Two weeks after the Tour de France began, the peloton had its hottest day so far, with the 202.5km to Carcassonne in 40°C heat.

The stage hurt Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl's Mikhail Morkov more than anyone else, suffering from the heat and falling from the back of the pack early on, then fighting alone to the line outside the time cut-off.

The UCI introduced an extreme weather protocol, allowing feeding anywhere on the stage up to 10 km from the finish. Race organizer ASO also flooded some roads ahead of the peloton to cool the pavement and prevent melting.

Countless athletes wore ice vests or stuffed ice packs down the back of their jerseys for team presentations and media rounds.

While special measures were taken, there was no discussion of actions that could have made a bigger difference for the athletes, such as an earlier start or a shorter day in the saddle.

After finishing after a hard day, Cycling News asked several riders for their reactions to racing in the heatwave.

"It's not up to me," said Bob Jungels, the AG2R Citroen stage 9 winner. 'But if this happens on a mountain day, obviously it's a little colder in the mountains.'

"But I think most other sports would have been cancelled if it was that warm, but in cycling you learn when something bad happens.

"Obviously, there's a lot going on in the Tour that we don't know about," Jungels added. 'We could start a little earlier in the morning. But like I said, it's not up to us. But like I said, it's not up to us.

Intermarque Wantigover sprinter Alexander Kristoff shared similar views on heat and stages, even if his answer to a question posed by Cycling News was more succinct.

"For me it was too hot. It was really hot and there was nothing left," Kristoff said. 'I could race my bike, but it wasn't comfortable.'

Asked what measures could be taken in such conditions, Kristoff gave a simple answer.

"We could shorten the race," he said.

Stage 15 winner Jasper Philipsen also suffered from the heat, but said in a post-race press conference that even though he rode the stage in "crazy conditions," it was "possible" thanks to the help of his team.

He, like the rest of the peloton, was treated to copious amounts of cold drinks and ice during the 4.5-hour day in southern France.

"Probably one of the top five hottest days," said Philipsen. I think the team kept the water and ice flowing constantly all day today to keep us as cool as possible."

"It's crazy conditions to ride a bike, but with water and ice it's possible.

For other riders, such as Team DSM rider Chris Hamilton, the conditions were par for the course for a summer race.

Prior to this stage, the Australian rider was the only rider on the team to attend the pre-race media interviews and team presentation without an ice vest.

"I'm fine. I don't mind the heat. I grew up in the heat, it reminds me of home."

"But when you have a day like stage 15, there are a lot of tired riders and it's hard at points that normally wouldn't bother you so much, and the group can easily split up.

"I was kind of surprised because everyone was like, 'Oh, the Tour is going to be raced in these conditions. ' I mean, it's hot, but it's also the middle of summer."

"Still, you have to race in these conditions. We all have to do it."

After the stage, the riders were seen donning their ice vests again as some of the Ineos Grenadiers entered the ice bath outside the team bus. After the warm-down, Ineos rider Tom Pidcock commented that he wanted to jump into a nearby fountain. The 22-year-old was later spotted taking a dip before the team bus left for the hotel for the rest day.