"They often keep it to themselves, they have to be tough, not vulnerable" - expert believes eating disorders still haunt the peloton to this day
Cycling
Nutrition has become a clear area of interest of all the top cycling teams, planning their riders' meals to grams around the main season objectives. However this doesn't always come with only upsides. The (W)eet Wat Je Doet movement focuses on the 'healthy' aspect of nutrition in cycling, which is often still a taboo.
Tadej Pogacar recently spoke up about the ever-present issue of eating disorders, but that feels merely like a drop in the ocean. "Athletes often keep it to themselves, they have to be tough, not vulnerable. But everyone knows insecurities and discomfort. If you can express that, it helps you," sports psychologist Karin de Bruin tells AD.
At the meeting, Tristan Bangma, Paralympic cycling champion, gave an insight into his food problems during his career. "Two slices of bread, no sauce on the pasta, sometimes I only ate lettuce. I was calculating all day long. Ridiculous, I think now. But at the time I was convinced that I was doing the right thing," Bangma reflects.
An injury opened his perspective on food problems. "It was only when I was forced to sit still that I was given the space to break out of that ingrained pattern. That should be completely normal, but I also kept it to myself for a long time. And that's exactly why I couldn't get help for a long time. So tell it. You help yourself and maybe someone else too," the Paralympic champion refers to the mental problems it brings with it.
Cycling commentator Roxanne Knetemann also had her fair share of eating problems in her time as a cyclist, although she does see a change in modern cycling. "Maybe the roads were there in my time too, but you had to find them yourself. Now everything is integrated into the teams. And then I sometimes think: I did myself a disservice, I was so lonely. I could have been a lot happier if I had also gained a bit more insight, support and guidance in that," she emphasises once again the importance of talking about this issue.
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- i don’t know nearly as much about bruyneel or hincapie as most of us do about lance, but we judge people by the company they keep. i hand no idea what psychological problems the other two have, but there’s gotta be something pretty severely wrong with them if they continue to choose to be close to armstrong.OCexile26-12-2024
- Ayuso and Rodriguez are only 22 and 23. Don't pressure it as they're still so sooo young.
James2631826-12-2024 - Not sure that can be true, in that USA Cycling is part of the UCI.acem8226-12-2024
- Oh, and yes: I am no psychiatrist/psychologist, but Bruyneel and Texas Turd are both sociopaths. It goes well beyond "protect my world and anyone would" that is the usual zeitgeist of their bullshit. No normal person has Bob Roll go at Greg Lemond with an audio recording device at Ron Keifel's bike shop...for example.EricJensenRidesBikes26-12-2024
- Funnier: this website keeps giving credo to their ramblings. In this case, why in any possible way would Boonen want to create a fantasy world to attach himself to these two clowns when more likely he would want to forget he was even there? Laughable.EricJensenRidesBikes26-12-2024
- A sociopath is an informal term used to describe someone with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), a mental health condition characterized by a chronic pattern of disregard for social norms, laws, and the rights and feelings of others.EricJensenRidesBikes26-12-2024
- Rowe spent his whole career on one team being nothing more than a thug for Skyneos. I have no idea why another team would want import this type of person into their program.Sweep26-12-2024
- “CyclingUpToDate would like to extend it's condolences to family and friends of Pascal.” Paging a copy editor….menk26-12-2024
- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024