'Other sports would be cancelled' – Tour de France riders react to stage 15 heat

Two weeks into the Tour de France, the peloton faced what was the hottest day on the bike so far, racing 202.5km into 40°C heat on the road to Carcassonne.

It was a stage that saw QuickStep-AlphaVinyl rider Michael Mørkøv hurt more than anyone else, dropping off the back early on after suffering in the heat, and then battling on alone to the line outside the time cut.

The UCI put its extreme weather protocol into action, with feeding allowed anywhere on the stage up until 10km from the finish as the time cut was also extended to 20%. Race organisers ASO also sprayed water on a select portion of roads ahead of the peloton to cool down the tarmac and prevent melting.

Countless riders were taking the team presentation and doing the media rounds wearing ice vests or had already stuffed ice bags down the back of their jerseys, while riders also sought shade in the town before taking the start in Rodez.

While extra measures were put in place, there had never been any discussion of actions that might have made more of a material difference for the riders – such as an earlier start or a shortened day in the saddle.

After the finish following a hard day out, Cyclingnews spoke to several riders to gauge their reaction to racing through the heatwave.

“It’s not up to me to decide,” AG2R Citroën’s stage 9 winner Bob Jungels said. “We still had a good day because it was flat, but if you have this on a mountain day, obviously in the mountains it’s a bit colder.

“But I would say other sports would be cancelled if it’s that warm, but I think mostly in cycling we learn if something bad happens, which is very unfortunate.

“Obviously there’s a lot of things going on at the Tour that we have no idea about,” Jungels added. “We could start a little earlier in the morning, also, which probably is not in prime time. But it’s like I said, it’s not up to us. We have our opinion, but in the end, we’re just the players in the game.”

Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert sprinter Alexander Kristoff shared similar views on the heat and the stage, even if his answers to the questions posed by Cyclingnews were more succinct.

“For me, it was too hot. I was really cooked and had nothing left,” Kristoff said. “OK, we managed to do a bike race, but it was not pleasant.”

When asked what measures could be taken in such conditions, Kristoff gave a simple answer.

“They can shorten the race,” he said.

Stage 15 winner Jasper Philipsen also suffered in the heat but said in the post-race press conference that the…

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…

‘Other sports would be cancelled’ – Tour de France riders react to stage 15 heat

Subscribe and Follow

Trending

Don’t miss

About VCP Cycling