Shortly after the culmination of the stage 8 sprint, which left winner Tim Merlier struggling to cool himself down in the 40-degree heat, the ASO sent out a press release announcing changes to stage 9.
In short: the stage has been reduced from 185.5 km to 155.5 km, and the peloton will roll out about an hour later than previously planned in order to finish in Ussel roughly as scheduled. The route change will see the peloton divert in the neutral zone, heading from Brive-la-Gaillarde straight to Lanteuil (147.8 km from the finish), which means cutting the early southward hook from Malemort.
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