In the hours before the race passed on my first ever Tour de France mountain stage in 2015, my mind was mainly fixated on the snow on the mountains in the distance, fantasising and planning ski touring lines. Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain which a friend and I had summited a few days prior, was visible to the north, its many glaciers that pour towards the valley floor reflecting a pristine magnificence.
With those happy times forever etched in my memory, it's been utterly heartwrenching that this year's Tour has played out against a backdrop of snowless mountains, and the hulking great glacial masses that looked so impregnable even just seven years ago are right now so very obviously vulnerable and at risk of inexistence.
Right here, right now
The climate crisis is not just a warning for tomorrow, but a real-world event that is happening right now, affecting what the Tour de France looks, feels, and smells like. "The high mountains in the background of the Galibier usually have lots of snow on them, but this time there was very little. In fact, there's been pretty much no snow at all," laments Tim De Waele, a Belgian photographer who is covering his 30th Tour. "The backgrounds and scenery have changed. Everything's different. Where there used to be snow, now there are just rocks."
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 21, 2022-Ausgabe von CYCLING WEEKLY.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 21, 2022-Ausgabe von CYCLING WEEKLY.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
CLASSIC BIKE COLNAGO SUPER
A trailblazing bike immortalised by Merckx and Saronni
"Strava activities are the only way I know some of my friends are still alive"
...or that Bernard is doing his weekly shop
AN EXPERT'S TAKE ON... SADDLE SELECTION
Crucial advice to guide your next purchase
JUST A NUMB#R?
Approaching a landmark birthday, Charlie Graham-Dixon explores how ageing affects cycling performance and what can be done to stay ahead of the curve
RURAL PERIL
More UK cyclists are killed on rural lanes than on busy city streets. Rob Kemp investigates why and what can be done to keep us safe while riding in the countryside
A BLESSED RIDE THROUGH THE FOREST OF BOWLAND
Forgoing cloak, cassock and cross, Trevor Ward goes in search of the holy roads that helped make a Tour winner
Dame Sarah Storey claims road and 19th gold double
More success for Team GB's Paralympians in Paris, but Storey slams women's time trial course
Roglič matches Vuelta win record
Slovenian takes fourth Tour of Spain title after hunting down O'Connor's lead, writes Adam Becket
Williams crowned Tour of Britain champion
Welshman leads home resurgence at the stage race to crown an Israel-Premier Tech clean sweep, reports Tom Davidson in Felixstowe
CLASSIC BIKE CLAUD BUTLER OLYMPIC ROAD
Iconic British brand's Holdsworth-era road bike