"Do a completely different calendar" - Pogacar proposes major cycling season overhaul as Tour de France scorches in heatwave
CyclingMonday, 13 July 2026 at 09:33
If Tadej Pogacar had the power to control the cycling calender, he claims he would completely overhaul it and change the face of the sport. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider is in the midst of the Tour de France and is part of a peloton feeling the heat in a scorching summer.
With La Grand Boucle interrupted by searing heat, organisers ASO have implemented a number of measures to help the peloton, including opening feeding zones for longer and loosening the rules of when teams are allowed to give riders musette bags, which often contain several bottles and gels.
Sunday's stage 9 was shortened by 30 kilometers due to a red alert for heat in the region, leading to some riders calling for stages to start earlier to avoid the midday sun.
Stages start in the early afternoon in the Tour de France, often the hottest time of the day. However, by the time riders reach the finish line, the temperatures are beginning to decline and riders are offered a slight respite from the heat.
For Pogacar, if he had the power of the UCI to change the face of cycling, he wouldn't be pinning a number and racing at all in the peak summer months, suggesting a radical change to how the season is scheduled.
Pogacar suggests radical cycling calendar overhaul
“In my opinion, it’s a big topic to discuss,” Pogacar said after the stage.
“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.”
When it comes to a more realistic change to beat the heat, Pogacar doesn't think that starting earlier in the morning would be a positive move - pointing to the simple fact that stages will then be finishing during the hottest part of the day.
Pogacar said: “Yesterday there was one proposal that we could start at 10, but for me, starting at 10 it doesn’t change anything because then you finish with the big heat.”
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Would starting earlier help riders?
“For example, today when we arrived at the finish, it was way cooler than at the start. So then you need to start the stage at eight or nine or even earlier. That’s also a little bit s**t, but 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."
But for now, Pogacar and his UAE team have to manage the heat, and the Slovenian has seemingly done a good job - building a seismic 2:42 lead over Jonas Vingegaard in the yellow jersey fight.
He added: “But I think I’ve said enough. In our team, we’ve managed pretty well with this heat. We did a super good job to cool down our systems and I’m pretty satisfied with how it went.”
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- Raúl Garcia Pierna not IvanAndy12313-07-2026
- Yeah sorry but if you think that watching a solo 40k GC mountain attack is more boring than a 200k flat stage with a 200 metre sprint at the end then you can only be an embittered, useless sprinter.Ayrton13-07-2026
- Slovenia is not even Balkan you twatAyrton13-07-2026
- Pogacar 1st Vindi 2nd Seixas 3rd. If Pogacar is doping they all are dopingcaptmike13-07-2026
- Bonjourerr Mouchebagerrr, So you arerr seyin pepol hu do noterrlike yourerr Pog arerr ageenst Balcons? I do noterr onderstund howerr you can survivre in zis plaice warerr money like Primozerr butt not ze Pog? You no, zey all go downerr in ze end, maybe err prepair for wen zer is nobodee for you to escargot overr, deliziooze.Mistermaumau13-07-2026
- That's literally what Girmay was saying. To each their own. The question put to him by the reporter was that sprints are boring. Learn to read.Pogboom13-07-2026
- Funny how you equate physical performance in sport (of a very small number of individuals in a small number of sports) with just about anything - Intelligence, morals, finances, geopolitics. Why don’t you move back instead of wasting your life in the West?Jumpyjohn13-07-2026
- Lets see after the Vuelta, am sure his future depends on what he can show.Jumpyjohn13-07-2026
- Not going to look for comparison details but if there wasn’t a TTT comparing positions is a bit difficult. Anyone want to estimate where Seixas’ classification and gap would stand had there been a classical opening stage? How much did he/others lose?Jumpyjohn13-07-2026
- Antidopingdatabase dot historic overview of doping in sport Nice short concise resume of some of the major cases Cyclisme-dopage dot Tour de France 1972 the real numbers of doping Just a way to search for access, after that you can toggle around for any year, find stats or see listsJumpyjohn13-07-2026
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