The Tour Down Under nearly had its first stage cancellation with race director Stuart O'Grady confirming he wasn't sure if Saturday's racing would go ahead.
O'Grady said it was "50-50" before Friday's meeting with SA Police and emergency services whether the bushfire threat would force the fourth stage at Willunga to be abandoned.
The last stage on Sunday, on a circuit at Stirling in the Adelaide Hills, is expected to go ahead as planned.
While Willunga was held without incident it was moved forward an hour because of the temperature, which nudged 40C.
The three climbs up the iconic Willunga Hill Rd, the best-known feature of the Santos Tour, was also removed from the stage because of safety concerns.
That meant the stage was shortened from 176km to 131km and instead of a summit finish, it ended in the Willunga township at the base of the hill.
"It was going to be 50-50, whether or not we had a stage today," O'Grady said before the stage start.
"You can imagine we were probably expecting 30-50,000 people on bikes on that climb with the three passes and with the extreme to catastrophic fire rating forecast, (that decision) was made with no hesitation.
"Obviously, that's sad from a racing point of view, from a planning point of view, but it's the most common sense and sensible decision - so great that we've still got a stage."
Previous stages at the Tour have been modified or shortened because of Adelaide's January heat.
The last stage of the 2014 Herald Sun Tour in Victoria was cancelled because of bushfire fears.
O'Grady said police and emergency services were "comfortable" with the stage going ahead on Saturday if Willunga Hill did not feature.
Australian Luke Durbridge, who rides for the Jayco AlUla team, was the riders' representative in the meeting.
"They were still going to give us a race. So we were very happy with that," Durbridge told AAP.
"Obviously, for us, we were upset that we didn't have Willunga Hill, but it could have been easily that we didn't have a race."
Durbridge added some riders had to be made aware why Willunga Hill was taken off the stage.
"(They) didn't quite understand that it wasn't necessarily about us as bike riders.
"It's about the 10,000 people (spectating) on Willunga Hill and the exit strategies and all these things that as a rider, you don't necessarily think about.
"You've got to make the most sensible decision."
Race leader Jay Vine said after the stage that they regularly compete in 40-plus conditions during the European summer.
But he readily conceded that the bushfire threat added another dimension.
"I don't want to be part of a natural disaster," he said.
"It's not up to me and I'm content with (Saturday's) plan.
