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Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

#71

Post by NoPicklez »

n4r9 wrote: post #22
NoPicklez wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a sport of the 0.0001% when anybody can go buy a bike and ride. At the top level of any sport and in the top race or competition of that sport, it is going to represent the pinnacle of that sport.

I guess the point is that in cycling - relative to other sports - money gives you an easy edge. You can afford much better equipment, nutrition, coaching etc... . Compare that to (say) football in the UK: you just need a £5 ball and a few friends, and if you show promise you can track into your local team's programme and get top quality coaching at minimal cost. It depends on the culture as well. From what I read abo…

The performance difference between cheaper bikes and top end bikes won’t make the difference in being a successful cyclist.

Anyone can pick up a bike and start training and racing in competitions and be talent scouted in the same way that you would in football, it’s what happens here in Australia.

Yes a football is cheaper than a bike, but it’s not 0.0001% type stuff like Formula 1. Where you legitimately need to pay millions just to get a look in.

Theres plenty of people on $8,000 bikes I pass on my 8 year old bike worth $2,000.

Re: Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

#72

Post by kergonath »

flosstop wrote: post #59
deff wrote: post #25

Regarding drugs, yes it´s most likely still happening, but nowhere near the levels it used to be. Riders are tested a lot and have to provide year-round whereabouts for random testing. They also have a frequently updated blood passport to detect sudden changes in values caused by PEDs. It can never be fully waterproof, but at least serious efforts are made.

They have moved on from pharmaceutical doping due to the extensive testing to what is referred to as "mechanical doping". Motors are hidden in hubs/frames and the organisation is busy doing everything they can to pretend that it isn't a problem.

They do systematic checks for the winner, whoever has suspicious performance jumps one day, as well as random racers. They do take it very seriously and what you are saying is a bit far from the truth.

Some people will try, and some scandals will happen, sure. But it is not a widespread problem and is unlikely to become one.

See here, for example: https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/tour-de-fran...

Re: Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

#73

Post by alistairSH »

skeeter2020 wrote: post #43
alistairSH wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In professional sports taking drugs is not considered a secret, it's common practice Fixed. Cycling has one of the strictest out-of-competition testing regimens. Which isn't to say doping doesn't exist - it does, no question - only that it's WAY better now than during the Armstrong era. Some details... https://lanternerouge.com/2023/03/26/how-clean-is-cycling-an...

They're still fighting a losing battle. The business of cycling dictates that they remain ever vigilant and attempt to catch dopers and keep the sport "clean", while the science of what the atheletes are trying to do suggests they should just accept the reality and not police legal vs. illegal. It's like a drug-free body building contenst; what's the point?

I'm not sure I'd call it a losing battle. But, I agree vigilance is necessary.

But, I also view anti-doping measures as more of a safety issue than a fairness issue (maybe 60/40-ish). First priority - prevent athletes (and their coaches/sponsors) killing or crippling themselves with chemicals. Second order - guarantee some baseline level of fairness (because without it, the fans go elsewhere).

This isn't really different than rules in motor racing. Gotta keep the drivers safe first, and keep the race entertaining (nobody outside Italy wants to see two Ferraris dominate every F1 GP).

Re: Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

#74

Post by kergonath »

cptcobalt wrote: post #63
flosstop wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have moved on from pharmaceutical doping due to the extensive testing to what is referred to as "mechanical doping". Motors are hidden in hubs/frames and the organisation is busy doing everything they can to pretend that it isn't a problem.

Really, hidden motors in the tour? That would be an interesting read.

No, not really. These motors exist, but it’s not really a thing on the Tour de France. And I only mention this race because I am not much of a devotee and don’t really follow the others, but I would expect quite a lot of noise if it were a thing in the other big races.

Re: Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

#75

Post by alistairSH »

matwood wrote: post #53
skhr0680 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's like a drug-free body building contenst; what's the point? The point is to not die or be in a wheelchair by the time you’re 60

If that's the goal, then you might as well get rid of all contact sports - drugs or not.

Probably a case to be made for doing that. At least with martial arts/combat sports, American football, and probably rugby (mostly related to brain damage, not broken bones/joints).

Re: Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

#76

Post by WXLCKNO »

avs733 wrote: post #27
deff wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is indeed why you don´t see them collapsing and also why the finals are much longer nowadays. Riders train their guts to be able to eat up to 120g of carbs per hour, for the whole duration of the race.

I am far FAR from the tour de france but I do train for and run ultramarathons. When I started the general guidance seemed to be about 200 calories (50g of carbs) per hour during training and races. I followed that or a little above for a long time, and constantly had problems both physically and cognitively near the end of races. It took about a year to get used to fueling heavier (for me...about 400 calories per ho…

At 250w average during a 5 hour ride I'm burning like 1000 calories per hour or something mething close. Glycogen reserves are 2000 calories from a quick Google search, so that's 3k calories I need to make up for or 600 per hour. I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I'm missing but 400 definitely makes more sense than 200

Re: Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

#77

Post by n4r9 »

NoPicklez wrote: post #71
n4r9 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess the point is that in cycling - relative to other sports - money gives you an easy edge. You can afford much better equipment, nutrition, coaching etc... . Compare that to (say) football in the UK: you just need a £5 ball and a few friends, and if you show promise you can track into your local team's programme and get top quality coaching at minimal cost. It depends on the culture as well. From what I read abo…

The performance difference between cheaper bikes and top end bikes won’t make the difference in being a successful cyclist. Anyone can pick up a bike and start training and racing in competitions and be talent scouted in the same way that you would in football, it’s what happens here in Australia. Yes a football is cheaper than a bike, but it’s not 0.0001% type stuff like Formula 1. Where you legitimately need to pay…

Is $2000 really "cheap" though? I personally would need to use a cycle to work scheme, and I consider myself pretty well off. I know people on lower incomes who would find that very off-putting as a barrier to entry. I think you'd need to go to the $150 or less range to be appealing to people in that situation.

Re: Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

#78

Post by alistairSH »

gosub100 wrote: post #39
Jean-Papoulos wrote: post #9

Note for everyone that will come in here to say the secret is drugs : In cyclism taking drugs is not considered a secret, it's common practice.

And to me, there's a distinction between taking a drug that increases availability of red blood cells vs taking steroids or meth.

Isn't that really sport-dependent?

EPO and other red-cell increasing drugs provide a massive gain for endurance athletes (runners, cyclists, XC skiing). Steroids are a massive gain for strength athletes (sprinters/athletics, contact sports).

Both can be used "safely" or "unsafely" depending on dosage, combinations with other drugs, etc.

Re: Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

#79

Post by borroka »

jeroen wrote: post #58
skeeter2020 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe mainstream sports, but not when you spread it across the number of fans and account for their intensity. The Tour de France is likely the only cycling event most people can name. It's an awful lot of money for a very niche sport.

The TdF is apparently the 2nd most watched sporting event in the world, with 3.5 billion viewers. That's not very niche. -- https://www.roadtrips.com/blog/the-most-watched-sporting-eve...

The number, which by the common person is to be interpreted as unique viewers, is blatantly absurd.

Re: Tour de France: How professional cycling teams eat and cook on the road

#80

Post by [deleted] »

timeon wrote: post #68
n4r9 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess the point is that in cycling - relative to other sports - money gives you an easy edge. You can afford much better equipment, nutrition, coaching etc... . Compare that to (say) football in the UK: you just need a £5 ball and a few friends, and if you show promise you can track into your local team's programme and get top quality coaching at minimal cost. It depends on the culture as well. From what I read abo…

Peter Sagan started career winning on Tesco bike that he took from his sister. But I think most accessible sport is running. You just need some shoes. Open the door and you are good to go (run). For games like football you also need the ball, playground and other people.

[deleted]
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