Happy last of three Tour de France rest days! We really earned this one. Just reading about the weather in Europe has a certain depleting effect on the body, but on the road it’s been just as draining. And awesome! But draining. Just tossing out a few things here…
- The Tour is catching a major break with the off-day as scheduled, as it’s anticipated to be the hottest day of the entire wave of misery engulfing western Europe right now. Just looking at Carcassonne temps, it was 97 degrees fahrenheit Sunday and dropping to 93, though in Pau not far away it’s supposed to be 105 Monday… but then some weather comes in and drops the high on Tuesday to a survivable 85. And the race goes from Carcassonne to Foix, putting the peloton into the low 90s. Thursday the temperatures are expected to spike again, but that is the day the peloton rides from Lourdes to Hautacam, where the high altitudes will keep the temperatures down in the 70s. Saturday’s crucial time trial will be raced in 80-degree temps, so no picnic there, though maybe they can start after the peak of the sun’s rays.
- What do you do in Carcassonne on a hot day off? Well, they are a pretty short drive to the beach in Narbonne, where water temperatures are in the low 70s. Do Tour de France riders go swimming in cool water? Or anywhere? Do they have to get in a leg-loosening ride beforehand? I’m no expert here but a day at the beach and maybe a serving or two of granita sounds about right. The psychological benefits alone should make up for whatever the blast of sugar and cooling does to these delicate race car engines. [And I am guessing such things are strictly forbidden. Holiday starts a week from tomorrow.]
- UPDATE: Bernard Hinault has an NFT. I repeat, BERNARD HINAULT HAS AN NFT!! Please everyone, begin implementing the retired Tour legends cryptocurrency debacle emergency procedures. I will begin boiling water and duplicating old VHS tapes. Jens, contact Chief Inspector Dreyfus at the Sûreté. UMWolverine, check on the servers. Everyone plug in your devices. It’s going to be a long night…
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