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Originally Posted by benb
It says it dropped to 33 degrees and rain.. what was it at the starting line?
That is soft shell winter cycling jacket + thermal tights + wool socks territory + winter gloves and ideally a helmet cover and/or neoprene booties.
If it dropped from 50 degrees you're talking pulling over and it takes 5-10 minutes to change clothes to put that level of winter clothes on.
The coverage just isn't that great.. I don't see any articles saying just how much it dropped. The decision to wear clothes that warm at the beginning would have been tricky or totally obvious depending on the starting temperature and forecast.
Whoever is responsible for carrying emergency clothes in the car on some of these teams must be getting reamed out. There is basically no excuse for this when other teams were prepared.
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Per this article from Escape Collective, it was 16C (~60F) at the start, and sunny, before dropping.
https://escapecollective.com/from-th...s-living-room/
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As the breakaway entered the finishing circuit, the temperature plummeted in the matter of minutes. “All of a sudden the sun disappeared, and it went from feeling like 20 degrees [68°F] – the real temp was 16 but the sun made it feel like more – to 0 [32°F]… the real temp was 2, but the wet snow made it feel colder than a -5 degree day in [his European base,] Andorra,” Whelan explained. TV pictures showed the rain and sleet coming down in droves, and Whelan trying to get a jacket on to warm up, struggling to get his arm in the sleeve for what felt like minutes. That battle forced him off the back of the breakaway, where he dangled for 20 minutes, trying to regain contact. Just as the snow started to fall he made the connection, held on for 10 minutes, before finally getting caught by the reduced peloton on the second lap of the circuit. 130 km at the front of the race for no result – but the worst was yet to come.
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If you watch the replay (it's on Peacock), at about 125k to go, it still looks nice. By 110k to go, it's looking overcast, and at about 105k to go, it's dark and dumping rain and hail.