Landslide forces organisers to change Tour route

PARIS (Reuters) - Tour de France organisers have amended the route for the 20th stage of the race after a landslide forced them to scrap the climb up to the Col du Galibier.

The penultimate stage will still finish at the top of the 21 hairpins of l'Alpe d'Huez but the ascent of the Galibier will be replaced by a punishing climb to the Col de la Croix de Fer (29km at an average gradient of 5.2 percent).

The length of the stage (110.5 km) and its starting point (Modane-Valfrejus) remain unchanged.

The Tour de France is scheduled to start on July 4 in Utrecht, Netherlands.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by John O'Brien)