Photos by: Maximilian Fries

The UCI WorldTour teams battling it out at La Vuelta a España have had no shortage of adversity to overcome on the road to the finish line, of which the sweltering heat ranks paramount. With some stages nearing temps of 40ºC, teams have no choice but to address the heat's performance impact on their riders to stay competitive. After all, cooler is faster – and Red Bull- BORA - hansgrohe is taking that strategy to the bank.

With two stage wins under his belt so far (Stages 4 and 8), Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe rider Primož Roglič entered today's stage 2nd in standing in the General Ranking, no doubt in part thanks to the team's strategic mitigation of the heat.

Two factors are working in the team's favor; pre-race heat adaptation and cooling strategies. Riders like Aleksandr Vlasov showed up to the start line already heat-prepared with high Heat Adaptation Scores (in Aleksandr's case: 58% Heat Adapted), giving them physiological advantages such as improved thermoregulation, enhanced cardiovascular efficiency, and better electrolyte retention. All of this allows them to sustain higher power output and delay fatigue in hot conditions. Additionally, the team is also gaining a competitive edge by implementing cooling strategies like dousing, fans, and ice vests before and after each stage. Rapid cooling after intense activity, for example, can help to reduce heat strain and result in better and faster recovery for the following day's performance. 

Analyzing Aleksandr Vlasov's data above, we can see unusually low Heat Strain Indexes (HSI) for such a hot race environment. Normally, we would expect to see riders' HSI in Zones 3 and 4 in conditions like these. However, we are seeing some of the more heat-prepared riders like Vlasov staying primarily in Zones 1 and 2, evidence that the thermoregulatory considerations are proving effective. 

The race has cooled down a bit in some of the more mountainous stages, but the early work the team did to stay cool in the heat put Roglič in a prime position to strike in these last stages as he sits just seconds behind the first place contender in the General Ranking.