Participants in the Tour de France are being baked on their bikes as they pass through France and endure searing hot temperatures. Cyclists are finding themselves struggling as they trudge through the over 2,000-mile competition.
The Tour de France is mostly in France. However, the first three stages of the race start in Denmark. Typically, in the first few miles, the riders are prohibited from drinking any water. However, in the 2022 Tour de France, officials have agreed to ease this rule.
Many climate change protesters have chained themselves to the roads, preventing the riders from passing and delaying the competition for a while.
“The world toward which politicians are sending us is a world in which the Tour de France will no longer exist,” stated Dernière Rènovation, who was one of the protesters.
While some of the racers were aggravated with the protesters by getting in the way, many others agreed that major changes to the course of the race must be changed.
“At the start I said, yeah, it’s warm, it’s pretty okay,” Romain Bardet noted while talking to French reporters. “But when we reached downhill it was like, whoa! Crazy hot!”
A few days later, Bardet said that he had fallen behind during a critical stage, and blamed the heat for his performance, declaring that he was “roasted” in the sun while biking.
Another rider, Alexis Vuillermoz, started vomiting and collapsing during one of the stages. He was treated for heatstroke on the spot and was later taken to a hospital. He quit the competition the next day and had a fever and skin infection that was necessary surgery to cure.
“They’re white and green in their face,” said Evelyne Brunet while spectating the bikers. “And then — her arms covered with unabsorbed sunscreen. And then those eyes! When they take those long turns up the mountains, when they look at the water.”
Competition operators have been pouring water on the tracks to keep them somewhat safe enough for the riders to continue the race, but when they add water on the road, it also causes another problem: humidity. When it becomes too humid, it makes it harder for the competitors to remove heat from their body, causing many of the cyclists to suffer from heat stroke.
Race officials are starting to reconsider how to operate the race in the future, seeing that heat waves have become more and more prominent in Europe with no end in sight.
The Tour de France is mostly in France. However, the first three stages of the race start in Denmark. Typically, in the first few miles, the riders are prohibited from drinking any water. However, in the 2022 Tour de France, officials have agreed to ease this rule.
Many climate change protesters have chained themselves to the roads, preventing the riders from passing and delaying the competition for a while.
“The world toward which politicians are sending us is a world in which the Tour de France will no longer exist,” stated Dernière Rènovation, who was one of the protesters.
While some of the racers were aggravated with the protesters by getting in the way, many others agreed that major changes to the course of the race must be changed.
“At the start I said, yeah, it’s warm, it’s pretty okay,” Romain Bardet noted while talking to French reporters. “But when we reached downhill it was like, whoa! Crazy hot!”
A few days later, Bardet said that he had fallen behind during a critical stage, and blamed the heat for his performance, declaring that he was “roasted” in the sun while biking.
Another rider, Alexis Vuillermoz, started vomiting and collapsing during one of the stages. He was treated for heatstroke on the spot and was later taken to a hospital. He quit the competition the next day and had a fever and skin infection that was necessary surgery to cure.
“They’re white and green in their face,” said Evelyne Brunet while spectating the bikers. “And then — her arms covered with unabsorbed sunscreen. And then those eyes! When they take those long turns up the mountains, when they look at the water.”
Competition operators have been pouring water on the tracks to keep them somewhat safe enough for the riders to continue the race, but when they add water on the road, it also causes another problem: humidity. When it becomes too humid, it makes it harder for the competitors to remove heat from their body, causing many of the cyclists to suffer from heat stroke.
Race officials are starting to reconsider how to operate the race in the future, seeing that heat waves have become more and more prominent in Europe with no end in sight.
