8 July 1996 Bjarne Riis wins a shortened stage in the Alps

Road cycling is an outdoor sport, obviously, and weather conditions can cause somet8mes trouble even at events with big prestige like Tour de France.

This happened in the 9th stage in 1996. The day started in Le-Monétier-les-Bains, the route was originally 176 km long. But due to the over 100km/h strong wind it must have been shortened so seriously, that the riders had to ride only 46 km. Col d'Iseran and Galibier were scrapped from the program. The peloton had to climb only Montgenévre amd the final ascent up to Sestriere.

Before the stage Evegeni Berzin led the general classification. After this short workday in the saddle Bjarne Riis,the most agressive rider from the start, took over the lead. Luc Leblanc and Richard Virenque arrived 2nd and 3rd respectively, but most importantly, Jan Ullrich became 8th with 44" behind Riis. The gap in the general classification  between the two Telecom riders was 1'38", what later proved to be crucial  in the final overall standings.

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