Riders' Association CPA Calls for New Tour de France Start Times Due to Heat

Ussel – 12/07/2026: The heat has definitively turned the Tour de France in Correze into a test of endurance. Following the ninth stage between Malemort and Ussel, which was shortened due to extreme temperatures, the riders’ association CPA is calling for the timing of upcoming stages to be reassessed. At the center is a simple question with far-reaching implications for the entire race operation: When can a peloton still safely start and perform for many hours in the height of summer?

The organizers shortened the originally 185.5-kilometer stage to Ussel by around 30 kilometers. Nevertheless, the official route still took the riders over a demanding profile with several climbs. For the professionals, the equation remains brutal: high temperatures, intense sunlight, heated asphalt and a race rhythm in which every lost meter when reaching for bottles, ice or shade can prove costly.

The Cyclistes Professionnels Associes association is now demanding that earlier start times or other time slots be seriously considered. The CPA is also advocating for more generous time limits. This cut-off time determines how far sprinters, domestiques and exhausted climbers may finish behind the stage winner without being eliminated from the race. Especially on hot days, the battle against the clock shifts from a sporting side issue to a matter of survival.

The demand is not intended to make things easier for the field, but to adapt race conditions. In extreme heat, fluid requirements rise dramatically, while body temperature can barely be kept stable under exertion. A rider who would normally make it through a stage in the gruppetto in a controlled manner can suddenly be fighting the time limit at the same power output. That changes tactics, the distribution of effort and the role of the teams.

The UCI had already responded to the exceptional forecasts on July 7 by relaxing the feeding rules. Teams are allowed to use feed bags in certain zones on categorized climbs that were originally intended only for water bottles. This is intended to get multiple bottles and cooling supplies to the riders more quickly. The measure shows that the world governing body no longer views the strain as an ordinary summer risk.

Under the UCI’s extreme heat protocol, organizers, teams, riders and commissaires can discuss specific protective measures. These include additional provisions, shadier start areas, changes to the start time, route adjustments or the neutralization of individual sections. However, the decision does not rest solely with the riders. That is precisely where the CPA’s pressure comes in: health protection should not take effect only once the race situation has already deteriorated.

For the Tour organizers, this is a balancing act between television schedules, safety logistics and sporting fairness. Ussel is therefore more than just a stage finish in central France. The shortened stage of July 12, 2026, signals that the Grand Tour must adapt its traditional procedures to a race under new climatic conditions. The CPA is demanding that the next decision be made earlier than the next heatwave.