do, I think. But yeah, thanks to the organization, to try and do something."
According to Tour director Christian Prudhomme, race leader Tadej Pogačar had a similar reaction to Merlier when he was informed by race director Thierry Gouvenou after the eighth stage.
"It’s a tough stage, the Corrèze stage. The champions have been on the road for 10 days now, in significant, very high temperatures, and the department has gone on red alert," said Prudhomme to L'Equipe.
"We decided with the prefect, in full agreement with the authorities who allow us to organize the Tour de France, to shorten it. We’ll cut it out directly, and we’ll have a shorter stage.
"This doesn’t change the sporting aspect, because it’s truly remarkable and formidable. However, it will be 30 kilometres shorter. When Thierry Gouvenou announced it to Pogačar earlier, he thanked him.”
Prudhomme also explained how the decision was made on Saturday evening, with several bodies at play en route to an exceptional outcome. He also ruled out the possibility of starting stages any earlier, stressing how, "Waking the riders up at 5am is a bit complicated, even if it happens for doping controls."
"It's part of the adjustments; we're responsible organizers. We're doing this with the authorities, who are very busy with other things," said Prudhomme. "There are meetings; we're in constant contact at the coordination center, between the teams from the prefecture and those from the Tour.
"It's a joint request, now that the department has been designated a red zone, to say: we're reducing the travel distance by 30 kilometres. Obviously, this is for the spectators, because that's the most important thing. I think it's common sense, and from a sporting perspective, it won't change anything. On the contrary, it might even be more crowded."
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