Tadej Poga\u010dar has said he would change the professional cycling calendar after yesterday\u2019s stage 9 of the Tour de France was shortened due to extreme heat, following an opening week that\u2019s been dominated by discussions over high temperatures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had the power I would change all the calendar and not race in July and August in hot places,\u201d Poga\u010dar said. \u201cI\u2019d do a completely different calendar, but it\u2019s not something I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe the next step is to start the stages earlier. Yesterday there was a proposal to start at 10, but it doesn\u2019t change anything because then you finish in the heat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to start at eight or nine, or even before. It\u2019s a little bit shit, but I think the body can adapt to waking up at five o\u2019clock in the morning and doing a stage at eight. But I think I\u2019ve said enough,\u201d he said after the stage.<\/p>\n
The stage from Malemort to Ussel was won by Mathieu van der Poel from a breakaway, after it was shortened by 30km because of the heatwave and M\u00e9teo-France placed the department of Corr\u00e8ze on red alert.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Van der Poel said he was initially struggling with the heat at the Tour de France<\/a>. \u201cI had some difficulties to recover even from the easier days. Already in the last few days I felt a bit better. It was easier stages, and today I finally had the legs to go for it,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was the best day of the race so far for Pinarello\u2013Q36.5’s Tom Pidcock, who finished third behind Van der Poel and Tobias Johannessen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRiding to sign-on this morning was like opening the oven and you\u2019re looking in and it goes in your face,\u201d Pidcock said. \u201cBut once you started the race it wasn\u2019t too bad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The heat has been a talking point<\/a> throughout the 2026 Tour de France, which has seen measures implemented to protect riders and fans. The race organisers urged fans not to attend stage 3 due to wildfires<\/a> and the UCI relaxed its rules<\/a> around riders accepting bidons so they can stay better hydrated.\u00a0<\/p>\n