Tour de France organisers have shortened Sunday's stage by 30km due to extreme heat, the first time in the history of the cycling race that high temperatures have forced a change to the route.
Riders will be spared a hilly loop at the beginning of the stage due to a red alert in the central Corrèze region, one of 37 French departments placed on the national weather service's maximum warning for dangerous heat.
"This decision has been made necessary by the exceptional weather conditions," race organisers ASO announced on Saturday. "It aims to ensure that the race can take place under conditions compatible with the red heatwave alert."
It is not the first time that organisers have made changes to a stage, even at this year's race, but this is the first time that it has been done because of the heat.
"We're responsible organisers, we do this with authorities who are very busy elsewhere, beyond the Tour de France," said race director Christian Prudhomme.
Belgian sprinter Tim Merlier, who won Saturday's eighth stage, said he agreed with the decision to cut Sunday's route from 185.5km to 155.5km.
"We are now one week of racing, it was always above 35C degrees," he said. "It's definitely a fight to have water, ice and drinks between the [support] cars.
"So for me, it's a good idea to shorten the stage."
Schedule questioned
Other athletes called for the race to adjust its start times to spare them from the heat.
Sunday's stage started at 1:45pm and was due to finish at around 5:30 pm – the hottest period of the day.
"It's pretty insanely hot," said Australian cyclist Luke Durbridge, a 12-time Tour veteran. "Going forward, if the way global warming is going, we probably need to start changing these start times."
On Sunday morning the CPA, an association that represents professional cyclists, issued a statement saying that it had been in discussions with ASO about making heat-related changes.
"Given the increasing frequency of extreme heat waves, the CPA reaffirms that summer race start times must evolve in order to protect athletes' health," the association said.
It called for "urgent discussions" to be held between stakeholders this winter to make changes ahead of next year's Tour.
Survival mode
France is in the grip of its third heatwave since late May, with almost all of the mainland on heightened alert for extreme weather on Sunday.
Most of the Tour so far has been raced in temperatures of over 35C, with some stages even seeing temperatures of over 40C.
Teams face a constant challenge to keep their riders cool and hydrated. Some have used ice vests before and during stages, as well as ice socks stuffed down riders' jerseys during the race to try to lower their body temperature.
Race leader Tadej Pogacar described how his team was battling the conditions: "We keep the same motto, go day by day, keep cooling the body and trying to survive each stage."
On Monday, fans were told to keep away from the finish line of stage three over the Pyrenees due to a wildfire raging 70km away in southwest France. Organisers said they did not want the race to place extra strain on emergency services or put the public at risk.
As climate change makes heatwaves more frequent and intense, experts warn that the Tour de France and other summer sporting events may have to adapt their schedule and regulations to keep athletes and spectators safe.
(with AFP)
