'Dangerous' heat a growing concern for Mas and Vuelta peloton

Enric Mas has warned that action will have to be taken if the heat continues to affect the Vuelta a España on its passage through Andalusia. The race leader was speaking after stage 13, where the temperature came close to 40°C on the road to Loja.

“No, no, I don’t want more than that,” Mas said in his post-stage press conference when asked if the soaring temperatures suited him. He had joked earlier in the week that he fared better in hot conditions.

“It’s extremely hot. At certain points during the stage, it felt strange. We were travelling at high speed, yet it still felt very hot – that’s something that rarely happens when there’s a bit of a breeze. If it gets any hotter than this, we’ll surely have to hold a meeting, because it would be dangerous to set off like this.”

The Movistar rider’s thoughts were echoed by Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma), who spent much of stage 13 off the front of the peloton in the 43-strong break that fought out the spoils. Berrade acknowledged that being up the road had made hydration and cooling easier on Friday, but he noted that the heat had an impact all the same.

“Well, when you’re in a breakaway, even though you use up a lot of energy and all that, the good thing is that you have easier access to water and ice packs from the team car than you do in the peloton,” Berrade told Eurosport.

“I was just constantly pouring water and ice over myself, but you don’t even know what to do anymore because every five minutes you start to overheat again and it’s back to square one.”

Berrade indicated that some informal discussions had already taken place among Vuelta riders regarding the conditions, but it remains to be seen if the riders’ union the CPA will make a formal appeal on their behalf.

The climate crisis has already had an impact on Grand Tour racing this season, with both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France struck by unusually high temperatures. At the Tour, stage 9 to Ussel was shortened by 30km due to a red heatwave alert in the Corrèze department. 

On Thursday, Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET had briefly applied a red heat alert to parts of Andalusia. It marks the first time the agency enacted its highest level of alert in September since its current system was enacted almost two decades ago.

Although AEMET has forecast that temperatures in Andalusia will drop slightly over the weekend, it added that they would remain “very high for this time of year” into the early part of next week. 

On Saturday, the Vuelta peloton sets out from Jaén, where a temperature of 36°C is forecast, with the thermometer set to remain above 30°C on the summit finish at La Pandera. Higher temperatures are expected for stage 15 to Córdoba.

“Let’s see if it gets any worse compared to today,” Berrade said. “I think it will, because I reckon today was already pushing the limit, and even yesterday you could hear people talking about it. In the peloton, I think it’s even worse because there isn’t as much airflow and there’s that stifling feeling. 

“There are already riders who’ve gone home because of the heat, but we mustn’t forget that the Vuelta a España takes place at this time of year and in this part of the country, so we knew what we were getting into. It’s a sensitive issue and it’s difficult to get it right, but we’ll have to discuss it.”