Bonjour, bonjour mes amies!! The Tour de France is upon us once again! For Tour fans in the Danaher house, it’s one of those annual events that marks another summer, another pre-season, and the passing of another year.

These days, we record the evening highlights programme to watch after the kid’s bedtime. We let them watch it with us once, however, they like to ask questions. Question after question after question. Insane questions, so the family viewing was knocked on the head.

Dec doesn’t like knowing the result before sitting down to watch, so throughout the day, if the radio in the kitchen is on (5 Live, pretty much ALL day), I get terrorised by him yelling in a dreadful panic, “TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF!!!!” when there’s a sports update.

The Tour de France is the ultimate in testing cyclists’ fitness to the extreme. It lasts three weeks and sees ridiculously fit cyclists riding ridiculously long distances up ridiculously steep mountains. It always has unpredictable and sometimes comedy moments…….highlight so far this year was a team bus getting wedged under the finish line. The stages place enormous stress on the body. The hours spent in the saddle makes fuelling with enough calories, carbs, protein and fluid a real challenge. Tour cyclists require about 6000kcal per day (a normal intake would be about 2500kcal)! Nutrition to fuel the race, as well as to ensure recovery in the short time until the next stage is a hard job.

Head of Nutrition at Team Sky, Nigel Mitchell, has the task of ensuring the boys have primed their bodies with optimum nutrition for each race. The aim for all cyclists should be to start races with carbohydrate and fluid stores well stocked. Breakfast is high calorie, carb and protein, from nutritious food sources. Team Sky also has a chef who travels with them.

Here is Nigel’s breakfast strategy for his team:

Hydration – Nigel uses a ‘Positive Hydration Strategy’, this means drinking enough fluids to ensure dehydration does not occur. Dehydration increases body temperature, resulting in increased heart rate, meaning the heart is having to work harder. Dehydration will also affect energy production and concentration.

Pre-race: Between waking, and the start of the race (approximately 4-5 hours) 3-4 litres of fluid, from diluted fruit juices, vegetable juices and water. As well as fluid, juices also provide a source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, with out the bulk of whole fruit and veg.

Breakfast:

Nigel ensures his team have their pre-race meal 3-4 hours before getting in the saddle. On the menu each morning:

Porridge: oats, quinoa, milk, water, cinnamon, topped with banana puree & yoghurt, and some berries. High in complex carbohydrates for slow and steady release of energy.

Omelette: eggs are high in protein to help prevent muscle breakdown during the race.

Bread: wholemeal – more complex carbohydrates

Fresh fruit & vegetable juice: more of this stuff, providing fluid for hydration and to bump up vitamin, mineral and antioxidant intake.

So with their bodies well stocked with fuel for the race, the cyclists also have the important psychological advantage of knowing they are ready for the punishing ride over the next 6 hours. Nutritionist Nigel’s next challenge is to push enough fluid and calories while they are in the saddle………….

The theory behind this is that by not eating before exercise, your body burns a higher percentage of fat. In a recent study at Northumbria University (Gonzalez et al, 2013), 12 athletes either fasted or had breakfast before a moderate intensity treadmill workout. The fasters burned 20% more fat than the breakfast eaters. Interestingly, throughout the rest of the day, the fasters ate less and did not have an increased appetite to compensate for lack of food pre exercise.

Another study (Proeyen et al, 2011) found that exercising on an empty stomach during endurance training caused metabolic adaptations to the muscles, so that they burned fat in preference to carbohydrate.

So, if the reason you are exercising is purely to lose weight, then an empty stomach may benefit you. However, in practise, if you find you lack energy/dizzy and are unable to exercise for as long or as hard, then the resulting decrease in calories burned may not be worth it.

As with many aspects of nutrition, there is no definite right or wrong, black or white. Find what works for you!

For those wanting to build muscle or improve athletic performance, then food intake pre exercise is vital to fuel the training session, and to facilitate the anabolic process of increasing muscle mass and increasing endurance (Chryssanthopoulos et al, 2002, Neufer et al,1987.)

Gonzalez J et al. (2013) Breakfast and exercise contingently affect postprandial metabolism and energy balance in physically active males. British Journal of Nutrition 23:1-12

Van Proeyen K et al. (2011) Beneficial metabolic adaptations due to endurance exercise training in the fasted state Journal of Applied Physiology 110 (1): 236–245.

Chryssanthopoulos, C. et al. (2002) The effect of a high carbohydrate meal on endurance running capacity International Journal of Sports Nutrition 12, 157–71.

Neufer P et al. (1987) Improvements in exercise performance: effects of carbohydrate feedings and diet. Journal of Applied Physiology, 62, 983–988.

Oats are the perfect healthy breakfast. High in fibre, and filling. Porridge is the traditional way of eating them, but in the summer months a hot breakfast may not seem appealing.

This recipe uses oats, milk and yoghurt, as well as which ever extra ingredients you would like to add. It doesn’t require any cooking, as it is refrigerated over night to allow the oats to soak up the milk and yoghurt. Result: a super creamy, cool, filling breakfast. Lovely on it’s own, or you can add banana, berries, cinnamon, stewed apple, pumpkin seeds……or anything else you can think of!

Mix the following ingredients together:

40g oats (about 1/2 a cup or a handful)

150ml milk

100ml yoghurt

Cover and put the the fridge overnight. Add the extra ingredients before serving. Ta da. Summer oat breakfast ready for you in the morning.

Approx 280 kcal, 38g carbs, 18g protein

This is a recipe from Deidre, my husband’s cousin in Dublin……it’s a healthier version of the one I usually make (cabbage, carrot, light mayo and yoghurt), and lots more flavour:

Deirdre says: “When making “coleslaw”, I like to leave mayo out completely.

Finely chop cabbage, radish, spring onion

grate carrots

half handful of coriander

a squeeze of lime juice

half a squeezed orange

Here’s how it looks. Tastes lovely too, zingy, sweet at light. Thanks Deirdre!