‘I’m completely overcooked’: Jarno Widar says brutal Vuelta heat left him with ‘almost amateur’ numbers

Widar had little left in the tank after spending much of one of the hottest days of the Vuelta a España at the front of the race.

The young Belgian was part of the 43 rider breakaway that eventually decided stage 13 in Loja, surviving the attrition as temperatures reached 39 degrees and the leading group was reduced to just nine riders.

Among them were Widar and Visma | Lease a Bike duo Wout van Aert and Matthew Brennan, a combination he knew would be difficult to beat.

“Obviously, Wout and Brennan, we know they are a problem,” Widar told Eurosport. “They have already won so much in their careers. They are two of the best riders of this generation.”

Widar said the rest of the group knew it was only a matter of time before one of the Visma riders made a move.

That moment eventually arrived inside the final four kilometres. Van Aert accelerated with 3.8 kilometres remaining and only Valentin Paret-Peintre was able to follow, with the Belgian later beating the Frenchman in the sprint for victory.

Widar had already found himself on the wrong side of a small split shortly before the decisive move. He attempted to close it, but backed off when his legs began to give him warning signs.

“I was in the wheel of Fisher-Black and he had a gap,” Widar explained. “I tried to go across it, but I had the feeling that if I went a bit harder, I would cramp. So I decided to wait and just try to do as strong a sprint as possible.”

For Widar, riding his first Grand Tour, the physical battle in the finale was only part of the story.

When asked about the Spanish heat immediately after the finish, his answer was considerably more striking.

“I am completely overcooked,” he said.

Widar then compared the effect of the conditions on the riders with what amateur cyclists might experience at far more ordinary temperatures.

“I won’t say amateur cyclists do the same at normal temperatures, but it’s not far off it.”

There is little relief in sight either. Saturday’s mountain stage from Jaén to Sierra de la Pandera is again expected to be raced in temperatures around 40 degrees, before the Vuelta heads from Palma del Río to Córdoba on Sunday, where forecasts have temperatures reaching 41 degrees.

For Widar and the rest of the peloton, Friday may only have been a taste of what is still to come.