The 5 favorite meals and 5 snacks of the BORA-Hansgrohe cyclists

The diet of cyclists has evolved greatly in recent decades. Gone are the days of white pasta and grilled chicken for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Nowadays, teams have expert chefs who not only fulfill the guidelines set by the team's nutritionists but do so in an attractive way. The cyclists of BORA-Hasgrohe tell us about their favorite dishes.

This is how BORA-Hansgrohe cyclists eat

Eating healthy and balanced, adding the necessary nutrients and energy to perform at their best on the bike is not incompatible with enjoying attractive meals, far from what happened in the past when cyclists practically starved and, on many occasions, their performance was not optimal due to significant deficiencies under the obsession of extreme thinness and certain nutrition myths, more typical of bodybuilders than athletes who have to pedal at full effort for hours.

It was Team Sky in their search for the famous marginal gains who popularized the figures of a nutritionist and a real chef as part of the staff. Until that time, the norm was for the riders themselves to fend for themselves in terms of nutrition by hiring their own nutritionist apart from the team.

Today it is something generalized in the teams and they provide a plus during the concentrations and races by making the meal times much more appetizing to the riders. As we said, the teams sign real chefs who prepare delicious dishes, even some have published books with the recipes that cyclists prepare. A good example is BORA-Hansgrohe whose riders have chosen their favorite dishes, both in terms of main meals and the snacks they choose for tea or between meals.

The favorite meals of BORA-Hansgroe cyclists

Combining the control of different nutrients in their right amounts: proteins, carbohydrates, fats with attractive and delicious dishes is not an easy task for BORA-Hansgrohe's chefs. However, making mealtime a pleasant time in which delicious dishes are tasted is a plus when it comes to keeping motivation high in the team.

So important is that even some of their riders are enthusiastic amateur chefs who bring to their day-to-day the preparation of real delicacies like the ones they can enjoy during the concentrations. Such is the case of cyclists like Nico Denz, Bob Jungels, Nils Politt or Patrick Konrad who have made a list with the 5 best dishes that are cooked in BORA-Hansgroe

5. Stir-fries

The ingredients suitable for use in a stir-fry is very wide. This allows, on the one hand, to use almost anything we have in the fridge and, on the other hand, to play with the nutritional content of each one to provide the necessary nutrients in their right proportion.

4. Curry

As with stir-fries, the options for preparing curries are almost infinite. Meat, vegetables, rice, different spice mixes... the variants are countless. A dish whose number 1 fan within the team is Jai Hindley.

3. Meat dishes

The vegan lifestyle is not common among cyclists as meat becomes one of the main sources of protein, the nutrient necessary to regenerate muscles after intense training. In any case, since the amounts that a cyclist ingests are reduced compared to what a normal person consumes, at least it should be meat of the highest quality like the one chosen by Nico Denz with his preference for game meat thanks to his father's permission.

2. Pasta

Pasta continues to be the carbohydrate intake par excellence of cyclists. However, gone are the days of bland white pasta with a drizzle of oil. Starting with the use of different varieties of pasta not only the typical wheat flour but also with flour from other cereals such as rice, corn and even based on legumes. In most cases, fresh pasta made by the chefs themselves, cooked al dente for a more progressive energy supply and with countless preparations.

1. Pizza

Although pizza is associated with junk food, the reality is that, a homemade preparation with the ingredients in their right amount, chosen according to their nutrients, is not only a balanced dish but also so tasty that it is the favorite of most BORA-Hansgrohe cyclists. The classic margherita pizza, which includes tomato sauce, oregano and mozzarella, with appropriately measured portions, is a perfectly healthy and balanced dish that brightens up the cyclists' dinner after a hard day.

The favorite snacks of BORA-Hansgrohe cyclists

The recommendations of most nutritionists suggest that it is better to make 5 meals than the usual three. Beyond breakfast, lunch and dinner, tea and another moment between hours, in the case of the cyclist can be mid-morning after finishing training or at the stop halfway through the route serve to keep blood glucose levels more stable, which avoids insulin peaks and, therefore, that anxiety to eat that leads us to devour what we find in the middle. In addition, making 5 meals increases the body's metabolic expenditure by keeping it active in digestive tasks for longer.

There are several options for healthy snacking between meals. Of all of them, the favorites of BORA-Hansgrohe riders are the following:

5. Hummus

Carbohydrates, lots of protein and very low fat content. Legumes are often the great forgotten of many diets and of course a powerful stew may not be the most appropriate in the middle of July after a stage of the Tour de France. Preparations like hummus, which can be used as an accompaniment to other dishes or, as a healthy snack spread on raw vegetables, becomes a fantastic option as well as very satiating.

4. Ice cream

As with pizza, ice cream has a reputation for junk food. Something associated with industrial ice creams with high fat and sugar content that, obviously, are not the most appropriate for a cyclist. However, being in Italy, with a handmade ice cream shop at hand, who can resist? In its right measure, it is one of those small pleasures that brighten the cyclist's diet.

3. Chocolate

With chocolate the same thing happens as with ice cream, it has that label of forbidden food when, however, it has healthy vegetable fats, a good dose of proteins and a great contribution of antioxidants. Of course, you have to choose the type of chocolate and be very careful with the amount due to the high caloric intake that its intake implies. An ounce of dark chocolate at certain times is one of those whims that no cyclist can resist.

2. Cheesecake

Again, foods that would have been inconceivable in a cyclist's diet in the past become attractive options to make nutrition much more attractive. A small portion of cheesecake, of course, homemade with low in sugars and accompanied, for example, by berries and in its right amount, can brighten our snack while providing a good dose of the proteins associated with cheese without also shooting the consumption of fats for the cream cheeses that are usually used in these preparations.

1. Yogurt with muesli and fruit

Quick, easy to prepare and with a very complete nutrient intake, muesli with yogurt crosses the borders of breakfast and is ideal not only for tea but as a complement to the typical energy shake after training.

Obviously, there are many other options. It is a matter of knowing what nutrients are provided by each of the foods and consume them in the right measure so that the caloric balance is ideal to keep our energy stores high, so that we can perform, in addition to consuming the proteins and fats necessary for proper functioning of the body and proper recovery. What are your favorite healthy dishes? Tell us about them in our social networks.