Name: Dan Evans Age: 40 Height: 5’9” Sport: Cycling – Hill Climbs Titles: 2 x British Hill Climb Champion. 6 x Welsh Hill Climb Champion. Nationality: British / Welsh. Favourite Food: Anything spicy, the hotter the better What are your goals for 2022? To win some big hill climb events in the French Alps. What is your biggest sporting achievement to date? My two British hill climb titles (2014 & 2017). What is one piece of advice you would give to someone starting out in your sport? Have FUN! Cycling is a tough sport -especially in the UK where the weather isn’t often favourable- and it takes real effort and commitment to excel and race at a high level. You need to always remember that bikes are fun. If you keep the fun in your riding, all the effort and all the miles in the cold/dark just become that much easier and the race wins in the sunshine taste sweeter. What does a typical training day look like? A typical training day is 3-4 hours on the road or in the mountains. In season I’ll concentrate on road miles, hitting the numbers in my sessions and ensure the quality is there. Out of season there is a more relaxed vibe, mountain biking with friends, trail running in the woods and chilled group rides. What is the next big event/race you are working towards? The goal is always the British Champs but this year I’d like to get out to France and race the Alpe d’Huez hill climb with unfinished business from 2015 where I came second… What are your favourite products from SIS and how have they helped fuel your training/competition? My entire day is based around SIS products: Starting with Immune and a Vitamin D3 tablet each morning over breakfast. My training rides are fuelled with Bakes, Beta Fuel gels (strawberry and lime) and usually Turbo+ in my bottles. I’ll generally alternate between the bars and gels every 30-45mins depending on the intensity of the training. After training it’s down to the serious business of recovery and my go-to is the Low-Carbohydrate “Isolate” protein powder in strawberry flavour. This gives me 31g of protein without too many carbs allowing me to start the recovery process before grabbing a shower and eating a carb rich meal. For multi day events or for a training camp abroad I’ll go with Rego post ride, just for that more complete recovery formula, starting to replenish the glycogen immediately. How important is it to focus on nutrition for your training/sport? I think more than any other sport, cycling is completely dominated by nutrition. Getting your rituals right and finding what works for you is essential for performance, recovery and progression. Written By The Performance Solutions Team
