It was during a scorching hot stage 10 of the Tour de France last week that Jasper Stuyven noticed that his legs were sapped, his energy depleted.
“I looked at my computer and it said my temperature was 41°C. I had never seen that before,” the Lidl-Trek man tells Cycling Weekly. “I had just completely blown up after twice trying to follow attacks and I felt really quite overheated but I didn’t expect my temperature to be so high. Normally on hot days you stay around 38 to 38.5°C. I didn’t feel so good, to be honest.”
Combating heat has become cycling’s new frontier, with cooling strategies taking on as much importance as finely tuned preparation, stage recons and riding on the rollers before and after the stage.
“I immediately drank water and poured it on myself, grabbed a lot of ice, ate an ice gel and hoped for the best,” Stuyven adds. In the end, he survived the day, recovering well enough to win the peloton’s sprint for 11th place.
In the past few years, particularly post-pandemic, cycling has ramped up its focus on keeping riders cool in the hot summer months, specifically at the Tour de France, where it’s not uncommon for the mercury to be in the mid-30s on successive days.
Sophie Roullois is a soigneur at EF Education-EasyPost. “It’s all about ice,” she says. “Ice is the new fashion in cycling.” Why? “Because it’s hotter now than it ever has been – the climate has changed a little bit. But also we now have science telling us in more precise detail that we have to cool the body down if we want to make sure we can perform, and especially at the Tour, where riders are racing for 21 days and need to maximise everything.”
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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