About his victory in the Tour de France and racing drug free, Bradley Wiggins (Team Skye) said, "It's all these small little percentages now that make the difference in sport...little things like the warming down, or Dario (Cioni) constantly topping up my hydration all the time...and getting to bed early, you know—having a chef on the Tour so your food is meticulously prepared—the food and that is where all the marginal gains are now, all these small little things now.
"That's what makes the difference now."
What can we learn so that we ride better? I investigated what the Skye, Garmin Sharp and Radio Shack Nissan Trek riders eat and drink.
More: Calculate your Nutritional Needs.
A racer burns 3,500 to 4,000 calories on an average day in the Tour de France and 5,000 to 5,500 on a big day.
Racers eat a big breakfast so they start off with a full load of fuel and they eat several hours before the race to allow time for the meal to digest. My friend Barb Grealish is the chef for Garmin for domestic stage races. She prepares the biggest vat possible of oatmeal with blueberries and an egg station to fix eggs to order. Riders eat 1-2 bowls of oatmeal and 2-4 eggs. Some riders eat corn-based cereal, which is gluten-free.
More: Breakfast: The Most Important Meal of an Athlete's Day
Depending on conditions, racers down 1-3 16 fluid-ounce(0.5 L) bottles every hour. Depending on preferences and stomach issues, a racer drinks water, sports drink and Coke. Most teams use a commercial sports drink. A few outsource custom drink mixes and have them tested for purity to be sure they won't present problems with drug testing.
Even though they are racing hard, racers consume 300 or more calories an hour. They eat sports bars and gels provided by the team sponsors. Since they are racing nearly 21 days in a row in the Tour de France, they also eat real food to provide variety and additional calories. During a stage they'll eat boiled potatoes, rice cakes, panini (small sandwiches) and cut-up fruit to provide an assortment of flavors. Providing a lot of variety is the key to getting through three weeks of racing without bonking.
More: 2 Ways to Conquer Cramps on the Bike
At race paces, the racers are burning almost exclusively glycogen (from carbohydrates) for energy.
Racers eat primarily carbohydrates with a high glycemic index for instant energy.
GI measures how fast a food causes your blood glucose to rise. Glucose has a GI of 100. Here are some examples:
We are often told to avoid foods that will give us the sugar rush (i.e., have a high GI) because if we eat them, then we'll have a low blood sugar crash. However, this is not true when exercising, especially when exercising hard. Pro racers stop eating solid food with a lower GI toward the end of a stage and opt for gels and sugary drinks.
More: 4 Ways to Speed Up Your Century Ride
To keep eating and drinking hour after hour, racers have a lot of choices so that they can find something palatable.
Racers' food is kept cold in the team car. Any perishable protein food (sandwiches, rice cakes with eggs, etc.) should be unrefrigerated no more than one hour if hot (90° F / 32° C) or two hours at room temperature.
More: 12 Training Tips for an Ultra-Distance Ride
Riders start drinking and eating as soon as they get in the team bus; they don't wait until they are back at the hotel. Radioshack riders start with 1.5 L (48 fl. oz. or 3 pints) of a diluted proprietary hydration drink. Pedialyte is the most equivalent commercial drink. They follow this with 1.5 L of a simple sugar drink with 360 calories plus vitamin C. Riders are required to drink at least 1.5 L regardless of weight loss. Most guys consume both drinks, totaling 3 L (3 quarts) weighing 3 kg (6 lbs) of fluid within the first hour. For food, the team provides fresh steamed rice plus some protein, for example, chicken stir-fry or scrambled eggs, and fresh fruit, especially watermelon. Some riders drink a protein drink with 30 grams of protein/ L.
In addition to carbohydrates, Grealish prepares large quantities of meat (beef, chicken and fish). She also serves beets, kale and spinach. Some think that the nitrates in these vegetables enhance endurance.
More: Can Beet Juice Instantly Improve Endurance?
As recreational riders, what can we learn from this and apply to our own riding?
Like racers we are burning a mix of glycogen (from carbohydrate) and fat for fuel. Since our bodily stores of glycogen are limited, we should consume mostly carbohydrate during a ride.
Calories consumed per hour are more important than picking foods with a high GI. You should consume up to 300 calories per hour. However, if you start to bonk, go for something with a high GI.
More: Maintain Your Lean, Mean Racing Machine
Foods with a high GI, like white rice, are highly processed and contain fewer micronutrients than unrefined foods like brown rice. We'll be healthier if we opt for less-refined foods such as fruit and whole grain products.
For the pros, recovery starts before they even take showers! After a ride we should eat a healthy snack and drink plenty of fluids and then for the rest of the day be sure to drink enough that we are fully rehydrated and eat enough carbohydrate so that our glycogen stores are fully replenished.
Like racers we may get tired of bars and gels. Here are a couple of recipes popular with racers, which provide good nutrition at a lower cost than sports products!
More: Make Your Own Homemade Energy Gel
These small sandwiches are easy to make and quite tasty! Carry one or two in snack baggies. If it's hot to prevent spoilage you should only carry the panini for about an hour before eating.
You can carry and eat these all day. They're also easy to make, tastier than an energy bar and cheaper:
Like the pros you can meet your nutritional needs on the bike with a wider variety of tasty foods and be the envy of your riding buddies!
For more on pro nutrition and how to make your own sports drinks, gels and solid food, see my eArticle on RoadBikeRider.com.More: Determine Your Century Nutrition Plan
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