If you don’t want to believe Greta Thunberg and the thousands of guys from all over the world who camped in Turin from yesterday to Friday to talk about how to deal with the climate crisis, trust at least what happened at the Tour De France, the most important race cycling ended Sunday in Paris. To give an idea of how much the climate has changed in recent years, just remember that the first yellow jersey, which indicates the leader, the first in the standings, in July 1919, was made of wool. Wool because it was cold in the Pyrenees and the Alps.
How the summer has changed
by Riccardo Luna
One hundred and three years later, the runners before the start this year wore ice vests; during the race, special trucks watered the road to lower the temperature and prevent the asphalt from giving way (but in this way the humidity increased, creating further inconvenience to cyclists); and at the finish line, to cool off, the athletes immersed themselves in tanks with water at 10 degrees, practically freezing.
Even so there were illnesses among the competitors and among the public and the stages were a tour in climate change: a couple skirted the fires of the Gironde that forced thousands of people to evacuate, others the mountains with melting glaciers, other rivers now dry. Many wonder if a race like this still makes sense, if it does not expose athletes to excessive stress, if it is not the case to reduce the duration of the stages or change the date looking for a cooler period. Others are wondering whether or not they should try to tackle the climate crisis seriously.