“We weigh the plates to the nearest gram” … behind the scenes of the Totalnergies Nutrition Truck

On the menu that evening: Melon carpaccio with Stracciatella, pistachios and lemon, followed by a Basque chicken with rice or pasta, then an apricot, almond and mint tart. Before a dairy snack taken in the bedroom. On the Tour de France, the Totalenergies team has its own nutrition truck, in which three nutritionists are busy to prepare breakfasts, snacks and dinners of the eight runners, adapting their meals to their calorie expenses.

Soft lights in the morning to wake up, and in the evening to calm down. The runners of the Vendée team are pampered in the small room that serves as a restaurant, in the nutrition truck. They are the only members of the team to dine there, away from the staff, to decompress, and especially to save time. “”On a big tour, it is estimated that it is an hour of winning, rather than going to dine in the hotel restaurant and wait until they are served because there are other customers. This is essential for recovery “estimates Pierre Pasquier, nutritionist, in the middle of his professional cuisine of a few square meters.

Beyond this time saving, this space especially allows a total control of food ingested by runners, without risk of contamination. “We send the list to hotels that shop for us, and ASO (organization) take care of. We try to go on quality, preferably organic, premises if we can, Continues Pierre Pasquier by finishing packing shares of rice cake with brown cream. We also prepare fishing clafoutis. The runners eat it on the stage, when it is not too intense. We know exactly how many grams of carbohydrates there are in it, often between 20 and 40“.

A mastery of the quantities which is also transcribed into the plates at the dinner, different for each runner according to his calorie expenses of the day. “We weigh the plates to the near gram, explains the nutritionist, constantly linked to the team doctor. A human oscillates between 2,000 and 2,500 calories in daily need. But a runner, just on the stage, spent between 5,000 and 6,000, who add up to daily needs. So we want to be sure they eat enough, because a runner who loses 300 grams per day, it's 3 or 4 kilos at the end of the turn, it's not possible “.

And to find out how many calories were ingested during the race, the runners try to count how many energy gels they consume. “We have to eat about 100 grams of carbohydrates per hour, so it's up to us to manage, we calculate almost at the start of the race to put what it takes in the pockets”explains Alexandre Delettre, who participates in his first Tour de France. And in the evening, “Lare quantities in the plate depend on the profile of the runner and the stage. Anthony (Turgis) and Emilien (Jeannière, who had to abandon) have a more sprinter profile and therefore a slightly higher weight than the others, so they are the ones who have the biggest portionscontinues Pierre Pasquier. But on the eighth stage, we saw Mattéo (Vercher) and Mathieu (Burgaudeau) Make a raid for two, so the energy expenditure was greater, so the quantities were higher “.

Thus, for the dish, the runner's plate can go up to 500 grams of cooked starchy foods. “Sometimes it is difficult to finish them because there are a lot of quantity, so we can compensate with more liquid foods, such as smoothies, to have the good number of calories“Adds Alexandre Delettre.

And contrary to popular belief, runners do not only eat pasta or chicken at dinner. “”And fortunately, smiles the one who finished fourth in the last French championship. We have quite varied dishes and that makes the difference so as not to be tired in the evening after the stage. We know they cook well, it comforts us “. Since the start of the big loop, the runner has particularly appreciated the pastry clock with pistachio and veal blanquette. Within the Totalnergies team, there are no foods prohibited by nutritionists, “So that the runners are listened to, that there is no frustration and big cracks, and because they are lucid enough to know what is good for them”.

“On the other hand, it is certain that in the nutrition truck you are not going to find aperitif cookies or sausage, tempera Pierre Pasquier. More We develop the recipes so that it is adapted to their needs, while remaining gourmet. On a chocolate cake for example, we will reduce fat and enrich in compote, it's better for carbohydrates and they do not realize it “. At breakfast, no pastries or spreads, but “Either porridge, rice, pancakes, or a lot of bread too. And things to spread like almond or nut puree. But above all a lot of starchy foods”continues the nutritionist.

The runners have more the right to have a little more pleasure on the eve of a day of rest, since they have no step to manage the next day. “Here we spend the day of rest in Auvergne, so we have an Auvergne burger with Saint-Nectaire. We also make pizzas”underlines Pierre Pasquier. And in addition to the follow -up of the remaining seven runners for the Vendée team on the Tour de France, the nutritionist continues to follow, in parallel, the twenty other runners of the team, to training for other races, to whom he sends nutrition programs.