Matti Stiens is a former professional road racing cyclist from Belgium turned chef for teams Alpecin–Deceuninck and Fenix–Deceuninck. He’s one of the crew members travelling everywhere with the riders, making sure everyone stays well fed, and he’s been doing so for three years. Kristof de Kegel, the Head of Performance for both teams, is overseeing all the processes and schedules designed to get the riders to the starting line in the best shape possible, which includes training but also, increasingly, nutrition.
Trust and partnership between the chefs and the riders are essential; after all, food can be a very delicate matter, and correct nutrition plays a massive role not only on race days but also in preparation and subsequent recovery. According to Kristof, the magic of the chefs lies in “translating the Performance Dept. nutrient formulas into nice food.” The motto on the official food truck for both teams, Good Food Makes You Faster, seems fitting indeed.
In this instalment, Matt, Kristof, and Matti get deep into the most significant changes in cycling nutrition in the past few years, how to hit all the parameters and also make the food appealing while working with local produce, how a non-repetitive three-week Tour de France menu looks like, hacks for staying creative, which flavour of rice cakes do the teams like the best, and more.
Grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy!
