07/25/2026
Stage 19: UV Load 87. Serious.
Tadej crushed Alpe dâHuez yesterday, on the famous 21 bends. One of the great climbs in cycling, one of the marquee days of the Tour, and the goat took it for UAE Team Emirates, one of our partner teams. Clear skies, 28°C, the sun full on the mountain: UV Load 87.
Day 5 of how UV Load works: the bands. A number on its own can be hard to feel, so we sort the 0 to 100 scale into six bands, the way a heart-rate or effort zone works: Negligible, Low, Moderate, High, Serious, Extreme. Each one tells you what a score means at a glance, and where real risk begins.
Most people spend a summerâs day in Low or Moderate. Yesterdayâs 87 is Serious, second band from the top. The highest UV Load of this yearâs Tour, stage 3, hit 98. Extreme, a level few athletes reach.
Thatâs what the bands are for: a plain word in place of a number, so you know at a glance when the sunâs worth respecting.