For the final stage of the world’s most prestigious cycling race, what was meant to be a 133-kilometer (82-mile) ride was shortened to 89 km (55.3 miles). Riders were presented in Thoiry before being transported by team buses to Paris, where the race consisted entirely of circuits around the French capital, including two additional laps of the Champs-Élysées.
"In a spirit of national solidarity with the areas and communities affected, it was decided to adapt the route for the final stage," the event's organizers said in a statement.
A number of the participants commented on the impact of extreme heat this year, including Pogačar, who suggested having cyclists race earlier, when the heat is less intense, or altering the race calendar.
The race director replied that such a schedule shift would never be possible, as it could impact critical factors of the event, from obtaining government authorizations to negatively impacting viewership—and therefore the revenue—when the race is aired by broadcasters.
As of Saturday night, dozens of wildfires were burning in the southwest of France, near Bordeaux. Over 197,000 people had already been evacuated throughout the country, while its neighbor, Spain, saw some 80,000 evacuated.
In Spain and Portugal alone, the number of wildfires has more than doubled since last year.
Two weeks later, at the start of this year’s Tour de France, the average temperature along the course was 87.4°F—far surpassing the previous record of 78.6°F in 2022.
Climate Change Is Forcing Sports to Adapt
“Recent years have been a turning point for sport, just because so many sporting events have been impacted by climate change,” says Madeleine Orr, assistant professor of Sport Ecology at the University of Toronto. In 2020, tennis player Dalila Jakupovic collapsed on court during the Australian Open due to poor air quality because of wildfires. Soon after, the Tokyo Olympics saw athletes sweltering in 90°F temperatures.
For the first time in the history of the World Cup, FIFA began mandating three-minute “hydration breaks” as games across North America carried on amid high temperatures and humidity. The tournament's final was threatened by hazardous wildfire smoke drifting over New York from hundreds of fires burning in Ontario, Canada, as well as northern Minnesota.
While the organizations behind some of sports’ most popular events are looking to counteract the effects of climate change, athletes are also forced to adapt their training to better acclimate to heat. In the Tour de France, some teams prepared ice baths for riders to utilize immediately after completing a portion of the race. Laura Schifter explained in a recent opinion piece for TIME that even children’s sports will likely be impacted, reshaping the lifelong habits and mindsets young athletes develop.
Adaptation measures are only going to become more common in our warming world, experts tell TIME.
“It's only going to become more challenging,” he added.
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