This year's Tour de France was the hottest on record, with temperatures close to 40ºC for many hours of several stages. At the roadside, fans placed newspapers on their heads as ad hoc shelter, while cold drink were more elusive, and more craved, than a Tadej Pogačar autograph. Even so, the 184 riders who started the race in temperatures of 34°C in Barcelona seemed largely unaffected. And that’s not just thanks to the ice socks and slush puppies that they were fed on a daily basis – it was thanks to their preparation.
Heat training has become an indispensable part of a rider’s schedule, particularly in the last five years. Now, alongside 25-hour training weeks and leg-sapping efforts to get into Tour de France shape, riders complete hour-long indoor training sessions dressed in winter gear, with the aim of getting as hot and bothered as possible. Meanwhile, trips to the gym now include an obligatory 30-minute stay in the sauna.
