SNAP, CRACKLE... POWER!

Shocked by the revelation that pros are swapping porridge for puffed rice, Chris Marshall-Bell goes in search of the truth about what cyclists should really be eating at the breakfast table

- Chris Marshall-Bell

Talk of revolutions in professional cycling tends to conjure visions of cutting-edge tech or radical new training methods. But the latest shift isn’t futuristic at all – in fact, it’s almost comically ordinary. The supposed disruptor? Puffed rice.

When I recently interviewed Picnic PostNL’s climbing specialist Max Poole, he divulged: “My go-to cereals are Coco Pops or Frosties.” Noticing my surprised expression, the 22-year-old added, “Yeah, when I was at school, I never thought that Coco Pops would be cycling fuel, but it’s gone full circle!”

The phenomenon was confirmed when, separately, Fenix-Deceuninck’s Flora Perkins told me: “I’m trialling Coco Pops before races,” adding, “and I’ve ditched rice cakes for Rice Krispie marshmallow Squares.” While no one is claiming that chocolate-flavoured cereal is the secret weapon of the entire peloton, its growing presence at pre-race breakfast tables highlights a broader trend: foods once dismissed as “kid stuff” are finding a place in serious fuelling strategies.

Sweet, processed and nutritionally simple, Coco Pops are low in fibre and high in carbohydrate – exactly the qualities riders often need on race mornings. So what does this playful new poster-child for race-day breakfast tell us about how nutrition has changed? We asked four expert nutritionists, three from Tour de France teams, to explain how cyclists should really be approaching the first meal of the day.

Most important meal?