A major change to the route of stage 19 of the 2025 Tour de France was announced by organizers on Thursday evening. The stage, originally scheduled to be 129.9 kilometers long, has been shortened to just 95 kilometers with the elimination of two classified climbs.

The initial route included five categorized climbs, but the first two—the Côte d'Héry-sur-Ugine (11.3 km at 5.1%) and the Col des Saisies (13.7 km at 6.4%)—were cancelled due to a health emergency. The official reason given by the ASO was the discovery of an outbreak of lumpy skin disease affecting a cattle farm in the Col des Saisies area, requiring the animals to be slaughtered.

To ensure the smooth running of the race and to address the hardships faced by the affected farmers, the organizers, in agreement with the relevant authorities, have decided to modify the route, completely avoiding the climb to the Col des Saisies.

The start remains confirmed in Albertville, with a 7km section neutralized before the official start on the D925. The new route bypasses the first two climbs and rejoins the original route at kilometer 52.4.

Despite the cuts, the stage retains its decisive nature for the general classification, still including three very important climbs: the Col du Pré (Hors Catégorie), the Cormet de Roselend and the mountain finish in La Plagne.

It is not the first time that such an important stage of the Tour has been changed at the last minute: in 2019, again starting from Albertville, a landslide forced the organizers to stop the race on the Col de l'Iseran and to drastically shorten the following stage as well.