Should the Tour have new dates?

For the last 20 years, the average temperature across each edition of the Tour de France has varied between 19.7° Centigrade (2011) and 25.6° Centigrade. Until this year that is. Ok, we’re only halfway through the 2026 race and it has been run entirely in Spain and the southern half of France so far, but the average across the opening nine days was a staggering 32.4°, seven points above the mean.

While that record mark will likely drop during the second half of the race that ventures much more into the high mountains, the forecast is for the heat to persist for several more days yet. On the road, teams have responded to the conditions by with complex hydration and cooling strategies, while the event’s organizers cut 30km from Sunday’s ninth stage after the department of Corrèze was put on a red alert for heat.

One media colleague I spoke to said that fans have also been reacting to the oppressive climatic conditions, primarily by staying away from the race. Starts and finishes have been as busy as ever, as have towns and villages and some climbs, but spectator numbers at the roadside have been lower than usual outside built-up areas.

The evidence is that the Tour is under siege by climate change, and there are growing questions about what can be done. In the wake of that shortened stage into Ussel, race leader Tadej Pogačar was asked in his press conference for his perspective on the issue. “In my opinion, it’s a big topic to discuss. If I could have the power to change it all, I would change all the calendar. I would not race in July and August in the hot places and do a completely different calendar, but that’s something that you need to think through very well. It’s not something I can do, and maybe the next step will be to start earlier the stages,” he said.

Pogačar continued by saying that moving the start to, say 10 in the morning, wouldn’t change much if stages were still finishing during the hottest part of the day, between two and five in the afternoon. He suggested the ideal would be stages starting at eight in the morning. “I think the body can adapt to do that as well, that you wake up at five o’clock in the morning and do the stage at eight,” adding, “But I think I’ve said enough.”

Pogacar’s suggestion of earlier start times and the solutions/difficulties this might trigger had some resonance with me. In June 2019, I took part in the L’Ariégeoise sportive in heat as infernal as this year’s. The organisers weren’t able to advance the start time for logistical reasons. In the early afternoon, they took the decision to halt the event due to a large number of medical emergencies. Unfortunately, these included the death of one participant.

When this year’s edition of the sportive was affected by similarly hot conditions, the organisers were better prepared. They did move the start forward, while they also shortened the various route options on offer. While the L’Ariégeoise isn’t anywhere near as big an event as the Tour, it does have more than 5,000 participants. Rerouting and rescheduling it at the last minute isn’t easy, but organisers are extremely aware that they have to be respond rapidly in a world affected by climate heating.

Turning to the Tour, it showed in shortening stage nine that it can be nimble in its response to extreme weather, and I’d be surprised if ASO don’t have a plan B in place for every stage of the race when planning future routes. Earlier starts should be on that same agenda, too.

However, I can’t imagine the Tour’s organisers considering a move from the race’s July dates. Race director Christian Prudhomme has said that he’s against this and ex-pro Romain Bardet is among those who have voiced opposition as well, both of them insisting that a switch from July would go against tradition and impact on the race’s position within French cultural life.

While foreigners regard the Tour as the world’s biggest race on the stunning stage that is France, the French have a more complex perspective on it. It’s an important marker in the calendar year, a sign that summer has arrived and that holidays are imminent. For a lot of French people, watching the Tour was or still is part of that holiday experience. Parents and grandparents will have taken them to see the race at the roadside, and that tradition continues, even though the race’s significance has dwindled in the face of competition from other sports and attractions.

Consequently, while the argument for moving the Tour to early June or early September might be easily won outside France, it probably wouldn’t even be entertained within the country itself. The French would counter that they’re not on holiday in those months, so why move the Tour to dates when far fewer of them would watch it?

Perhaps that response also highlights a bigger issue that we’re all facing. Summer is not only getting too hot for the Tour, but also for holidays, or active ones at least. Climate heating is going to force all of us to change. There’s already been some talk in France of changing term times so that children are in air-conditioned schools during the hottest part of the year. If this were to happen, moving the Tour to new dates would likely follow, with ASO following the trend rather than being cajoled into setting it.