"They are so thin... I almost get scared when I see them walking" - Adrie van der Poel fears the nutritioning in cycling has taken things way too far
Cycling
Father of Mathieu van der Poel and himself a successful ex-pro Adrie van der Poel believes that the modern cyclist is far too sharp (and thin) and that health is gradually becoming a problem. He discussed this sensitive subject with ex-pro Nathan Van Hooydonck in De Avondetappe.
Adrie van der Poel begins by drawing a comparison to the female side of the sport. "In the past, almost all female cyclists had anorexia and when I look at today's cyclists, I almost get scared when I see them walking. They are already so thin and all the food has to be weighed. I am glad that Mathieu eats a greasy hamburger every now and then and that he doesn't care about that nutrition app. When I look at the Tour, I see cyclists of 1.80 meters with a weight of 60 kilograms. That is really not healthy."
Van Hooydonck, who previously spent three years in Jumbo-Visma - a team notoriously known for its advanced nutritioning approach, counters: "Mathieu can go eat a hamburger because he is exceptionally talented. If other riders do that, they are no longer competing to win. You race to win and to get the best out of yourself, don't you?"
For Van der Poel, nutrition is just one aspect of the whole story. He believes the cycling has developed way too quickly over the past decade and it's become all about attempts to find even marginal gains (such as the Lazor 'alien' helmets introduced by Visma | Lease a Bike). "It's not just nutrition, but also the altitude training (...). A lot has changed in cycling in a very short period of time."
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If your racing, even at the ametur level, like a lot us, weight is very important. I'm 51 but if I'm preparing for race I will only drink ensure for two weeks just to drop those last few pounds before the event. When I'm not training hard I eat normally and I'll be ten pounds heavier than race weight. I also boxed competitively from 11 years until 24 years old, so making weight is a normal thing in my mind. Most people probably don't understand but cycling is my passion and has been since I was a kid. I've invested quite a bit of my life into it and don't even get me started on all the broken bones from the crashes, but I've had some serious ones, almost life ending.
Much like the cyclists, there’s not a lot of meat on this story.
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- Yep I think he must still be recovering from that crash last year. He has done well to get over that, but I would bet it will take some time yet to get back to peak pre-crash fitness. This latest "off" will not have helped.Cyclingsbestfan17-03-2025
- Doesn't mean anything. In 2023 he was only 3rd at Paris-Nice but then won the toursomeeffingname17-03-2025
- MSR is the race that brings the Spring', proper for better or worse...
leedorney17-03-2025 - Not sure that’s the whole story otherwise babies would be a lit more susceptible to nose bacteria too. Obviously cyclist breathe far more than average humans which should help keep things cleaner, on the other hand if you don’t clean your nose well or use an infected finger … and then why bacteria and not viruses? I would prepare mentally for more testing if this doesn’t solve things. Teeth and gums are the most overlooked entry point for infectious agents. Ears and eyes can also be easily contaminated.Mistermaumau17-03-2025
- Yeah, sorry, some people forget a few facts like him being in a similar age category as Tadej, Jonas, Remco, Tom and that there are plenty of promising younger riders developing too so it’s really quite far-fetched based on current givens.Mistermaumau17-03-2025
- If they learnt from 2024 MVDP/JP strategy, yes, possibleMistermaumau17-03-2025
- Name another race with 20 different winners in the last 30 years. This is probably the single most influential fact that points towards Tadej, or will it be Mads, or a « newcomer »?Mistermaumau17-03-2025
- Nobody asked you and you have very little future prediction precedent. 20 years ago no-one predicted Slovenian cycling domination, Tadej, Trump, Manchester United replaced by City, the recent serial UK Tory leadership or the drastic demise of German Olympic performance. Unfortunately JJ probably won’t be around much longer so can’t be held « accountable » if wrong.Mistermaumau17-03-2025
- Also, note how fast a counter article appeared, either naturally or as part of a comm. strategyMistermaumau17-03-2025
- Not sure, remember where he is saying it and what this person did for him. Perhaps he was coaxed into saying something to stimulate US interest or provocative to improve you know who’s media significance.Mistermaumau17-03-2025