The big topic of conversation at the weekend, however, was the heat wave, which also has a firm grip on the south-west of France. On Sunday the thermometer even climbed to 40 degrees on the 202.5 kilometer route from Rodez to Mende. The tour organization then put three special regulations into effect. The drivers were allowed to eat and drink from the start to ten kilometers before the finish. Empty bottles could also be thrown away outside the garbage zones. In addition, the grace period was set to 20 percent of the stage winner’s time, regardless of their average speed.
Fire brigade cools asphalt
Even the fire brigade was in action. Since the asphalt was supposed to heat up to over 60 degrees, the road was partly cooled with water just before the peloton. The teams had up to 300 drinking bottles in the cars, a good third of which is normal. Defending champion Pogacar even put ice cubes in his socks at the start. During the stage, the pros were given nylon stockings filled with ice cubes for their necks.
With Simon Geschke, the ice wandered under the red dotted jersey of the best climber. The Berliner extended his lead in the standings with a courageous ride in the breakaway group on Saturday and will also wear the jersey on Tuesday’s first Pyrenees stage. In the meantime, his Cofidis team is already dreaming of the award ceremony in Paris. “Simon gets all the support of the team and maybe he can even wear the jersey to Paris,” said sports director Cedric Vasseur of ARD.
First, like all other remaining drivers, Geschke has to pass the mandatory corona test. On Sunday, two stage winners, Magnus Cort from Denmark and Simon Clarke from Australia, had to leave the tour because of positive tests. Cort had worn the mountain jersey for seven days and won the tenth stage in Megève. Clarke was victorious on the cobblestone section to Arenberg Forest.
The two pros are Corona cases seven and eight during the tour. Previously, the French Warren Barguil, Guillaume Martin, Geoffrey Bouchard, the Norwegian Vegard Staeke Laengen, the New Zealander George Bennett and the Australian Luke Durbridge had to leave the tour with a corona-positive condition.