Drink, drink, drink is the motto. The professional cyclists consume up to 1.5 liters per hour during a stage. “You can’t drink enough. Every bottle that a driver gets on hot stages is worth its weight in gold,” emphasized Edler. Otherwise anything that cools will help: ice vests before the start, cold gels and drinks during the race. To do this, the drivers put socks with ice under their jerseys. Necessity is the mother of invention.
At Bora, riders are given electrolyte and carbohydrate-rich drinks. After all, the riders burn up to 7000 calories on difficult mountain stages. “The basal metabolic rate increases in height and heat, sweating costs energy, so a good supply of supplies must also be provided,” explained Edler. In the mountains in particular, there are two extreme environmental influences that play a role: heat and altitude.
risk of sunburn
The drivers would have to be prepared for this at an early stage. Edler mentioned various possibilities such as “systematic sauna sessions, hot baths after training or training with more clothing so that you reduce the cooling effect of sweating”. That varies from driver to driver.
The risk of sunburn should not be underestimated during the tour. “The skin is our largest organ, and if you burn a large part of it, it costs resources, especially over three weeks,” said Edler. Sunscreen with a high sun protection factor is essential, as is UV-proof clothing. Team DSM even uses a specially developed sunscreen.
The first heat wave had already hit France in June. At that time, the prefect banned the route d’Occitanie in the Tarn department because of the extreme temperatures, and the stage was shortened to 36 kilometers. The tour organizers hope that the world’s largest cycling race will not have to come to that.