Overview
- Peer-reviewed analysis in Scientific Reports of 50 Tours from 1974 to 2023 finds the past decade recorded the most extreme-heat days at race locations.
- Authors identify urban hotspots, with Paris and Lyon increasingly crossing high-risk thresholds and recurrent danger around Toulouse, Pau, Bordeaux, Nîmes and Perpignan.
- Classic mountain stages such as Col du Tourmalet and Alpe d’Huez have remained in low to moderate risk bands, while afternoons pose greater hazards than mornings.
- Researchers note temperatures reached about 40°C during the 2024 opening stage and say the race has narrowly avoided maximum-risk days by chance.
- UCI heat protocols exist but thresholds vary across sports and rely on WBGT from occupational settings, prompting calls to refine standards and secure rider physiology data before the 2026 edition.