A cycling Grand Tour is well-known to be one of the most gruelling, physically, and mentally up-and-down sporting challenges on offer. The odd rest day provides the riders and team members a moment to take it all in and go again. The importance of these days is still paramount and can’t be underestimated, as reset and recovery is crucial in the hunt for success in the remainder of the Tour. Read on to find out more about how a rest day goes down at a Grand Tour. A WELL-NEEDED REST As the name suggests, the rest days provide a well-earned rest for the riders and the whole team behind the riders. It doesn’t mean that the riders will have the day off, to ensure that they are continuing their form and flushing the legs out. Riders will take to the bike for a recovery spin, something around 90 mins will help to keep the familiarity and provide some active recovery. This might of course happen a little later than a normal stage, as there is no need to travel so riders and teams can afford the luxury of a little more time to sleep. FUELLING A REST DAY Just because the riders aren’t undergoing intense days of racing, this doesn’t mean that nutrition and fuelling aren’t still a high priority. The fuelling for a rest day is similar to other stages, riders will have a good nutritional breakfast ready for the recovery ride. Favourites of the team include omelettes, bread, or cereals, this will help set them up for the day. When riders take to the bike for some active recovery, they will of course continue fuelling, to ensure they replenish glycogen stores which will have been depleted over the previous days of racing. They will also be looking to top stores up for the remainder of the stages. As the intensity and duration will both be decreased from a normal day, the team might opt for more solid-based foods as the delivery of carbohydrates isn’t needed as efficiently. Our GO Energy Bakes and Energy Bars are popular amongst many of the riders, as well as the Beta Fuel Chews, this helps to stop any taste or format fatigue when riders will be reaching for our Energy Gels during the race. Of course, on a recovery ride, there might be an obligatory café stop where riders can fuel up on solids. REBUILDING THE BODY There are many ways that riders throughout a grand tour will rebuild their body, from daily massages to help relieve the aches and tension, to nutrition intake which will help to rebuild muscles and replenish glycogen stores. This is exactly what our REGO range caters for with the optimum levels of protein as well as carbohydrates to help build for the days ahead. The INEOS Grenadiers take a variety of items including bespoke products from our SiS Lab range which is tailored specifically to the rider’s requirements. REGO Rapid Recovery offers the same format of protein and carbohydrates, so you can recover like a Grenadier with the same REGO recovery range. As the rest day winds down, the attention quickly turns to the next day’s racing, but not before the use of REGO Cherry Juice before sleep, which helps to aid muscle recovery and increase the quality of sleep, something which riders, as they move around from hotel to hotel, are keen to keep to a maximum. Written By sisteam Supplying world-class knowledge, elite insights, and product recommendations to provide optimal performance solutions for all athletes across a wide variety of endurance sports.
