It is no picnic racing in the world’s toughest race, and the food/drink that goes along with it is nothing you would find in your average picnic basket. Team Soigneur Sandra Ni Hodnae put together this massive list and a full report of just what it takes.
Here’s what we pack per rider, per day. So multiply this list by at least 200!
6 Clif Bars (Nectar, Mojo, Z bar)
5 Clif Gels
4 Clif Bloks
2 cans Clif Quench electrolyte
0.5 can Clif recovery
2 Clif Builders protein bars
2 sachets apple cider recovery (hot tea)
1 sachet hot chocolate recovery for chocolate fix!!!
7 home-made basmati rice cakes
4 fruit jellies
1 mussette bag
10 CamelBak Podium ChillJacket bottles (minimum)
.10 ml sun lotion/start oil depending on the weather
8 safety pins
.10 ml chamois cream
200 grams oats
300 grams rice for home-made rice cakes
50g cereal
150 ml soy milk
8 liters water
10 grams nuts
5 eggs
200 grams meat/fish
3 yogurts
3 expresso coffee
10 ml olive oil
4 pieces of fruit
1 tablespoon of honey
Quarter baguette
4 pages newspaper each long descent or/and wet day to pack in shoes.
0.5 caps laundry detergent
1 large bath towel for shower in bus
20 ml shower gel
0.5 cups massage cream
0.25 rolls of plastic tape to attach earplugs from race radio to their ears so it doesn’t fall out.
We also pack 7 large coolers to carry a minimum 50 bottles each, and order 40 kg of ice every morning to fill coolers. Every day we use half a roll of aluminum foil and half a pack of cleaning and baby wipes. It’s no surprise that we fill 6 100-liter garbage bags daily!
We carry 5 massage tables and every day we use 17 bath towels and 5 sheets to do massage. We do at least 5 loads of laundry daily and need at least 6 kw of power to keep electrical appliances like fridge, freezer, washing machine, dryer, iron, lighting, and oven going without tripping trip-switch!
Then each rider has at least 35 items of cycling clothing that includes jerseys both long and short sleeve, bib shorts, leggings, knee warmers, arm warmers, socks, gloves, speed suit, helmet, rain jackets, wind vests and wind jacket.
Then you add staff. We are 15 and include: 3 mechanics, 4 soigneurs, 1 trainer, 1 chef, 3 directors, 1 doctor, 1 osteopath, 1 press agent. So that means in addition to all the stuff above, we have 70 pieces of luggage to move and 15 rooming lists to write daily.
To move us all around we have 1 team bus, 1 van, 1 Sprinter, 1 super truck, 5 station wagons and a camper that will be at the time trials. The vehicles use on average about at least 25 liters of fuel and travel about 200 km daily.
When you add everything up, it equates to many, many hours of work. It flows smoothly when none of the above are missing on any given day. Well organized, it’s really not so much to juggle in the scale of a Grand Tour!!
