Appetizer?
Two Liquigas riders indulge in oysters on Stage 5.
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Ever wonder what procyclists eat? Pretty much anything! After watching what seems like minutes that turn into hours at this year's Tour, one quickly develops an appetite. Well, I do. And as I eat and watch I ask, "what do the pro's eat?" Here's a little taste of what I mean ...
Bon appetite! A typical riders' musette.
'Zone de ravitaillement': The feed zone placed around mid way on each day's route. Lunch time means musette. Of course, every riders' needs are different. Inside the basic musette consists of: 2 bottles of carbohydrate and tonic. A Coke, half a banana, energy bar, carbohydrate gel, a small sandwich of meat & cheese and maybe an apple tart.
A bakery on wheels
During the second half of a stage race, the team cars will hand out cakes, pastries and soft drinks. It's at this point of the stage a rider have burned up their carbohydrate fuel stores that means one thing, more sugar! The tasty pastries offer the simple carbohydrates needed and quickly absorbed into the bloodstream providing an energy boost for that final sprint to the finish line.
Fluid ... and lots of it!
The key to keeping the riders energy levels topped off is with plenty of food and fluids. Riders generally go through two or three 20-oz bottles of fluid every hour and more if it's extremely hot. In a 3 week tour, each team will use around 3,000 waterbottles.
Back in the glory days...
Raid the soft drink truck, 1960 Tour.
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That precious fluid, 1951 Tour.
It's hot and the great Hugo Koblet grabs another waterbottle. Back then the waterbottle was made from aluminum and stoppered with a cork!
From: 'Cycling's Golden Age.'
Note: From the famous saying, 'An army marches on it's stomach.'
-Napoleon Bonaparte
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