Lopez leads Talansky by 8 seconds ahead of 57-kilometre mountain stage
Jesse Sergent climbs into the snow line climbs during stage 5 at Tour de Suisse (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The final stage of the Tour de Suisse has been shorted due to bad weather. The 117.7 kilometre stage starting and finishing in Davos has now been cut to just under 60 kilometres, and with the start moved from Davos to La Punt. The start has been delayed until 4pm local time.
The race posted the following message regarding stage 9 on Twitter this morning, with several teams and riders following suit.
"#BREAKING bad weather: #stage9 of #Tds will start in La Punt 57km away of the finishline in Davos without Albula".
Although one climb has been cut from the stage as a result of the change, the race will still climb the HC-classed Fluela Pass before descending into Davos. Unlike the Criterium du Dauphine, which concluded last week, the Tour de Suisse has been plagued by bad weather.
The race is currently being led by Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), with Andrew Talansky (Cannnondale) in second at eight seconds. Jon Izaguirre (Movistar) is third at 16 seconds.
The shortening of the stage due to weather concerns is a relatively new initiative from the UCI’s extreme weather protocol. The protocol was used in February when the route of the Clasica de Almeria was altered due to high winds, and Tom Boonen was critical when the initiative wasn’t used due to the poor conditions on stage 1 of Paris-Nice. Stage 3 was subsequently halted after 100 kilometres due to snow, while the Queen stage at Tirreno Adriatico was cancelled for the same reason later that week.
You can follow the final stage of the Tour de Suisse live on Cyclingnews.
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