Event: 16 June 2013
Location: Giggleswick School, Giggleswick, Settle, North Yorkshire
Preview: Three Peaks Classic
More than 100 kilometres and many hours in the saddle call for exactly the right type and quantity of food. This needs careful thought. Fuelling a sportive is a demanding process. It goes far beyond eating a simple slab of cake or rushed energy gel.
Above: The Yorkshire Dales - perfect cycling country and the setting for the Three Peaks Classic Sportive.
"We're thrilled to link with Liverpool John Moores University. This way we are sure that riders have great tasting food that helps them throughout the ride. There’s nothing better than great food to give you an extra push up the hills."
David Isherwood, Three Peaks Classic organiser
You must eat properly before the event – and during the event - to get through the day and get the most out of your day. This means eating a fairly normal, healthy diet. You simply need to be fuelling properly with a reasonably long journey in mind. Porridge for breakfast, wholemeal bread and tuna sandwiches and the traditional meat, veg and pasta dinners are well known and clichéd menus. But they work.
The Three Peaks Classic Sportive in June 2013 will take a unique approach to fuelling riders. By teaming up with Liverpool John Moores University and its nutrition experts, the event will serve food at feed stations prepared by staff and students from the Food and Nutrition Department. Liverpool John Moores University has gained an enviable international reputation for their work in the area of food and nutrition, researching nutrition for ultra-endurance sport and strength athletes. This means that riders will be given properly prepared food with perfect nutritional properties for their ride.
“As an organised event, we want to make sure that riders have the right support and this includes the food we provide,” says David Isherwood, “We’re thrilled to link with Liverpool John Moores University. This way we are sure that riders have great tasting food that helps them throughout the ride. There’s nothing better than great food to give you an extra push up the hills.”
There are plenty of hills in Yorkshire. The Three Peaks Classic will take in many of them as it navigates some 130km of the Yorkshire Dales, including stretches of the recently released Tour de France route for 2014. Having a sound nutritional strategy is crucial to avoiding “bonking” out on the course.
Think you are up for the challenge? Enter today via the British Cycling online entry here.
