Athletes may have gone to bed anticipating a climber's finish on stage 7 of the Tour de Langkawi, but they will wake up to the news that the Gunung Raya summit finish is off the schedule due to bad weather and a landslide on the route.

The course for stage 7 was expected to spiral into central Langkawi and tackle a 13-km climb at the end of the intense 90.8-km stage. The race will take place on Monday, but the route of stage 8 will be used instead. The terrain here favors sprinters and breakaways, and the original course for stage 8 was a downhill finish to Quat after a finish loop with a series of Category 3 climbs in the final stages. This course was shortened, eliminating one of the loops and the Category 3 climb, shortening the distance from 115.9 km to 107.1 km.

"After meetings with local authorities, including the Road Works Department, Langkawi Provincial Office, and the Langkawi Provincial Road Safety Committee, it has been decided to cancel the stage 7 finish at the summit of Gunung Raya due to safety concerns for riders, teams, race officials and the general public," race organizers said in a statement

The race will initially be held on the summit of Mt.

It is not clear from the statement whether the race will be extended from Monday to Tuesday, as originally planned, for stage 8, and if so, whether further changes will be made to the course.

Ivan Sosa (Movistar) currently leads the race in the yellow jersey, with Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Easy Post) 23 seconds back. With Gunung Raya gone, it will be difficult to challenge the Colombian's lead and teammate Ainel Rubio Reyes' position.

The Tour de Langkawi is usually held early in the year, but was cancelled in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and postponed this year to take up an October slot on the calendar. This meant that the race would be held closer to the beginning of the monsoon season, and although the race has been rained out on numerous occasions, it has never been interrupted. The eight-day tour of Malaysia moved from Peninsular Malaysia to Langkawi.

"It was cancelled due to landslides at four locations in Gunung Raya.