How one American team at the Tour de France is keeping riders cool when hotels don't have AC
The company claims the ChiliPads cool to as low as 55 degrees F and warm up to 110.
This was the ChiliPad set-up for Frenchman Pierre Rolland after stage eight of the Tour de France, a day that saw him crash into a wall and scrape up his left side.
The first time the riders tried the ChiliPad was after stage eight, the first day in the Pyrenees. The team was staying at an old hotel in the French countryside, and while it was a beautiful place, there was no AC. What's more, the team's leader, Pierre Rolland, was nursing injuries after a crash in the race. He arrived at the hotel with lots of road rash on his left side. Getting a good night's sleep would be difficult but necessary for recovery. The ChiliPad was seen as a way to help him sleep more soundly. Five other riders also asked to use the pad.
The control unit for the ChiliPad, where you pour in the water and set the temperature.
Team chiropractor Kevin Reichlin set up the first ChiliPad after stage eight, a day when team leader Pierre Rolland crashed and had to sleep with bandages on his left side.
Reichlin came across the pads in the off-season and ran the idea of bringing nine of them to the Tour to help the riders sleep better, especially when the hotel rooms lacked AC.
Reichlin opted to use distilled water.
The user manual has a cute cover, but the Tour riders travel without their significant others, though it's common enough for some riders to have their wives and kids visit on the rest days. But even then most stay in separate rooms.
Here Reichlin sets the temperature for Rolland. There's a remote control that allows you to change settings from your bed.
The next morning, Rolland said he liked the pad, having slept relatively well given his injuries and many bandages.
Five other riders also slept on the ChiliPads. While one rider said he didn't care for it, the other four said they liked sleeping on the pads.
As for Rolland, he fought valiantly on stage nine, limiting his time loss to the GC favorites like Chris Froome to about 2 minutes on the day. Some feared he could have lost much more given his injuries. That Rolland had a relatively good night's helped.
Moving forward.
Overall Rolland is about 4 minutes down on race leader Froome, but there is lots of racing to go and Rolland often shines in the last week of the race. If he can stay healthy and avoid crashing again, he could move into the top 10 and perhaps even ride higher than that.
A stage win could be in the cards too. And if he finds himself in another hotel without AC, he will have his ChiliPad ready to cool him off.
You can watch how the ChiliPad works in the video below:
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