how many calories are tour de france cyclists burning?

thebourke · 19-07-2012 11:05AM #1

according to mammyride i burn approx 600 calories a day commuting to work...what kind of calories are the guys in the tour de france burning?

lennymc · 19-07-2012 11:16AM

thebourke wrote: »

according to mammyride i burn approx 600 calories a day commuting to work...what kind of calories are the guys in the tour de france burning?

mammyride. hahahaha. Best typo ever

I burned about 4-5000 recently (i think) doing a 200+ km spin in wicklow. I would imagine they are burning more than that.

Lusk Doyle · 19-07-2012 11:18AM

Upward of 9,000.

colm_gti · 19-07-2012 11:19AM

Read an article the other day about wiggins eating up to 9000 calories a day, I'll look for it when I'm back at my desk and post it up

Rovi · 19-07-2012 11:21AM

The lads on Eurosport mentioned 6000 yesterday.

ednwireland · 19-07-2012 11:22AM

thebourke wrote: »

according to mammyride i burn approx 600 calories a day commuting to work...what kind of calories are the guys in the tour de france burning?

i burn half as many calories when i wear my heart rate monitor (according to my garmin) As when i dont. (i.e dont think that mapamyride is anywhere near accurate)

Tour de France: Bradley Wiggins can eat up to 9000 calories a day
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/18857794

Tour de France: a mountain of calories

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/food/2012/06/tour-de-france-a-mountain-of-c.shtml

MajesticDonkey · 19-07-2012 11:30AM

Wiggins would want to be eating 9000 calories a day...the cut of him.

Nate--IRL-- · 19-07-2012 11:36AM

How the hell do you eat 9000 cals a day?

Nate

Victor · 19-07-2012 11:37AM

To a degree, it will depend on how far and how fast the are travelling - stages vary from 41.5km to 226km. It will also depend on whether the are part of the peleton or plan to take part in a breakaway group.

2 Wheels Good · 19-07-2012 11:53AM

From Nicolas Roches tour de france diary the other day link
As it wasn't so hectic today, I drank seven bottles in the three hours and 50 minutes it took us to cover the 159km stage. But on a mountain stage like the one to La Toussuire the other day I drank around 15 bottles, ate seven or eight gels, five or six bars plus a banana.

MajesticDonkey · 19-07-2012 11:55AM

2 Wheels Good wrote: »

From Nicolas Roches tour de france diary the other day link
As it wasn't so hectic today, I drank seven bottles in the three hours and 50 minutes it took us to cover the 159km stage. But on a mountain stage like the one to La Toussuire the other day I drank around 15 bottles, ate seven or eight gels, five or six bars plus a banana.

That doesn't seem like an OTT amount. I had 3 bottles, 6 gels and 2 energy bars during the Ring of Kerry. Mind you, that's all I had.

godtabh · 19-07-2012 01:10PM

In his book Roche says he could burn upto 10k calories on a tough mountain stage. Then he would refuel with plain pasta and ketchup.

C3PO · 19-07-2012 01:22PM

godtabh wrote: »

In his book Roche says he could burn upto 10k calories on a tough mountain stage. Then he would refuel with plain pasta and ketchup.

10000 calories in pasta and ketchup ...... Yuuuuuk!

petethedrummer · 19-07-2012 01:49PM

Nate--IRL-- wrote: »

How the hell do you eat 9000 cals a day?

You try to emulate the best...
images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQBnbP1PEq_Wg0ZEhMHt_FNjQTv8yiIMjCAecf-70j7Tb61qQeC

Jawgap · 19-07-2012 02:40PM

thebourke wrote: »

according to mammyride ........

mammyride....

9000 to 10000 calories is the generally touted figure, which is quite difficult to eat if you don't 'cheat' by having trans-fat laden meat and dairy products......

What's tougher, riding or eating?

It's not so much the calories that's important as calories and nutrients - generally the more dense a food is in energy terms, the less nutritious it is.

Classic example is fast food - in some fast food outlets the average energy density across their menu is about 1100 kJ/100g - compared to 670 kJ/100g for a typical reasonably healthy diet.

A quarter-pounder with cheese, large fries, chocoloate milkshake and an ice-cream dessert is about 2,500 calories - although after 4 of those to get your 10,000 calories on board you probably couldn't cycle very far!

thebourke · 19-07-2012 02:47PM

somehow i don't think the guy on Man v food burns 9,000 calories a day.....

thebourke · 19-07-2012 03:06PM

i see my typo ..i meant to say mapmyride.com not mammyride.com
so it's not accurate for telling you how much calories you burn?

seamus · 19-07-2012 03:19PM

thebourke wrote: »

i see my typo ..i meant to say mapmyride.com not mammyride.com
so it's not accurate for telling you how much calories you burn?

No. It applies all sorts of calculations, but without having equipment attached to you it's hard to even make a reasonable guess at it.

A GPS unit with HRM allows for a number of different measurements to be taken, which can estimate power output, which can then get you much closer to a reasonable estimate.

However even at that the estimates can be way off; For example do a route where the wind is in your face for most of the climbs, then do it again with a tailwind. All websites and units will show greater calories burned on the second day, when the opposite is true.

That's not say the calorie estimate on Strava or Garmin should be ignored, but you should be aware of its pitfalls and remember that your perceived effort is important for working out how hard you worked.

Riding with a power meter is really the only way to get accurate calorie measurements because that's not affected by wind or other factors, it gives a measurement of the raw power you're outputting.

Jawgap · 19-07-2012 03:22PM

thebourke wrote: »

i see my typo ..i meant to say mapmyride.com not mammyride.com
so it's not accurate for telling you how much calories you burn?

Probably not - it's a good general figure, but that's all. I wouldn't rely on it.

there's some more info here on how calorie burn is calculated

How calorie measurement works on Garmin fitness devices

thebourke · 19-07-2012 03:26PM

what is a power meter?

lennymc · 19-07-2012 03:32PM

its a meter that measures how much power you generate when cycling. its normally in the crank, or in the rear hub. It measures the actual power you are producing, rather than guessing it.

seamus · 19-07-2012 03:32PM

thebourke wrote: »

what is a power meter?

Exactly what it says on the tin - a device for measuring power.

Usually comes in the form of a rear hub. The internals of the hub contain all sorts of gadgetry for measuring the power which is being transferred from the cranks to the wheels.
This data can be transferred wirelessly in real-time to a bike computer (such as a Garmin Edge) or stored and downloaded to a PC.

Power meters are expensive, which is why most amateurs stick to the calculations provided by their computers.

easygoing39 · 19-07-2012 03:59PM

http://eurocycles.com/ie/product/powertap/pro-g2-alloy-wheelset

Very good value.

kumate_champ07 · 19-07-2012 06:52PM

I was on 8000 calories for a month a few years back, it was tough

Id imagine that its easier when your appetite is huge from all the miles. its not just the 200km stages, its the warm ups and warm downs + recovery rides that also add to the total calories needed

I also read that most riders finish the TDF with an extra few kg of bodyweight(muscle)

blorg · 20-07-2012 08:32AM

Nate--IRL-- wrote: »

How the hell do you eat 9000 cals a day?

You just eat a lot. It's not that hard. I doubt I've ever been on quite that much, but 7,000-8,000, sure, for months on end, if I'm riding a lot. Most people underestimate the number of calories they consume; I've seen figures of 3,410-3,640 for the *average* consumption in Ireland, although I don't know how accurate this is. I know from previous detailed calorie counting that I lose a significant amount of weight very quickly (>1kg/week) if I stick to the 2,500 recommendation for men.

So it is really just a matter of having six meals a day rather than three, and snacking more. Helps if you like food, of course.

blorg · 20-07-2012 08:44AM

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

I also read that most riders finish the TDF with an extra few kg of bodyweight(muscle)

No, it's the other way around, they lose weight. The article below reckons up to 4.5kg (10lb) over the course of the race, which is a lot given these guys are generally pretty skinny to begin with.

[url]Http://m.phys.org/_news198778635.html[/url]

I've done distances in the ballpark of the Tour over a similar time period on my touring bike (3,220km in 20 days) and that certainly left me lighter. Racing it you would lose even more.

Jawgap · 20-07-2012 08:57AM

Energy intake in Ireland for men averages about 2,700 calories - but that total excludes alcohol.

It also hides the fact that too many of those calories come from fats - about 60% of energy consumed comes from meats, breads, potatoes, dairy products and biscuits/cakes.

IIRC, someone doing a round the world cycle mentioned in their account the problems they had getting enough calories because they were a vegetarian (maybe they were vegan) - I think he got to the point where he realised he'd either have to compromise and eat some meat or abandon the trip, obviously he went for eating meat or it would have been a short account.

Lumen · 20-07-2012 08:58AM

Jawgap wrote: »

It also hides the fact that too many of those calories come from fats

If evolution didn't want us to eat fats it wouldn't have made them so tasty.

Guybrush T · 20-07-2012 09:13AM

blorg wrote: »

No, it's the other way around, they lose weight. The article below reckons up to 4.5kg (10lb) over the course of the race, which is a lot given these guys are generally pretty skinny to begin with.

[URL]Http://phys.org/_news198778635.html[/URL]

I've done distances in the ballpark of the Tour over a similar time period on my touring bike (3,220km in 20 days) and that certainly left me lighter. Racing it you would lose even more.

That link gives a 404 error, could you correct it or post the article title, it sounds like an interesting read.

petethedrummer · 20-07-2012 09:38AM

Guybrush T wrote: »

That link gives a 404 error, could you correct it or post the article title, it sounds like an interesting read.

http://phys.org/news198778635.html

blorg · 20-07-2012 09:41AM

Guybrush T wrote: »

blorg wrote: »

No, it's the other way around, they lose weight. The article below reckons up to 4.5kg (10lb) over the course of the race, which is a lot given these guys are generally pretty skinny to begin with.

[URL]Http://phys.org/_news198778635.html[/URL]

I've done distances in the ballpark of the Tour over a similar time period on my touring bike (3,220km in 20 days) and that certainly left me lighter. Racing it you would lose even more.

That link gives a 404 error, could you correct it or post the article title, it sounds like an interesting read.

http://m.phys.org/_news198778635.html

blorg · 20-07-2012 10:32AM

Jawgap wrote: »

IIRC, someone doing a round the world cycle mentioned in their account the problems they had getting enough calories because they were a vegetarian (maybe they were vegan) - I think he got to the point where he realised he'd either have to compromise and eat some meat or abandon the trip, obviously he went for eating meat or it would have been a short account.

There is no problem getting the calories from a vegetarian diet, the issue is that outside the developed world you will be passing through countries that don't have any vegetarian tradition (India is the only developing country with a substantial number of vegetarians that I am aware of.) As such it can be hard to get food at all if you are strict. Meat stock may be used in otherwise seemingly veggie dishes and so on. The Middle East is very tough for vegetarians, in particular.

seamus · 20-07-2012 11:04AM

I'm not exceptionally well travelled, but the problem anywhere shouldn't be getting the required calories - virtually every diet includes some form of carbs, be it bread or rice or pasta or potato. The issue is as blorg says, that in some places it's virtually impossible to buy any cooked meals which haven't been in contact with meat in one way or another.

And explaining to a street vendor that you don't want anything which has meat in it is practically impossible using just hand gestures and noises.

Jawgap · 20-07-2012 11:23AM

Bit of digging but I found him!

It was Mark Beaumont - but given he was on a schedule and trying to beat a record that probably contributed to his need to get and keep calories coming in at a rate to sustain him on a very deliberate effort.

Linky......

"During his journey Mr Beaumont passed through 20 countries on a route which included Pakistan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

While in the Ukraine, Mr Beaumont, who had been a vegetarian for four years, decided to eat meat, as he was not getting the 6000 calories per day he needed.

"At the time that decision was very hard," he said.

"But at the end of the day there was no way I was going to forsake the record or my own health." "

niceonetom · 20-07-2012 11:28AM

I was curious as to what 6000+ calories might look like so I plugged some slightly educated guesswork into myfitnesspal (a pretty useful tool if you want to get obsessive with the weight management).

From the looks of it getting 6000kcals in is pretty easy once you up the portion size and include some very calorie dense sources - oils and refined sugars (like gels, bidons and bars, the odd can of coke).

Hitting 9000+ would be possible with yet more sugars, fats and a cheeky desert. I wouldn't like to think of the effects of eating like this for weeks on end though, I'd say a boilerplate GI system is as necessary for tour success as good legs.

how many calories are tour de france cyclists burning?

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