Since the energy needs of elite athletes such as Vande Velde and Danielson are immense – in the Tour de France, cyclists will eat as much as 8,000 calories daily, or more than three times what a moderately active guy needs each day – following a diet that bans wheat could spell trouble, due to the fact that the grain is a great source of carbohydrates. Carbs break down into glucose and serve as the body's primary fuel during exercise. Excess glucose also gets stored in muscles as glycogen, which provides additional energy during exercise and recovery. Without adequate levels of glycogen, an athlete will bonk.
To make sure that didn't happen, Vaughters hired chef Sean Fowler, a Colorado native who owns a restaurant in Spain, for 2008's Tour. Fowler served poultry and eggs as protein sources, fresh fruits and vegetables for vitamins, and for carbohydrates, he simply switched sources. Wheat-based pasta is the carbo-loading standard mainly because it's cheap, readily available, and easy to cook, but other carbs are just as effective, including rice, oats, corn, and quinoa, a seed that's high in carbs and protein. "Every once in a while they'd be like, 'Bread! We want bread!' " says Fowler. But the cravings passed.
Few of us need as many carbs and calories as Vande Velde or Danielson. But going wheat-free is not like going on the Atkins diet, which famously instructs people to cut most carbs out of their diets in order to lose weight. Athletes need carbohydrates, says Leslie Bonci, a sports dietitian for the Milwaukee Brewers. For active guys, she recommends three grams of carbs per pound of body weight per day. "You have to maintain the energy substrate, or you'll slam into the wall," Bonci says.
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