The Tour heatwave has become a defining issue at the race, with riders confronting exceptional temperatures across southern France. Stage starts, finishes, team routines and roadside crowds have all been shaped by the need to stay cool.
In Carcassonne before stage four, firefighters sprayed mist over spectators from a slow-moving float. The brief relief drew thanks from fans standing under a fierce sun.
The heat also disrupted team operations. Visma-Lease a Bike had no bus at the start after its air-conditioning unit failed. The driver made an emergency garage visit, while riders arrived by bike. Some wore ice vests before the stage.
Tour heatwave sets a modern temperature mark
According to ProCyclingStats, Tuesday’s stage was the hottest Tour de France stage in its records, which date to 2007. The stage averaged 36.5C for more than four hours.
EF Education-EasyPost rider Alex Baudin’s GPS computer recorded a maximum of 45C. Riders expect summer heat at the Tour, but those figures sit outside normal racing conditions.
Ineos Grenadiers rider Josh Tarling described the conditions as unmistakably severe. The 22-year-old finished fourth from last on stage four while riding with a cracked rib. He sustained the injury in a crash at last month’s Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Tarling said breathing already hurt because of the rib injury. In the heat, he said, heavier breathing made the pain worse. He described the sensation as airless.
The race is unfolding during a wider public health emergency in France. The country has endured around three weeks of extreme heat. Public health officials said June saw more than 2,000 additional deaths linked to high temperatures. They also warned that the figure was likely an underestimate.
Before the Grand Départ in Barcelona, France’s interior minister gave local authorities new powers for extreme heat. Those powers allow them to alter stages or even cancel them. Such a cancellation would be unprecedented in the Tour’s 112-year history.
The heat has already intersected with other environmental risks. At the stage three finish in Les Angles, fans were barred from entering because of nearby wildfires.
Tom Pidcock was visibly struggling after that finish. Speaking to television cameras, he said he had not raced such a hard event in such heat before. He also estimated that the peloton used about 10,000 bidons during the stage.
Teams turn to ice, slush and smart cooling systems
Hydration remains one of the few immediate defences against heatstroke during exposed racing hours. Teams have leaned heavily on bottle hand-outs, ice vests, ice socks and cold drinks.
Some approaches are simple. Riders place stockings filled with ice cubes around their necks or backs. Others drink slush to reduce body temperature from the inside.
At the stage four finish in Foix, Jasper Stuyven of Soudal Quick-Step ate a fruit pastille ice lolly outside his team bus. The scene captured how urgently riders sought cooling after the line.
Other measures are more advanced. After stage five in Pau, Alpecin-Premier Tech riders took turns using ice baths inside a blacked-out van behind their team bus.
UAE have used smart mattress cover systems each night. The systems measure rider core temperature and cool the bed accordingly. Even so, Tadej Pogačar complained of a full headache from the heat before stage four.
The UCI has also allowed extra bottle hand-outs during the race. That change gives teams more opportunities to supply fluids and water for cooling.
Lewis Askey, a key lead-out rider for Biniam Girmay at NSN Pro Cycling, said he has struggled in hot conditions in the past. He said he copes better now than when he was younger, but extreme heat can make his body feel as if it switches off.
Asked how many bottles he uses, Askey separated drinking from dousing. He estimated two or three bottles an hour to drink, plus a couple more poured over his head. He also uses ice socks.
Not every rider suffers equally. Decathlon CMA CGM’s Matthew Riccitello stood without shade in 36C heat before stage five in Lannemezan. He declined an offered ice vest from his team press officer.
Riccitello said racing in such heat is not enjoyable for anyone. However, the American comes from Tucson, Arizona, where temperatures in the forties are not unusual.
He said he has coped quite well so far and may adapt better because of his background. Still, he noted that riders can only do so much.
That limitation sits at the centre of the race’s growing challenge. As climate experts forecast rising temperatures, the Tour faces harder choices around rider safety, route management and extreme-weather protocols.
For now, the race continues with firefighters cooling fans, teams packing more ice, and riders trying to manage the Tour heatwave one stage at a time.