Science of Sport Spotlight 4: Shining a Tour de France Light On Exercise In The Heat

The Real Science of Sport Podcast

In this Spotlight, the team discuss exercise in the heat, using the challenging conditions and travails of Mark Cavendish and others in the Tour de France's first two stages as the catalyst. We explore why athletes 'fail' in the heat, and how the brain pulls a physiological ripcord to protect us when we either don't pace ourselves appropriately, or can't lose the heat we need to in order to avoid critical hyperthermia. We also briefly assess the state of the Tour's yellow jersey battle, where the first shots were landed by Pogacar on the Galibier in yesterday's Stage 4. But will they be decisive, and how likely is Vingegaard to bounce back and improve as the race progresses?

Show notes

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Some papers on heat stroke and limiting hyperthermia

• A position statement on heatstroke, including details on risk factors and pathology. Find out about "leaky guts" here!
• One of the Danish studies that shows how the hot brain just stops activating muscle and causes us to fail at exercise
• Another paper showing that perceived exertion is altered by hyperthermia during exercise in the heat

Tour de France insights

• This is the best podcast you'll listen to on the Tour, in my opinion. That is, if you really like a deep technical dive into the tactics of the race
• The analysis of Pogacar's record climb of the Galibier yesterday. Note that it was a hard stage, and so a real test of durability
• The record was also broken on San Luca on Stage 2. Here's that analysis and power estimate

The Olympic Sport bracket that Gareth mentioned on the show - will road cycling bounce back and beat the marathon in the popularity stakes?

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