Emergency measures were implemented by the Tour de France organisers to combat the crushing heatwave that has settled on the race this year as the riders tackled stage four, at the end of which the cancer survivor Torstein Træen had stolen the yellow jersey and built an eight-minute lead on the four-time champion Tadej Pogacar.
The peloton was fried by 40C-plus conditions over 181 gruelling kilometres and four categorised climbs as they raced towards Foix through the Aude and Ariège regions.
