Tadej Poga\u010dar won stage 3 and reclaimed the yellow jersey Monday at the Tour de France, but he was more worried about the heat.<\/p>\n
The top favorite warned that without modern cooling strategies, racing through ever more extreme heat is pushing racing to the limit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is dangerous if you don\u2019t keep your body temperature down,\u201d Poga\u010dar said.<\/p>\n
Temperatures hit the mid-90s Fahrenheit and even more heat is expected in the coming days as the Tour returned to France.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar said without special preparation, racing four to six hours in extreme heat would make the three-week Tour even more grueling.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a logistic nightmare when it\u2019s hot like today,\u201d Poga\u010dar said. \u201cAs a team, we really start to put a lot of effort into this.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to bring so much water and ice to the riders. Three guys go back to the car to bring bottles and ice to keep cooling yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heat training now at core of Tour prep<\/h2>\n
Teams like Poga\u010dar\u2019s UAE Emirates-XRG put managing heat right at the center of their Tour strategy.<\/p>\n
The world No. 1 is spending more time preparing for specific heat training than ever before.<\/p>\n
For Poga\u010dar, the heat training already began months ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe trained in the heat a lot this year,\u201d he said, saying the team would ride to mimic race conditions during longer four to five hour training sessions with full team support providing water and keeping him hydrated.<\/p>\n
At a recent training camp in southern Spain, some days he would ride in summer-like heat without the support of a team car to prepare for the extreme conditions he\u2019ll be facing during this Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome days without support, you do three hours riding in the heat and you don\u2019t have support car, you think you are pretty shit because you overheat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Temperatures hit nearly 100F on the road Monday and even more heat is expected in the coming days in central France.<\/p>\n
With forecasts calling for higher temperatures, extreme heat protocols could be rolled out during this Tour, including possible stage alterations.<\/p>\n
\u201cFive years ago it was totally different with what we have now,\u201d Poga\u010dar said. \u201cI am happy with the way it is, because to race in this heat, it is dangerous if you don\u2019t keep your body temperature down.\u201d<\/p>\n
No more racing into form<\/h2>\n
Poga\u010dar\u2019s preparation for the Tour is more than just bracing for the heat.<\/p>\n
Long gone are the days of riding into form. Poga\u010dar and all the top GC favorites are already at near-peak condition right from the first stage in Barcelona.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe this was 20 years ago that your shape will grow in the final week,\u201d he said. \u201cThese days you need to come to the best shape possible at the start of the Tour and you go for it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s racing is simply too intense and there\u2019s no time to spin out the kilometers like the peloton did generations ago.<\/p>\n
The challenge now is to hang on to the form for as long as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou try to recover, eat food like a robot, and just go with the flow, with what you bring here, it\u2019s what we leave from here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlways you have good and bad days, but I doubt we we can grow shape,\u201d Poga\u010dar said. \u201cIf you\u2019re racing for the GC, you need to come prepared to be at the best shape possible at the start.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, it looks like Poga\u010dar got it right.<\/p>\n
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