Wednesday 13 July 2016 23:25, UK
Chris Froome believes shortening the climb of Mont Ventoux on Thursday’s 12th stage of the Tour de France could make it tougher rather than easier.
Race organisers announced on Wednesday that the finish line would be brought forward to 6km from the summit, at Chalet-Reynard, due to forecasted winds of more than 100kmh.
It means the ascent will be just under 10km long rather than 15.7km, but the riders will still have to tackle some of the steepest sections.
Froome, who won on the Tour's last visit to Mont Ventoux, in 2013, said: "To be honest, I don't think the ascent to the Ventoux being shortened will change the race much.
"Climbing to the Chalet Reynard is already very hard and there might be even more wind than today, with even more possibilities for the bunch to split before the climb.
"The change of finale will only make the racing more intense because it will be shorter. To win even at halfway to the Mont Ventoux remains something special."
Despite predicting tough racing, Froome admitted the shorting of the Mont Ventoux climb could place even greater emphasis on Friday's 37.5km individual time trial from Bourg-Saint-Andeol to La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc.
He added: "At the back of all our minds, there will be the time trial of the day after. Anyone going too deep will pay for it later.
"From now on, every GC [general classification] day will be raced in consideration with the day after. Maybe my rivals will try to take seconds on me on the Ventoux. Everyone has a tactic, but I'll keep the time trial in mind."
Froome will take a 28-second lead over second-placed Adam Yates on to Mont Ventoux after gaining an extra 12 seconds over his rivals on a flat but windy 11th stage following a late attack alongside Peter Sagan.
It was the second time in this year's Tour so far that Froome has caught the other overall contenders out, having attacked on a descent to win stage eight.
"I was asking myself in the last 10km [of stage 11]: is it worth it?" he said. "At the moment, I try to get time on my adversaries anywhere, knowing that Nairo [Quintana] is usually very strong in the last week. So whenever I manage to take seconds on him, I will.
"For the time being, I'm just enjoying my racing. It's bike racing at its best. I attack downhill and on the flat just because I enjoy it. I'm not forced to."
Follow stage 12 with our live blog from 11am BST on Thursday.
