It came as news to those who watched Norwegian rider Iver Knotten collapse on the roadside during Friday's junior men's road race, seemingly due to the effects of racing in such high temperatures, but UCI president Brian Cookson told reporters on Saturday that there have been no cases of heat exhaustion at this week's World Championships.
"We have not had any cases of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, as I've been advised by the medical team. We've had plenty of cases of exhaustion, plenty of cases of riders being extremely fatigued, which you get at any World Championships, but no actual cases of heat exhaustion, so I'm advised by our medical team," Cookson said at a press conference.
In strictly literal terms, that may be the case, at least for the more serious condition of heat stroke – the hallmark symptom is a body temperature in excess of 40.6 degrees Celsius – but it seems quite a stretch to suggest that the soaring temperatures were not a key factor in the collapses of riders such as Knotten or Belgian junior Jasper Philipsen. Or, as Norway junior coach Kai Lexberg told procycling.no of Knotten's ailment on Friday: "It was simply a heat collapse."
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There were concerns at the beginning of the World Championships that the temperatures in Doha this weekend would be so high as to force the shortening of the elite men's road race to just 107 kilometres. 24 hours ahead of the main event, however, Cookson confirmed that it will go ahead in its unabridged form of 257.3 kilometres, with the 150-kilometre out-and-back loop into the desert preceding the finale on Doha's Pearl.
"We have a contingency plan in place but it is just that: a contingency plan," Cookson said. "As at this moment in time, it doesn't look like it will be needed. The full distance will be raced."
Along with the weather conditions and the demands they have placed upon competitors, the abiding image of these Worlds thus far has been the paucity of spectators at the roadside, a weighty absence that has repeatedly touched upon by riders throughout the week.
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