Breakfast is divided into two sittings for the Cannondale-Drapac team. “The first is called the breakfast box,” says Fowler. “The riders can come early for muesli, oatmeal, cereals, and fruit smoothie. Then, three hours before the start of the stage, they have the race meal, which is simple, low-fiber white rice and an omelette. This is to top off glycogen supply in the muscles before they’re off.”
Teams have learned the value of individualised in-race nutrition, and while some riders rely on sports drinks, others opt for gels or some chow down on bars. Even a ham sandwich in the peloton isn’t surprising, says Strobel. Again, this is a shift he’s seen away from the all-rice-all-the-time trend, although he says that plenty of teams still swear by rice bars.
“I always try to eat something every half hour. But it is way harder to do that in the mountain stages,” says Dylan Van Baarle of Cannondale-Drapac. “And drinking-wise, it’s best to drink two bottles per hour, but that’s also hard in mountain stages, especially when it’s a little bit colder.”
Because of that, riders get an extra 40g of carbohydrate mixed in their protein-heavy recovery drink on depleting mountain stages, according to Mitchell.
Fowler has his work cut out for him. As “Grand Tour saturation” sets in for riders, it becomes harder to get them to eat enough for the demands of the race. Thus, the dinner menu gets a little wild. “Dinner is essential. There are lots of nutrient-dense vegetables – the rawer the better. There are also easily digestible carbohydrates and protein,” he says. A potential dinner menu might include “julienned carrot salad with walnuts and goat cheese; beet salad with grated apples; pickles dressed with honey mustard; oven roasted broccoli and cauliflower; roasted garlic risotto; stewed rabbit mole; and fresh berries with almond milk kefir.” (Where do we sign up?)
Strobel tries to emulate how riders normally eat. Breakfast has options from fried eggs and omelettes to oatmeal, sandwiches, and granola. Dinner depends on the day and the upcoming stage, but he tries to make something that everyone likes. For the British riders on the team, he makes sure there are curry dishes regularly featured, but pasta is another staple.
The only difference between how normal riders and pros eat, Strobel says, is that the pros are heavily into cleaner, less processed whole foods when possible, and the volume that they eat is much higher. 5,000 calories depleted in a day means huge dinner plates. And after a stage win or before a rest day, a glass of wine or beer wouldn’t be out of the question, just as it is for many of us.