Professional Cycling For the Fans - Eating while in the tour

I was wondering how the riders in the Tour de France get all that energy.

Was browsing the web and found this: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=stein/090701

Pretty amazing how they eat so much.

Grand Tours: Pretty much the only place on the planet you can eat over 6k calories per day for three straight weeks and still lose weight.

I read that pushing that amount of food through your body day after day ain't good for your health.

Here is a picture from Andy Schleck of what Leopard Trek eats.

http://twitpic.com/5p76z8

Pretty good article by Michael Barry: http://www.thestar.com/sports/tourdefrance/article/1024707--barry-what-a-tour-rider-puts-in-his-stomach

and one about Dave Z going vegan: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304314404576414124184873028.html

Here is a picture from Andy Schleck of what Leopard Trek eats.

http://twitpic.com/5p76z8

Odd I was under the impression AS was eating a steady diet of


http://birdspictures.net/crow-sitting.jpg

Pretty amazing how they eat so much.

Oh, I don't know. I recently did an eight-week tour. I was going only about 100km per day, at about 20kph - so half the distance, at half the speed, of these guys; (though to be fair, they aren't riding a 35lb tourer with 50lb of baggage). Out of curiosity I kept track of my approximate calorie consumption. Eating roughly 4000 kcal per day - almost twice what I would normally eat - I lost 7kilos, or about 15 lbs. And I didn't really feel I was eating a lot; one's appetite is enormous under these circumstances.

I did AIDS Lifecycle in 2008, 585 miles over 7 days. I was pretty much eating or drinking every minute I wasn't on the bike because I was paranoid of bonking. I think I gained weight. :)

Odd I was under the impression AS was eating a steady diet of


http://birdspictures.net/crow-sitting.jpg

This is very funny since the first time I saw Andy and Frank they reminded me of Heckle and Jeckle.