Portugal Colonial - Pogacar calls for cycling calendar overhaul due to heatwave

The 27-year-old Slovenian was speaking after the ninth stage of the Tour de France in the central Correze region which had been shortened by around 30km because of a "red alert" warning due to an intense heatwave.

Every day since the 113th edition of the Tour started in Barcelona nine days ago, riders have braved temperatures of up to 35C to 40C.

It has set them and their teams a logistical nightmare to try to keep cool and hydrated, not just on their bikes but even through the night in their hotel rooms.

Some, such as Australian veteran Luke Durbridge, have suggested starting the stages earlier in the day but Pogacar dismissed the effectiveness of such a move.

"It's a big topic to discuss, but if I could have the power to change all, I would change all the calendars, and I would not race in July and August in the hot places and do a completely different calendar," the Tour leader said.

"Yesterday there was one proposal that we could start at 10:00 am, but for me at 10:00 am it doesn't change anything because then you finish at the big heat.

"For example, today we arrived and finished way cooler than at the start.

"So then you need to start at 8:00 am or 9:00 am, or even before.

"But I think the body can adapt to that as well, that you wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning and do a stage at 8:00 am."

Amongst all the talk about how best to manage the extreme heat riders have been faced with, the ones complaining the least have been the cyclists.

Professional cycling teams now have quite sophisticated measures in place to manage the elevated temperatures.

"Our team, we managed pretty well with this heat, we did a super good job to cool down our systems, and I'm pretty satisfied with how it went," Pogacar added about his UAE Emirates-XRG team.

G.Teles--PC