History was made Tuesday in Lyndoch at the Tour Down Under with the cool heads of race director Mike Turtur, UCI commissaries and CPA delegate Adam Hansen prevailing in the heat, deciding for the first time in the races history to shorten a stage of the Australian WorldTour event.
A sweltering day in the Barossa saw riders confronted with temperatures in the mid-40s and unsurprisingly, the conditions were clearly taking their toll before the official announcement of a 26.5km cut to the stage length, reducing the finishing circuits in Lyndoch from three to two.
The decision also sets a precedent for race organisers to enact the UCI Extreme Weather protocol in 2017, which is certain to feature conditions detrimental to rider's health and safety at some point.
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"I like the heat, I don't mind it so much but I had to speak for the riders and a lot of riders were complaining it was a bit too hot," Hansen said of the hottest Tour Down Under stage he's ever ridden, which didn't stop him from launching a late attack in the stage.
"Because the circuit had three laps in the final we could make it one shorter. From the rider's side, we all wanted it. It wasn't me going around; it was more the riders coming up to me."
Hansen explained the riders expressing their concerns over the temperatures weren't just European with several Australians joining in the chorus. While Hansen was not naming names of riders he spoke with, BMC's Richie Porte was one Australian who made comment on the hot weather, adding he wasn't engaged in the decision-making process at any level but grateful for the outcome.
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