Tadej Pogacar calls for summer racing overhaul amid searing heat at Tour de France – ‘I would change the whole calendar’
Published 13/07/2026 at 08:25 GMT+1
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Tadej Pogacar has revealed the drastic changes he would make to the cycling calendar if he had the power to do so. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider is one of the sport’s highest-profile stars and currently tops the general classification standings at the Tour de France going into the first rest day.
Highlights: Van der Poel storms to Stage 9 triumph as Pidcock hit with mechanical issues
Video credit: TNT Sports
However, this year’s Tour has been hit by soaring temperatures across the first nine stages. Race organisers were forced to shorten Stage 9 by 30km and push the start time back after a ”red heatwave alert" was issued.
Other measures have been taken to combat the heat this year. Among them, riders can now get bidons from team cars at any point during a stage outside the first 10km and last 6km.
As for what Pogacar would like to see change, he told reporters after Stage 9: ”In my opinion it's a big topic to discuss but if I had power to change all, I would change the whole calendar.
”I would not race in July and in August in the hot place. That's something that we need to think through, and in the end it's not something I can do.”
One suggestion has been to bring start times forward, so there is at least some respite at the beginning of stages.
However, Pogacar does not think that would make a massive difference.
He added: ”Yesterday there was one proposal to start at 10, but for me that does not change anything because then you'd finish in the big heat.”
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'Not a happy bunny!' - Pidcock suffers mechanical problem at crucial time
Video credit: TNT Sports
Pogacar is already the man to beat at the Tour this year. The four-time winner laid down an ominous marker with a rampant Stage 6 victory to open up a gap of 2’42” on his main rival, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard.
The tactics of UAE were a hot topic of discussion after Stage 9. Alpecin-Premier Tech’s Mathieu van der Poel took a sublime victory from the breakaway, but it was the actions of the peloton that had the tongues of the TNT Sports experts wagging.
UAE spent a large chunk of the day driving the pace in the peloton, keeping the leaders in check to the point they crossed the line less than 20 seconds behind Van der Poel.
- Pidcock rues mechanical as victory slips away
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Rather than trying to go for a win, there was suspicion UAE were trying to hurt the legs of their competitors.
Speaking on The Breakaway, Jonathan Vaughters, chief of EF Education-EasyPost, said: ”Do I think they hurt a lot of legs out there? Yeah. Psychologically, when you’re in the front like that, you’re dishing out the pain rather than receiving it.
”Even if you are technically expending more energy, psychologically it just feels really nice to come out of every single corner and stretch out the group.
”Look at Red Bull, they had two riders, their two leaders, that was all they had in that group.
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'Hurt a lot of legs' - UAE's game plan discussed as Breakaway team disagrees on strategy
Video credit: TNT Sports
”It was a flex. I think they almost enjoyed hurting a lot of legs. When the train got a little bit easier they stopped and let someone else take it over.
”But what they effectively did, one way or the other by keeping that gap close, they kept the race hard all day long.”
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