ENERGY BARS
Energy bars come into their own on the bike, but which products are ideal for triathlon training and racing? James Witts tests four
TORQ MANGO
£29.25 (for 15) Torq’s bar is the most trad on test, delivering 144cals from mainly carb sources (127cals), all topped off with a hint of protein (8cals) and fat (just 9cals). The 45g bar releases its energy from a carb mix of raisins, oats, fructose, maltodextrin and mango, all organic. This combo of fastand slow-releasing carbs is ideal for fuelling a highintensity session or when racing. Sadly, like others here, it contains palm oil. Its texture is chewy and has just enough water to avoid that common claggy feel. The mango taste is nice enough, yet with so many energy gels fruit flavoured, you might want chocolate or a more savoury sensation when it comes to a bar. torqfitness.co.uk
CLIF BAR FILLED
£24 (for 12) Clif regularly deliver the tastiest bars and they’ve ticked the appetising box here thanks to crumbly choc that makes way for a peanut-butter inner. But how does it fare for tri? Moderately. At 50g it’s a whopper with 230cals, of which a hefty 99cals are from fats. Nut butter is the main ingredient, partly explaining that high calorie content. It also uses palm oil that, although its impact on health is mixed, is an eco problem and dilutes Clif Bar’s organic ethos. Carb content is 26g (104 cals) with a further 7g (28cals) from protein. That’s low for such a calorific bar, while the sugar’s fastacting nature can be impeded by the high levels of protein and fat. clifbar.co.uk
OTE DUO VANILLA
£2.00 Rice cakes are common in pro cycling, with Geraint Thomas munching his way through hundreds over a threeweek stage race. OTE has looked to replicate that in this bar, but with a few tweaks to extend its shelf life that makes it more like a cereal bar. And a very tasty one at that, the vanilla flavour enlivening the senses! Neatly, OTE’s split the bar into two for easy consumption, with each 32.5g bar sending just over 20g of carbs your way. 3.7g of protein per segment’s fine but fat content for the entire bar is nearly 10g (90cals), which is over double what it used to be. Arguably that’s boosted taste and moisture, but is higher than we’d like for a heavy training or race bar. otesports.co.uk
PROJECT E2 BANANA
£1.70 Project E2 is the endurance arm of CNP Professional, a sports nutrition outfit largely marketed at bodybuilders. Any bar at this reasonable packet size weight of 60g is historically down to a packed ingredients line-up lacking water. To be fair, the ingredients number fewer than 10 but they’re packed in as this is one dry bar that’s tricky to chew – not great when you’re fatigued and dehydrated. The bland taste is disappointing and the use of margarine is almost unforgivable in a bar aimed at triathletes. For reference, each bar delivers 32g of carbs and 10g fat for over 250cals of energy. But its poor texture almost makes that all irrelevant. projecte2. co.uk