“The reason the Tour de France is one of the hardest sporting events in the world is that we race in the peak of summer and it’s all about attrition,” Luke Durbridge of Jayco-AlUla, veteran of 12 Tours, says.
Three weeks of intense racing, often under the baking hot sun, provides a thrilling spectacle, but it also poses dangers for the 184 riders: injuries, illnesses, burnout and more severe issues such as cardiovascular problems can afflict them.
