“ It ’ s not better or worse . It ’ s a different type of carbs ,” he said . “ Some of them take longer to be digested , and then they give you energy for longer , like potato . Pasta takes less time to be absorbed , but then the energy level is going faster . But it ’ s also about the taste . Food is also about what they like , not only the stomach or what you need physically . Food is also mental , 100 %. So , we need them to be happy in that sense . If they don ’ t like potato , they will eat pasta or sweet potato or another kind of carbs . So , we always try to find a compromise between what they like and what they need . There is no sense for us to put too much stress on them because then they are not happy . If they are not happy , they ’ re in a bad mood and they don ’ t perform better . So , we always find a compromise .” I was taken aback when Albert said the next thing , but then he made sense of it . “ I ’ m the first one to say , try this cheesecake , try this small portion of chocolate , whatever . Because I understand as a human being that I like food . You need to be happy . You need to be satisfied mentally , and then we will work for that . But we cannot treat them as a robot . They are not machines . They are not just a bike . We take care a lot of the mental status , the cognitive brain function . If they are not happy , they will never work hard . Physically , the stomach and the brain .”
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“ If you say , since I ’ m young I ’ m just eating carbs , you don ’ t realise that there are also salads , veggies .”
What kind of climate , culture and other environmental conditioning as a child you had also counts for a lot in arriving at a nutrition plan . “ The way we eat is related with the way we grow up ,” confirmed Albert . “ So , if you grow up in UK or in South Africa , it ’ s not the same weather , it ’ s not the same food . So once again , we are not strict on that point . We understand where they are coming from , how they ’ ve been working since now , but we can also explain them another way to eat . This culture is kind of you need to change the perception they have from the food . Because if you say , since I ’ m young I ’ m just eating carbs , you don ’ t realise that there are also salads , veggies . So it ’ s a kind of cultural changing that we are introducing step by step . That ’ s why the beginning I said that when I came here I had a lot of good ideas , but then the reality was another one . They ’ re coming from UK – at that time was Tom Sykes also with our team . So I have two UK riders . The way they eat was not maybe the best thing for to perform . Once again , we tried to find a compromise , but finally they realised that they feel better , they feel good , and they ask for more . So , you Introduce some concepts , how it works . If it works , they come to you asking for more . So this means that they are happy and they really feel a benefit of that change of food strategy . This is important because if it ’ s just , “ My doctor said …” there is no sense . But if you feel that your mood is better , your skin is better , you have more strength , you have more capacity to be focused , then you obviously ask for more if you want to increase your sport and your life also . Once again , it ’ s about compromise . It ’ s never white and black , especially with food .” So there you have it , making sure the intake side works and be adhered to is an important part of the nutritional plan . But it has to work for the individual human or other aspects of performance could suffer . One rider who is super-fit in a paddock full of super-fit athletes is Scott Redding , but he appears to be one of these who has had too many different inputs into his nutrition in the past . “ To be honest , I ’ ve worked with dieticians a lot in the past and I didn ’ t really
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