The Mid-ride Fuel Stop

We all know how important fuelling for a big ride is, a good breakfast will always set you up for a day in the mountains. But no matter how well you eat at breakfast, you will always need extra nutrition during the ride, which is why we place so much importance on our support vans.

Our generous ratio of guides and vans to guests means we can keep everyone looked after on the road and when we stop for extra nutrition. Our support vans have a ready supply of real food, energy bars and gels to keep you topped up. You can rely on our staff to keep those bottles full too, just help us out by making sure they’re nearly always empty!

We came across a great old book, with fantastic photographs from the early days of the Tour de France. A time when refuelling was as much of a battle as the race itself! The riders were left to fend for themselves, sending their domestiques up the road to fight for whatever supplies they could lay their hands on.

The photographs, from Tours in the early 20s, show plenty of beer drinking, brandy swilling and actually quite pleasant looking cafés — all mid-race. Not to mention some restorative cigarettes on the go. We’re pleased to say that we don’t enforce any of this kind of behaviour on our trips, not mid-ride anyway!