It is really hot in France at the moment. It might be too hot. This won’t have escaped the attention of anyone watching at home, given how often it is mentioned on TV coverage, but it is probably the defining feature of the Tour de France so far. Last week, stage four was one of the hottest on record, stage nine was similarly close to the line. On stage three, fans were banned from the finish due to wildfires, while stage nine had its route changed to make it shorter amid a red heat warning; Tuesday’s stage 10 has been moved forward by 10 minutes to make things a little cooler.
France has been suffering through a heatwave for weeks now; some parts of the country are reporting a 25% rise in water usage due to temperatures, with 77 départments facing water restrictions at the moment. Wildfires have reached just outside Paris, with some monuments in the city closing early. In the heart of the Massif Central, where the Tour remains on Tuesday, there is still a red weather warning, with temperatures potentially soaring to 36°C.
