Fuel like Tour de France riders with these recipes from a pro cycling chef

Ingredients

Method

• 1: Mince the salmon and salt in a food processor until smooth, or chop the fish and mix it well with the salt by hand or with a hand mixer.
• 2: Add the eggs and flour and mix until the dough has a firm consistency.
• 3: Pick and chop half of the mint. Finely chop the spring onion and finely grate the ginger.
• 4: Stir the ginger, spring onion and lime zest into the mince and season with salt and pepper.
• 5: Fry a mini fish cake in olive oil in a pan. Taste, and add salt, pepper or lime zest if necessary. Once satisfied, leave to rest for 15 minutes while you make the salad.
• 6: Cut the red cabbage and pepper into thin strips.
• 7: Dice the apple and chop the pistachios.
• 8: Mix the lemon zest, juice, honey and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss with the chopped veg, fruits, pistachios and mint.
• 9: Arrange the coleslaw on a plate and top with mint, placing the fish cakes on the side.

Hannah says:

“Salmon is a great dinner choice for endurance athletes: it’s a delicious source of fatty acids and protein which help to optimise the performance of your muscles, brain and nervous system.

“And it’s easy to digest, so it is great the night before a crazy long ride.

“But I’ve cooked a lot of salmon for pro riders over the years, so it’s good to mix it up: these fish cakes add flavour and feel more adventurous.

“They’re fried a bit, so have a tasty, caramelised surface. I always get a big applause from the riders with these fish cakes.

“Even the newbies who don’t usually eat fish really like them, because they don’t look like fish! You can even make them into burgers in rolls.

"I’m a huge fan of meals that have multiple purposes, especially for amateur athletes that don’t have chefs cooking their dinner, so this also works as a cold recovery meal. And it is a versatile recipe: you could use cod instead.

“Both the salmon and cod recipes are made without milk or cream but 75ml of either can be added to make them more fluffy.

“I recommend the coleslaw as a side for its fresh taste, nutrients, extra crunch and texture.

“If you massage the cabbage with salt in advance, it starts to break down so it will be easier to digest.

“But you could also roast some potatoes or serve it with mash, quinoa or rice.”

Ingredients

Method

• 1: Whisk the eggs, milk and maple syrup together.
• 2: Stir the xanthan gum or psyllium husks into the liquid and let sit for 2-3 mins.
• 3: Mix the rice flour and oat flour in a bowl with the salt.
• 4: Melt the butter over low heat.
• 5: Sift the flour mixture into the egg mixture and beat into a smooth batter.
• 6: Whisk in the melted butter and let rest for 5 mins before frying.
• 7: Cut the fruit into small cubes. Chop the mint and mix it with the fruit.
• 8: Heat a small pan over medium-high heat. Grease with a small lump of butter.
• 9: Pour about 50ml batter onto the pan. Use a small spatula to carefully spread out the batter.
• 10: Fry the pancake on both sides over medium heat until golden brown and delicious.
• 11: Serve topped with fruit salad, skyr or yoghurt and maple syrup.

Ingredients

Method

• 1: Preheat oven to 170°C/Gas Mark 3.
• 2: Blend all the ingredients, except the butter and cherries.
• 3: Add the melted butter while blending on low- to-medium speed.
• 4: Flavour the batter with more cinnamon, lime zest and/or honey to your taste.
• 5: Grease the muffin tins and sprinkle them with almond flour. If you use paper cups, you can sprinkle a little coconut flour on the bottom.
• 6: Use a spoon to fill the tins/paper cups with batter and press the cherries gently into the batter, around 2.5-3cm of batter in each tin/cup. You can replace the cherries with plums, peaches or pears.
• 7: Bake the cakes for around 25-30 mins. Rotate the muffin tins once or twice during baking time to ensure even baking. The cakes are ready when golden brown and firm.

Hannah says:

“This is a really fun and tasty training fuel which I developed as an alternative snack when riders started eating rice cakes all the time.

“Rice cakes are a great source of carbohydrates: they fill you up just enough so you don’t just burn the fuel immediately, and these have the same capabilities but with a different flavour.

“With the use of sweet potatoes, these are nice and sweet and caramelised and they’re a good source of carbohydrates. And the eggs give just enough protein to stabilise your hunger.

“They’re also easy to eat: as soft and nice as a pumpkin pie but smoother, not grainy.

“You can use any berries but cherries are sweet and acidic for a good pop of flavour. They’re race cakes but work for the family too: kids go bananas for them!

“They’re so easy to eat and delicious.”

Ingredients

Method

• 1: Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.
• 2: Drizzle the beetroot (skin on) with oil, and season with salt. Wrap in aluminium foil.
• 3: Bake the beetroot for 45-50 mins until tender.
• 4: Peel the sweet potato and cut it into 2x2cm cubes. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 25-30 mins until tender and golden.
• 5: Rinse and cook the quinoa according to instructions. Let it sit in the pot with a lid on for around 10 mins to rest and then let cool.
• 6: Pour boiling water over the parsley and squeeze the liquid out of the leaves once cool. Chop the leaves and puree them with a little cold water. Season the puree with salt to taste.
• 7: Mix the quinoa and parsley puree and arrange the mixture like small mountaintops in bowls.
• 8: Season the cottage cheese with salt and pepper to taste.
• 9: Chop the pistachios.
• 10: Remove the skin from the beetroots and cut into bite-size pieces.
• 11: Arrange the beetroot, baked sweet potato and cottage cheese around the quinoa mountaintops. Top with the chopped pistachios and some freshly ground black pepper.

Hannah says:

“Sometimes you need a lighter meal and this quinoa bowl has lots of soft, tasty and palatable carbs. I love the texture and nutty flavour of quinoa, and it works well combined with the sweet potatoes.

“Even when hungry, Tour riders can suffer from food fatigue after a hard stage and they struggle to eat.

“But this adds sweetness and saltiness and flavour, so you get the palatability of that sweet and salty pop.

“You also have the baked beets which are sweet and soft, which further enhances your urge to eat.

“Quinoa already contains protein, but I have added cottage cheese – high in protein, easy to digest and with a nice creamy texture – for another protein source, so it’s also like a protein-rich vegetarian dish.

“It can be served as dinner, lunch, a recovery dish or a side. It is great warm, but also cold after training. It fills you up nicely, supports protein synthesis and supports your bike training too.”

Ingredients

Method

• 1: Preheat the oven to 185°C/Gas mark 5.
• 2: Peel the onion and garlic. Slice the onion into strips and finely chop the garlic.
• 3: Dice the courgette and aubergine into 2x2cm dice.
• 4: Pierce the tomatoes with a sharp knife.
• 5: Mix all the greens together with the chickpeas, olive oil, rosemary and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
• 6: Roast everything in the oven on a baking sheet with baking paper for 20-25 mins or until tender and golden.
• 7: Mix in the picked basil and season with finely grated lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper.

Hannah says:

“Riders have different training days – some hard days, some easier days or rest days or active recovery days.

“And on those more relaxed days, if you’re used to eating big volumes, you can feel hungry if you don’t need or want as much caloric intake.

“Thanks to the nutritional density and volume of fruit and veg, this sheet pan ratatouille is the ideal solution.

“Vegetables are very rich in water so you have a high volume of food, but with a low calorific value and a high nutritional value.

“So this will fill you up, and give you a healthy nutrient boost, and you will still enjoy that volume you are used to, but without a high calorific intake.

“Obviously you don’t want to gain weight on days off or easy training days.

“I cooked this for Team Visma-Lease A Bike last spring at a training camp in Sierra Nevada.

“And I added the chickpeas to give it another plant-based protein. You could also serve a piece of grilled chicken or fish cakes, so it is a very versatile dish.

“You can make a big sheet pan, eat half one day and add some to pasta the next day. And it can be served hot or cold.”