Low Fibre diet

What is it?

Also known as a low-residue diet, a low-fibre diet involves restricting fibre-rich foods, usually for four to five days before a race, in order to lose weight. Low-fibre foods are easier to digest and move through your small intestine more quickly to help pare down your weight come race day.

“Riders swap (high-fibre) brown rice for (lowfibre) white rice and avoid avocado, vegetables and the skins on potatoes as these are high in fibre,” says Girling. Some Ineos riders also adopt this diet before mountain stages to feel lighter. “At dinner they might have a small amount of salad or vegetables but we’ll be very careful about which ones we provide, especially if it’s a mountain stage,” reveals Gonzalez.

What does it do?

The main goal of this diet is weight loss. “You’re able to drop 1-1.5 kilos if you follow a strict lowresidue diet for four or five days,” explains Girling. “A low-residue diet will deliver results with about 15g of fibre per day, but we see the best results from about 10g of fibre per day, which is not much. However, to a rider at the highest level, a kilo is huge on a mountain stage.”

Because you are not cutting carbs, it is also unlikely to a ect your training intensities, if limited to a few days. “You don’t need to be in a calorie deficit so you aren’t going to compromise training performance or recovery,” says Girling.

Low-residue diets can also be kinder on your stomach during gruelling stage races. “The riders like to stick to pretty simple food,” says Gonzalez. “Partly that’s because it’s easy on the stomach and easy to digest.”

What are the risks?

Reducing your fibre intake for a more extended period would be terrible for your health. “Fibre is massively healthy for your gut, and for the passage of food through the gut, and it helps to prevent diseases,” explains Girling.

That’s why Ineos Grenadiers limit this strategy to around major races, and consume plenty of fibre (the recommendation is 30g per day) when training or resting. “Fibre is an important part of a healthy diet, and is associated with a lower risk of bowel cancer and improved metabolic health,” explains Gonzalez. “So when the riders are training they will usually be aiming for a balanced mix of carbohydrate, protein and plenty of vegetables, because we want to get the fibre in.”

Even when temporarily following a low-fibre diet, riders use smart strategies to ensure they still get enough immunity-boosting vitamins and minerals without eating mounds of fibre-dense