It's the first rest day of the Tour, and the biggest story of the opening week has been the heat.

We've been scoring the UV Load of every stage, and nine in, here's what the data says.

Take out stage 1, a 19-minute team time trial in the Barcelona evening, and the road stages have averaged a UV Load of 87. Over the same opening last year, it was 81. This is the hottest, highest UV start we've tracked.

Four stages have already hit 90 or more. The peak came on stage 3 to Les Angles: a UV Load of 98. That's Extreme, close to the top of the scale, and a level very few athletes ever reach (for context the highest reading at the 2025 Tour was 96). Average temperatures have pushed past 98.6°F, with highs of over 104°F.

Stage 7 was the exception, and a useful one. A hot day at 95°F, but a UV Load of just 59, because 87% cloud cover took the sting out of the sun even as the heat stayed up. Heat and UV are two different loads, which is why UV needs its own number.

For a rider, a week like this compounds. Higher UV brings on fatigue faster, works against hydration, and slows recovery, day after day. It's the load the best teams in the world are now managing, with us. You can track your own. The UV Load app scores every outdoor session, the same metric the peloton uses. Free on iPhone and Android.

Our teams have been at the sharp end of it. Tadej Pogačar has been imperious for UAE Team Emirates, winning on the Tourmalet and pulling the race apart on the climbs, with his teammate Isaac Del Toro taking a stage of his own. EF Pro Cycling have raced on the front all week: Alex Baudin has climbed into the polka-dot jersey, and Sean Quinn has been lighting up the breakaways.

Both squads apply Pelotan before every stage, and both are managing their UV Load with us.

The race hits the Alps next week, and the hardest heat may still be ahead.