Female cyclists diet?

Question

I am doing a project for science in school and need to know what female cyclists eat as part of their diet

Answer 1

I am a female cyclist, but also a vegetarian (so I may not fit your model exactly).  I try to eat alot of fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs & beans & protein powered for protein, breads & pasta for carbs.  Sometimes after long rides a pizza is perfect (lots of carbs and a bit of protein for recovery).  For the most part fast food seems to make me feel bogged down, so I stay away from it.

Overall I think it our diet is very similar to most endurance athletes (both male and female).  Although females have to pay alittle more attention to getting iron (especially vegetarians) and calcium.  Let me know if you need any more info!

Answer 2

Men!!!!

Answer 3

There are two different sorts of cycling that you need to consider:

1) short-duration sprint cycling, like in the Olympics

2) endurance (often multi-stage) events, such as the Tour de France.

I do the second lot, although not professionally as I'm not nearly fit enough!  I therefore can't comment on the first sort.

The regime is fairly similar for men and women - endurance cyclists need to be light and stringy.  Hills cost energy and you can be much faster going up them if you're lighter.  

While training, cyclists eat loads of carbohydrates, some lean protein, some fat, hardly any sugar or alcohol and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.  

Cyclists can burn 10 000 calories in a day's ride, and lose litres of water, along with the associated salts (sodium and potassium).  To cope with the calories, cyclists tend to do what marathon runners do the day before a race - eat as much carbohydrate as they can, typically pasta.  During the race they eat little - protein bars, glucose replacements, sugary fizzy drinks and so on.  The body requires sugar in the stomach to absorb water and replacement sodium and potassium to keep the heart working properly.  Because professional endurance cyclists operate on a knife-edge or performance, they have to maintain the right balance of nutrients to avoid fatigue or even death.  Too little water results in dehydration and then heatstroke, heat exhaustion and death.  The wrong balance of rehyration salts and the heart can flutter or stop.  Too much protein sends the blood to the stomach and disables the cyclist from reaching top speeds.  Too little carbohydrate results in the cyclist running out of energy.

See below for a report on what one of the Tour de France chefs said about cooking for the cyclists.