Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

signal status listen live donate
listen live donate signal status
listen live donate signal status
  • News
    • beats
    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    • California Dream
    • Videos
    • Photos
  • Music
    • genres
    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Roots
    • Eclectic
    • Videos
    • Daily Playlist
  • Programs + Podcasts
    • news
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Marketplace
    • Insight
    • The View From Here
    • music
    • Acid Jazz
    • At the Opera
    • Classical Music
    • Connections
    • Excellence in Jazz
    • Hey, Listen!
    • Insight Music
    • K-ZAP on CapRadio
    • Mick Martin's Blues Party
    • Programs A-Z
    • Podcast Directory
  • Schedules
    • News
    • Music
    • ClassicalStream
    • JazzStream
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Daily Playlist
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • CapRadio Garden
    • CapRadio Reads
    • CapRadio Travels
    • Ticket Giveaways
  • Support
    • Evergreen Gift
    • One-Time Gift
    • Corporate Support / Underwriting
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Gift
    • Legacy Gift
    • Endowment Gift
    • Volunteering
    • Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • e‑Newsletter
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
  • Health Care
  •  

Nutrition A ‘Secret Weapon’ For Amgen Cyclists

  •  Pauline Bartolone 
Friday, May 9, 2014 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Pauline Bartolone / Capital Public Radio
 

Pauline Bartolone / Capital Public Radio

Dozens of professional cyclists from around the world are converging on Sacramento this week. They’re getting ready for the first leg of the Amgen Tour of California that starts Sunday. We looked into what the riders eat to perform their best during the race.

Bike Lane -02

Riders and mechanics mill about the DoubleTree hotel parking lot on a morning before the race. Biju Thomas seems to know all of them.

Thomas is with Skratch Labs, an official sponsor of the Amgen Tour of California. The company plans the meals for the 128 cyclists on the tour. He works with hotels to make sure they supply the right breakfasts and dinners for the riders. His own trailer food truck supplies the “recovery meals” as soon as riders dismount.

“The sooner you eat, the quicker your body starts to replenish the glycogen stores you’ve already depleted," explains Thomas. "So the quicker you can replenish them, the better you’re going to feel tomorrow.”

Thomas helps riders replenish their depleted energy reserves with sweet potato burritos and chicken fried rice.

“We try to do burritos as often as we can, because most of the European dudes come in and they love anything even remotely in the shape of or sounds like a burrito.”

There’s a second post-ride dinner back at the hotel. For all meals, the key word is “simple.” No heavy sauces or dressings with the fewest ingredients as possible. 

 Rice -Cake -service -2

Photo Submitted by Skratch Labs

“These guys need to be able to eat and then go train, ride, go recover, they can’t just go into a food coma," Thomas explains. "So we take out a lot of dairy, and excess salt, and sugar and all that, we make the food really clean, but really delicious still.”

Bike Lane -02

In terms of volume of food, pro-cyclists don’t have to worry.

"It’s almost physically impossible to eat too much with the amount of calories that we burn," says Lucas Euser.

Euser is competing on the Amgen Tour with the United Healthcare team. He says nutella is a pro-cycling favorite. 

"Sometimes those quick sugary things that in a regular diet probably could cause someone to go diabetic, are things that we need to use to turn into fuel.”

Before each day’s ride, Euser will eat things like rice, eggs, avocado, or oatmeal. Food that’s easy on the stomach and can be processed quickly. When he’s on the bike, he’ll bring bite-size peanut butter & jelly sandwiches or almond butter, blueberry ricecakes. At the most intense points of the race, he whips out the carbohydrate gels.

“Any available time I have in that race, I’m putting something in my mouth…So you have to take advantage of any dull moment in the race to eat and drink and make sure you’re refueled, rehydrated, and ready to go when the race picks up again,” explains Euser.

Bike Lane -01

"Each one of those days they cannot fall behind. They can’t fall behind on calories, on protein, and on key nutrients," says Dr. Liz Applegate is Director of Sports Nutrition at UC Davis. She says the riders start fueling themselves with carbohydrates 45 minutes into the ride, and they don’t stop.

“We’re talking about close to if not 400 calories or so per hour," Applegate says. "They’re burning more than that, though. They’re burning 600 to over 800 calories per hour of cycling, so they’re going into a deficit during this hundred-mile ride, and then they’ve got to make up for that afterwards so they’re ready for the next day."

Applegate says among all the althletes she works with, pro-cyclists are the toughest. And they know how to use diet and nutrients to perform.

"It’s down to a microsecond who’s going to win the stage, and carbohydrates and caffeine are two things those cyclists can use for that last-minute burst," Applegate says. "So they know when to take what, and how much.”

Bikes -Amgen

Euser says nutrition is each team’s secret weapon.  But he says eating for performance is about creating an emotional connection with food.

"While you’re preparing for a race, you want to be happy, right?," Euser says. "You want to produce the chemicals in your body that are going to keep you going day in and day out."

After the ride, his focus shifts to anti-inflammatory foods. Fruits, vegetables, nuts. Key ingredients to enable him to compete up to 100 days a year. 

Bike Lane -01


Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

    More about amgen

  • Andrew Nixon / Capital Pubic Radio

    CapRadio Coverage: Amgen Tour Of California 2015

    The 2015 Amgen Tour Of California starts May 8 and will continue through May 17, with the first few stages starting in Sacramento, Nevada City and South Lake Tahoe. CapRadio provides coverage on both the men's and women's races.

    Related Stories

  • Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio

    Amgen Riders Face Oppressive Heat

    Tuesday, May 13, 2014
    Riders in the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race are concerned about high temperatures forecast along this week's route.
  • Steve Yeater / AP

    Road Closures, Parking Restrictions For Amgen Tour Of California

    Wednesday, May 7, 2014
    Sacramento city officials are urging motorists to plan ahead this weekend with downtown road closures and parking restrictions slated to begin Friday for the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California.
  • amgen tour via facebook

    Amgen Tour's First Two Stages in Sacramento and Folsom

    Thursday, February 20, 2014
    The first stage of the race will start in Sacramento go through the foothills and return to the Capitol.

 sportshealthamgencyclingnutrition

Pauline Bartolone

News and Features Editor

Pauline Bartolone has been a journalist for more than 15 years, during which she was Capital Public Radio’s healthcare reporter from 2011-2015. Her work has aired frequently on National Public Radio.  Read Full Bio 

Coronavirus Newsletter

Get answers to your questions, the latest updates and easy access to the resources you need, delivered to your inbox.

 

Want to know what to expect? Here's a recent newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

We'll send you weekly emails so you can stay informed about the coronavirus in California.

Browse all newsletters

More Health Care Stories

Eduardo Verdugo / AP

Black Americans Are Getting Vaccinated At Lower Rates Than White Americans

January 17, 2021

AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

California Counties, Lawmakers Call For More Organized, Better-Funded COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout As Cases Continue To Climb

January 14, 2021

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

California Lawmakers Threatened By Anti-Vaccine Activists During Public Hearing

January 15, 2021

Most Viewed

California’s Capitol On Guard: Inauguration Day Demonstrations End Peacefully

California Attorney General Files Nine Lawsuits In One Day As Trump Leaves Office

California Coronavirus Updates: More Than A Dozen COVID-19 Patients Being Treated At Former Kings Arena

Legal Observers Say Sacramento Police Arrests Unfairly Targeted Activists With Antifa On Eve Of Inauguration

Social Media Posts Push False Claims About Kamala Harris And Planned Parenthood

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

California’s Capitol On Guard: Inauguration Day Demonstrations End Peacefully

California Attorney General Files Nine Lawsuits In One Day As Trump Leaves Office

California Coronavirus Updates: More Than A Dozen COVID-19 Patients Being Treated At Former Kings Arena

Legal Observers Say Sacramento Police Arrests Unfairly Targeted Activists With Antifa On Eve Of Inauguration

Social Media Posts Push False Claims About Kamala Harris And Planned Parenthood

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    • (916) 278-8900
    • Toll-free (877) 480-5900
    • Email Us
    • Submit a News Tip
  • Contact Us

  • About Us

    • Contact Us / Feedback
    • Coverage
    • Directions
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Press
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile App
    • On Air Schedules
    • Smart Speakers
    • Playlist
    • Podcasts
    • RSS
  • Connect With Us

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2021, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.