Organisers have been forced to shorten Saturday’s penultimate stage of the Paris-Nice elite cycling race because predicted heavy snowfall would make the planned summit finish “unfeasible”.

It was due to be the toughest stage of the eight-day race, with the planned 138.7km route from Nice to the ski station of Auron to include a decisive 7.3km climb to the mountain top finish with an average gradient of 7.2%.

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Organisers say a decision has been taken with riders’ safety in mind to reduce the stage by 18km and instead finish in Isola, where the intermediate sprint was already scheduled.

It is the second time in three years that organisers have been forced to abandon plans for a summit finish in the so-called ‘queen stage’ of the race, which will finish in Nice on Sunday.

“The latest forecasts make an arrival in the Auron resort unfeasible, with the rain-snow line estimated to be around 1,100 metres altitude,” said race organisers on Friday evening.

“The conditions do not allow the finish to be moved to another mountain top.”

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Denmark’s two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard holds a comfortable lead of three minutes and 22 seconds in the general classification after winning the fourth and fifth stages.

The 29-year-old Visma Lease a Bike racer, who is aiming to win the stage race for the first time, said after coming through Friday’s stage: “I have my winter pants, so I wouldn’t say I hope we go to the finish [on Saturday], that wouldn’t be nice even with my winter pants.”