Tour de France bicycle race

Every year for over 100 years, the Tour de France bicycle race has been beset by drama: crashes, controversies, protests, and even cows blocking the road. But this year, after the first 10 stages of racing, the biggest story of the 2026 Tour de France by far is the extreme heat. Racing under “the most severe heatwave ever recorded in Europe”, racers are suffering through air temperatures routinely exceeding 100 degrees, and even higher road surface temperatures. Officials have classified entire stages under the race’s highest danger designation (“red zone”), meant to flag conditions dangerous enough to threaten riders’ health. Organizers already trimmed 30 kilometers off stage 9 after forecasters warned of afternoon peaks above 106°F, and wildfires burning across southern France forced Tour officials to ask fans to skip stage 3 entirely so firefighters could focus on the blazes instead of crowd control. Riders are drinking approximately 20 water bottles each in a single stage, turning the race into a test of hydration and a strategy of storing, grabbing and distributing water and ice from team cars and workers on the side of the road as much as deciding when and how to vie for the lead.