“I call them the green days and these are days when we know these sorts of foods are going to be digested,” Scheirlynck says. In those three weeks, riders also need vegetables and fruit, fibre and healthy fats, and it’s on the easier stages that Trek-Segafredo gives the riders this healthier food. “For the sprinter, who needs to stay in the peloton the whole day and only in the last 200 metres goes all out, energy expenditure is not comparable to a hilly stage or a mountain stage and this is reflected in the food they have at breakfast.” “Then, if it’s a flat stage, only the riders who are going for the breakaway will have more carbs and low fibre at breakfast. “If it’s a mountain stage, we will go rich in carbohydrates because that’s your fuel for climbing, but we also make sure the food is low in fibre because you don’t want the food to cause any fluid retention.” “At breakfast we focus on the fuel for the stage that is coming,” Scheirlynck explains. This means that the breakfast is adapted to the stage and the role that the rider has that day (or as part of an upcoming block). “And it’s not just day by day, it’s also about looking at the demands of the next block of stages.”
“We adapt the food to the needs, not just for the stage and also for the individual rider,” Trek-Segafredo’s nutritionist Stephanie Scheirlynck says. An accompanying strong cup of coffee almost goes without saying.Ĭycling is a team sport but there’s also individual needs during the race, with the riders playing different roles on each stage. Riders will have breakfast around three and a half hours before the race, with carbohydrate-rich foods such as bread, muesli, cereal, pancakes, rice pudding, smoothies, orange juice - and even noodles - to help top up glycogen stores.
(Image credit: Getty Images / Chris Graythen)