Feeling The Heat

While fans sought the shade in France’s record-breaking heat, the peloton had to adopt other measures to avoid succumbing

- Peter Cossins

  

As the Sky train accelerated on to the lower ramps of the climb to La Rosière, steaming along in pursuit of Tom Dumoulin after the Dutchman had slipped away on the descent of the Cormet de Roselend, 45 minutes back down the road Mark Cavendish was still battling up that second ascent. All alone, his hopes of finishing inside the time limit were already completely gone. For the next hour, the Manxman rode on, applauded and encouraged by fans, his fate sealed. It was a moment that said a great deal about Cavendish’s courage, but also heralded the decimation of the peloton’s sprint corps.

Marcel Kittel also failed to make the time cut at La Rosière (see page 46). While the German, like Cavendish, had been notable by his absence from the front end of bunch gallops during the Tour’s opening week, with both short of their best form, the abandons of Dylan Groenewegen, André Greipel and Fernando Gaviria on the following stage to Alpe d’Huez indicated that factors other than lack of condition were to blame. This trio had all been heavily involved in the bunch finishes, claiming a quartet of wins between them.

Ten more riders also quit during the three Alpine stages, some the victim of misfortune, such as Vincenzo Nibali, but most undone by the tightness of the time limits, the speed of the race and a second consecutive summer of record-breaking heat across most of France. In January and the spring, the temperatures were far higher than normal, especially in the northern half of the country. In June, Météo France, the French meteorological office, forecast a summer heatwave, predicting temperatures would surpass 2017’s record levels.