{"id":785995,"date":"2026-07-07T12:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T12:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/785995\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T12:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T12:11:13","slug":"uci-changes-tour-de-france-rules-in-light-of-extreme-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/785995\/","title":{"rendered":"UCI changes Tour de France rules in light of extreme heat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Union Cycliste Internationale has decided to \u2018soften\u2019 the rules around how Tour de France cyclists can take on supplies in light of the extreme heat forecast over the coming stages of the race.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been decided to exceptionally authorise the use of feeding bags in zones initially defined for the provision of bottles only (\u2018water bottle zones\u2019) located within listed climbs,\u201d cycling\u2019s international governing body said in a statement today.<\/p>\n

What this means in practice is riders will be able to use their musettes to carry water bottles and distribute them to others in the peloton. The UCI says this is \u201cto ensure optimal hydration in the forecast weather conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n

The change to the rules comes with the Tour de France being gripped by sweltering temperatures.<\/p>\n

Yesterday\u2019s stage 3 saw temperatures over 30\u02daC as it headed into the Pyrenees-Orientales region of France, where there were major wildfires.<\/p>\n

Due to the wildfires, the race organisers made adjustments to the stage<\/a>, which limited vehicles on the last 40km of the route and stopped the Tour de France caravan. The organisers also asked fans not to gather along the final section of the route, although there were spectators within the last 40km<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar won yesterday\u2019s stage to take the yellow jersey from Jonas Vingegaard and move into fifth<\/a> on the list of all-time Tour de France stage winners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the stage, Poga\u010dar said: \u201cMy mum texted me last night to say that, unfortunately, we wouldn\u2019t be able to see each other today because of the rules in place today. It\u2019s too bad my parents couldn\u2019t watch the Tour pass by today, but anything that improves safety needs to be put in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Poga\u010dar: \u201cAnything that improves safety needs to be put in place.\u201d Anne-Christine Poujoulat \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Stage 4 of the Tour de France today heads from Carcassonne to Foix, with temperatures expected to reach 37\u02daC.<\/p>\n

Although no extra safety measures are in place, the Tour de France advised spectators to protect themselves: \u201cBefore the riders pass by, during the stage, and after the finish: seek shade as soon as possible, wear a cap or hat, and drink water regularly, even if you don\u2019t feel thirsty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The UCI added that its change to the rules around feeding has been implemented on a trial basis and will be reviewed in light of weather conditions and its effectiveness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More on the 2026 Tour de France<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Union Cycliste Internationale has decided to \u2018soften\u2019 the rules around how Tour de France cyclists can take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-785995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}