What did cyclists eat in our ancestors' time to get some pep in their step? As we can imagine, the cyclist who climbed mountains during the Tours de France of the 1930s-40s didn't have gels on hand.
However, while it's easy to find information about the Tour de France and the cycling competitions that marked history, discovering what early cyclists ate is as arduous as climbing a 45-degree slope on a fixie.
But here and there, we find some substantial tidbits, often quite comical given the knowledge of the time. To perform well, one had to eat well, and by well, we mean a lot of protein. The daily consumption of a cyclist is estimated at 6000 calories!
Today, we know that Louis Cyr gorged himself on a bit of everything, indiscriminately, to deliver performances that met public expectations, but he wasn't the only one. Maurice Garin, riding in the very first Tour de France in 1903, ate 2 chickens, 4 steaks, a 10-egg omelette, and 12 bananas on the first stage, not to mention a good Bordeaux (not just a glass, but the whole bottle!) to wash it all down. Did he win? You'd be surprised to learn that he did.
We also learn that a French baron, who had improvised himself as a specialist on the subject, wrote a book on cyclist nutrition. At the beginning of the 20 th century, as the popularity of cycling races took off on the cobblestones of Europe, Baron de Civrac recommended, among other things, avoiding drinking milk, as the bumps in the roads could turn the milk in the stomach into butter.
No matter! In terms of good drink, cyclists were well served. Red wine, of course, but also champagne, mint liqueur, and Mariani wine. Named after its Corsican inventor, a pharmacist, this wine was prepared with cocaine. One could almost cry doping! (By the way, for a little history, when Mariani wine was introduced to the United States, Doctor Pemberton mixed it with cola nut and soda, and boom! Coca-Cola was born!)
In a 1932 article from L'auto titled "La composition de la musette d’un cycliste" ("musette"! how adorable!), it describes in a delightful style how a cyclist chooses his provisions:
Before the start of any major road cycling competition, the sports director of a team gathers his riders and asks each one what they want in their musette.
The rider will indicate without much conviction: chicken, ham and jam sandwiches, bananas, tarts, chocolate, prunes, etc.
He will indicate these foods with a certain indifference, for he attaches no great importance to one over another.
But what he will be uncompromising about are the ten sugar cubes, which he considers essential to include in his musette.
The rider knows perfectly well that the other foods will pass more or less well through his stomach, depending on his fatigue, but that sugar, on the other hand, will be easily assimilated and will give him the necessary strength to successfully complete his task. For a champion, sugar is as necessary to his body as the air he breathes.
A Science that Improves
To sustain the intense effort required for the considerable distances of cycling championships, the science of sports nutrition has made happy progress over the years. Today,
a worthy cyclist
avoids alcohol (it dehydrates, and anyway, it's illegal) and favors carbohydrates and protein: pasta, ham, poultry, fruits, and light desserts to get fast-acting sugars.
For breakfast, he will prefer to eat a carbohydrate-rich meal, such as an omelet with rice. To avoid giving it all back while riding, he will eat at least three hours before the race.
During the race, the musette is still there, but its content differs: sugary drinks, cereal bars, food gels, fruit pastes... In short, we can say that the 10 sugar cubes are still there too!
Sources
http://jeanpaulbrouchon-cyclisme.typepad.fr/info_courses/les-petites-histoires-du-tour/
http://www.linternaute.com/sport/cyclisme/que-mangent-les-coureurs-du-tour-de-france.shtml
Photo: http://cyclingart.blogspot.ca/2013/11/friday-file-headbands-vs-cycling-caps.html
http://flixmix.tumblr.com/post/57531801733/cyclivist-french-cyclist-robert-jacquinot-in-a