'My body temperature is probably cooler than any Tour before' – Tadej Pogačar's hydration strategy has him reaching a new level amid 'hellish hot' Tour de France

The Col du Granon will forever be a climb linked to Tadej Pogačar, as the site of one of his major losses to Jonas Vingegaard and where his air of invincibility at the Tour de France waned in 2022.

One day after taking complete control of the 2026 Tour, the world champion was asked about that fateful day on stage 11 of the 2022 race, when he lost yellow and wouldn't win it back for another two years, and what has changed since then.

The images of that day are still clear: Pogačar was cooked, cracked by multiple factors: repeated attacks by then Jumbo-Visma on the Col du Télégraphe and Col du Galibier, a failure of fueling and the heat, best shown by how he had to open his jersey for most of the climb once Vingegaard dropped him.

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Despite also changing coaches to Javier Sola and his physical capabilities significantly improving, winning the past two Tours, a Giro and 11 Monuments since then, Pogačar gave massive credit to UAE's reformed fuelling and cooling strategies when it came to establishing his current dominance.

Perhaps at the perfect timing amid the searing hot temperatures that have been constant throughout the race, Pogačar and UAE are now the masters of temperature regulation, according to their top star.

"I think the biggest change, if I look at my physical capabilities, I'm a bit better than back then, also I've improved, speaking about mentally, mine is growing as well and my experiences," said Pogačar in his yellow jersey press conference in Bordeaux.

"I think one of the biggest changes that we could do as a team is the organisation around the feeding and having a really good hydration and nutrition, because this Tour is hellish hot, and for sure my body temperature is probably cooler than it was in 2022 or any Tour before.

"We really keep focused on cooling down and I think that's a big difference, and just planning, organisation, and motivation for the next days – it's a big difference from what it was in '22."

Pogačar is constantly being cooled down as the stages rage on in temperatures over 35°C, with teammates bringing him ice socks and bidons full of cold water to ensure he never overheats.

After his complete destruction of the field on the Col du Tourmalet on Thursday, stage 7 finally brought an "easier" day for Pogačar and his star-studded UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad, who were able to focus simply on staying safe and staying cool as a standard sprint finale played out.

"Today it was easier; it was still important to keep the temperature of the body down, and be careful for any tricky situations in the towns, and just be careful. We did a really good job. It was a good day," said Pogačar, who is hoping for more of the same on another flat route into Bergerac on Saturday.

"I think if you ask anyone in the bunch, [they] suffered a bit after yesterday and also me. We were grateful for an easier day today.

"It was a great day, very hot in the final, the start was nicer, now it's really boiling, and it was important to keep the temperature down as much as possible and survive the day as easy as possible, and we hope for the same tomorrow."

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