Hannah Grant - The Grand Tour Cookbook

In 2006, the team decided to employ a professional chef to accompany us on the road and ensure the quality of all our meals. Ever since, we have consistently increased our focus on diet and the impact it has on performance. As far as I know, we were the first team to introduce the concept of a mobile kitchen, consisting of a truck equipped with a state-of-the-art professional kitchen. In 2010, we kick-started the dietary project which is known today as Performance Cooking. In 2012, we invested a large sum of money in an upgraded catering truck and our wonderful chef, Hannah Grant, acquired an assistant. Last, but not least, this year we have started what is undoubtedly the most modern and individualised diet and test programme in cycling.

Everything aims to guarantee our cyclists are in the best possible physical and mental condition for peak performance. The last decade has been a journey; from the desire to guarantee the quality of the cyclists diets, to a broader focus on how quality food affects performance and what elite athletes should eat on an individual level. This work has been incredibly exciting and rewarding, and I am very proud that we are now ready to take the next step and share some of our many experiences and recipes with you. Enjoy the book and have fun! BJARNE RIIS
Founder
Riis Cycling A/S INTRODUCTION BY HANNAH GRANT This book is about healthy, exciting and nutritionally beneficial food for both professional athletes and physically active individuals. Food fuels the body, so your performance is enhanced when you fill your body with the proper fuel. In broad terms, proper fuel means that, if you want to achieve your optimal energy yield, you must select the highest quality ingredients.

Proper fuel is not just about food. It is about the correct food for every single meal. Proper food is made from scratch and devoid of refined products such as white sugar, white pasta and ready-made sauces, dressings, breads, or desserts. Once you start cooking from scratch, using fresh whole vegetables and fresh, top quality fish and meat (all preferably organic), things will start to fall into place. The Grand Tour Cookbook follows a 21-day Grand Tour (Tour de France, Vuelta a Espaa, or Giro dItalia). Every single one of the cyclists meals, big or small, is made from scratch, primarily using local organic ingredients.

This book is specifically based on a menu for a Tour de France. Between the various stages, you can read the cyclists own thoughts about the food and the difference it makes for them, both when performing and back home. The Grand Tour Cookbook consists of 21 evening meals, each of three, four, or five recipes. Of course, you do not have to make as many courses for yourself every evening as I make for the riders. When we do so, it is because there must be something to suit a range of tastes. It takes a bit of effort to make food for an entire cycling team that collectively represents most of the world! Since many people have a slight intolerance to dairy or gluten, most of the recipes have been devised to suit a dairy- or gluten-free diet.

By minimising dairy and gluten in our riders diet, they can increase their bodys capacity to fight off sickness and resist other non-food allergies (e.g. hay fever). As in all recipe books, some recipes are more demanding than others, so I advise you read through the whole recipe before you start. If you find it impossible to source specific fresh fruits, vegetables or herbs that are used in the recipes, you can replace them with others according to taste and availability. Additionally, you can always replace milk with rice milk or vice versa, if you prefer one to the other. I hope you will share our riders enthusiasm for these dishes and enjoy creating your own proper fuel with the basic principles outlined in the recipes enclosed.

HANNAH GRANT
Chef
Tinkoff-Saxo PERFORMANCE COOKING by ANNE DORTHE TANDERUP WHAT IS THE RIGHT DIET? Over the years there have been many opinions on what is the right diet for professional cyclists and other elite athletes. Innumerable types of diets have been tried everything from red-meat-based diets to carbohydrate-heavy diets and vegetarian diets. Perhaps you have already tried to replicate the diets of top cyclists, or have leafed through some scientific studies and tried to translate the results into your own practice. However, discovering what works for you usually requires simply giving it a go. Some cyclists are lucky enough to discover the right diet for them, but others fumble around, changing direction again and again, because they do not achieve any long-lasting effects. Professional road cycling is a physically demanding sport.

In order to achieve success, there are several criteria that must be fulfilled. First, you need the genes and the talent. Next, you need extraordinary commitment, hard work and mental strength. Its not just a sport, its a way of life that involves knowing what choices to make and, more importantly, what choices not to make. Except for the rare off-season time you have to relax, you must be a professional all day, everyday and all year, constantly focused on your goals. Every aspect of a cyclists life is planned so they can achieve peak performance: sleep, practice, rest, travelling, races and diet.