When Miguel Indurain powered through the toughest stages of the Tour de France in the 1990s, he did not rely on the high-tech gels and energy bars common in today’s peloton. Instead, the five-time Tour winner recalls that he and his teammates ate ordinary foods, including ham and cheese sandwiches and pastries. In an interview during the 2020 Vuelta a España, Indurain summed up the contrast: “In the 1990s in the Tour de France we ate bananas, pastries and sandwiches; there was not so much sophistication.”
Indurain’s five Tour de France victories came in five consecutive editions, from 1991 through 1995. His professional career ran from 1985 to 1996, a period in which he also won the Giro d’Italia twice. His dominance was already a major story at the time: a 1993 television listing in El País described him as being on the verge of a third consecutive Tour victory.
Old-School Fuel
In the 1990s, professional cycling teams had far less specialized fueling technology and planning than they do today. Riders faced long hours and demanding mountain stages, eating basic foods prepared by team staff or picked up along the route. Indurain recalled that team masseurs commonly bought sandwiches or pastries for riders during races.
That contrast concerns the foods available and eaten on the road, not a lack of discipline in every part of a rider’s preparation. Indurain’s reflections also include the occasional “pájara,” a sudden energy collapse familiar to cyclists. In his era, the practical challenge was getting enough food at the right time during a hard stage, rather than following today’s more systematic race-day fueling plans.
Discipline Off the Bike
While race-day food was basic, Indurain’s overall diet was carefully managed. Throughout his career, he focused on pasta and rice, along with fruit and vegetables, while keeping red meat and eggs to a minimum. The goal was to maintain an optimal weight without sacrificing performance. Under medical supervision, he also shed several kilos gradually to improve his results in competition.
His five Tour victories illustrate how conventional race foods could coexist with elite performance, even as the sport’s approach to nutrition later became more systematic. Indurain has also spoken about his cholesterol, saying: “I won my five Tours de France while having cholesterol.”
Modern Habits, New Priorities
Indurain continues to pay attention to his diet for health rather than competition. He has said that he manages high cholesterol with a balanced Mediterranean diet and remains active, including by riding his bike, though without the demands of his professional training years.
Professional cycling nutrition has since shifted toward planned fueling, with teams tailoring intake to the demands of long races. Cycling-nutrition reporting has described a broad change from around 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour as common two decades ago to strategies that can reach about 120 grams per hour today. Those figures describe industry-level approaches, not Indurain’s personal intake or a target followed by every rider. His recollections offer a vivid comparison: bananas, pastries and sandwiches were part of the food culture of his Tour years, before gels and bars, along with detailed stage-by-stage fueling plans, became standard features of the sport.
