Climate researchers in France have suggested that rising temperatures during the summer could negatively impact the riders of the Tour de France more often, according to a report published in the scientific journal Nature on Tuesday.
According to the report by researchers at the National Research Institute for Sustainable Development at the University of Montpellier, the Tour de France has managed to avoid some of the worst of France’s hot weather, but they warn that more frequent and higher peak summer temperatures will create health dangers for the race and its spectators.
My first experience with seeing a rider on the ground receiving emergency medical care because of heat stroke was at the Tour of California stage in Palm Springs in 2013. The high temperature was 108°F (42°C), and a QuickStep rider collapsed after the mountaintop finish, with medics packing ice around his neck and torso to stop him from overheating. It was terrifying.
Even the riders who were upright were miserable, ice towels and cold water aside. One has to wonder why races go on during the heat of the day. Yes, logistics would be tough for transferring equipment and setting up the start and finish infrastructure, riders would have to get breakfast earlier, and the race wouldn’t be on during prime time TV. But if the weather gets to the point where athletes and spectators can’t survive the stage intact, then maybe it’s time to reconsider other ideas.
The UCI enacted the Extreme Weather Protocol in 2015, using the same measures as the authors of the study, but it has rarely been employed for high heat.
In 2022, the protocol was put into place for the Tour de France stage 15, a brutal 202.5 kilometre slog across melting tarmac from Rodez to Carcassonne when forecasts called for ambient temperatures of up to 40°C (104°F). The only changes made were opening up feeding earlier and extending the time limit, however.
Laura Weislo
“If the weather gets to the point where athletes and spectators can’t survive the stage…
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