Managing the heat has been a challenge for everyone at this year's UCI Road World Championships in Qatar. Even the local riders have suffered under the sun's unyielding gaze as the temperatures stay between 35-39C.
Qatar's Afif Abdullah was prone on the grass just beyond the finish line of the elite men's time trial for close to an hour after his ride before he felt well enough to make his way back to the team area. The day before, South Africa's Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio needed quick attention to lower her core body temperature. She explained later that she had no water during her ride after dropping her bottle early on.
On Sunday's opening day of action, there was a worrying moment when Rabo-Liv's Anouska Koster veered into the barriers and crashed, in what initially appeared to be a heat-related incident. Her teammates Roxanne Knetemann and Anna van der Breggen were highly critical of the conditions but according to the UCI doctors, Koster informed them afterwards that her crash was as a result of exhaustion due to the time trial rather than the heat.
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In an effort to dispel some of the concerns surrounding the heat, a select group of journalists, including Cyclingnews, were given a tour of the Heat Unit that has been set up for the World Championships.
The unit, which is run by the Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, is situated next to the start line of the Pearl Circuit, next to the team area, and comes with a 'mobile hospital'. Dr. Olaf Schumacher, who is also part of the UCI medical commission, Dr. Sebastien Racinais, and Dr. Juan Manuel Alonso showed the journalists around. The three, along with event doctor Dr. Anton Zasada, are responsible for making the call on whether the road races need to be shortened or cancelled altogether if the conditions are too hot.
Daily calculations are made on the conditions to figure out if it is safe enough for the athletes to compete. They are made using the Wet-bulb global temperature, which takes into account the actual heat, humidity, sun radiation and wind speed. Another factor taken into consideration is the movement of the riders. Dr. Schumacher explains that when riders are racing the effect of the movement brings the temperature down.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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