By: Catherine Wang

This week, Europe has had one of its worst heat waves yet, with temperatures reaching 93 degrees fahrenheit, 20 degrees hotter than the record high of last July.

This is very bad for cyclists who are supposed to race in the Tour de France. The race is historical and important to the French, and they have always held the race. But with climate change, raging wildfires, and a historic heat wave of 104 degrees, the French are split on whether or not they should cancel the event.

One thing we are sure of is that previous Tour de France competitions were way colder than this. For evidence, the early uniform jerseys were made out of wool!

In fact, the temperature was so high this week that workers at the Tour had to literally spray water on the roads to keep them from “melting”! The officials agreed to allow bikers to rehydrate during the first mile, even though they weren’t allowed to before. However, officials still kept to the schedule, making contestants bike under the scorching sun in the afternoon. Especially since the race will take 23 DAYS to finish!

The only disruptions came when protesters decided to chain themselves to block a road that bikers were supposed to bike on.

Since the Tour de France is one of the most important biking races in the world, it would truly be a shame if it gets canceled or shortened. This leaves many fans of the race on the edge of their seats as they cross their fingers hoping the Tour de France will stay the same as it has always been.

Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658688416418x581202027002294000/Climate%20change%20is%20making%20the%20Tour%20de%20France%20more%20extreme%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf