Chloe Hosking Has Never Met a Doughnut She Didn’t Like

From Bicycling

Australian roadie Chloe Hosking has been racing for nearly a decade as a pro, and in her time in the peloton and traveling around the world, she’s learned two things: She loves to eat, and she knows just how important food is for an athlete to thrive.

This season, her first with new team Rally Cycling, she scored a stage win at the 2020 Santos Women’s Tour Down Under in her home country, finishing fifth overall before heading to Europe, where she just scored eighth in the classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad race in Belgium.

“The season started really well in Australia. That was great,” she says. “Getting the first UCI win of the year at the Tour Down Under felt amazing, but better was just how the women on the team really came together. They came to Australia ready to race and we really showed the Rally orange on the front and in the peloton. I think we could all take a lot of confidence from that.”

When racing resumes, future success for the 29-year-old means ensuring that she focuses on her training, her race day routines, staying in close contact with her family, husband, and close friends back home, and of course, having her fueling dialed in.

“I’ve worked on my nutrition and how I eat a lot over the last couple of last couple years, because it is so important for athletes. And I think you can have a really complex relationship with food,” Hosking says. “It’s important to sort of acknowledge that, especially as a cyclist. Over the last few years, I’ve asked myself, ‘What does it mean to you that you enjoy it?’ and then, ‘How can you enjoy it?’ For me, it’s all about balance.”

Here, Hosking gives us the rundown of what she typically eats and drinks for a day of training.

Eating to Train

Learning what I need and what was best for my body was tricky because everybody’s different. We just finished a two-week altitude camp, for example, and my friend I was training with eats a lot of protein and fats, while I have a much more heavy carbohydrate diet, along with protein and fat. I think you have to figure out with trial and error what works best for you.

What I eat in a day is super dependent on my training. It’s pretty boring, to be honest, but it’s putting together strong building blocks throughout the day. You have your three blocks for the main meals, and then you sort of fill in the little gaps throughout the day with smaller blocks. For example, when I am having an easier day, I do have to take that into consideration because we are in a power-to-weight sport—we have to be mindful of it. So I’ll aim for a lower amount of carbohydrates overall, and rely more on protein and fats. I’ll make eggs, maybe on some rye toast with avocado. And of course, a few coffees. I think that Australia has the best coffee in the world.

My Australian coffee choice is a skinny cappuccino, and if I’m really in need, a double shot of espresso. When I get to Italy though, I might switch it up to a macchiato, a cortado, or an espresso because I find that they make them best.

Midride Doughnuts

I love doughnuts, and I want other athletes to know it’s okay to enjoy treats—especially during endurance training. I want to be able to eat the food that I like eating while at the same time getting in what I need to perform, so that’s why you’ll see all over my Instagram that when I’m training, I’m eating doughnuts and bakery goods. I’m getting in my carbs that way and my sugar for fuel that way.

Because you do need the energy in-ride, that’s probably where I’m the least conscious of what I’m eating, and I want to choose the foods that I enjoy eating.

High-Performance Race Fuel

I don’t eat doughnuts in hard training rides or races—in those moments, I rely on easily-digested performance foods. I worked with a dietitian, and she always reminds me that there’s a difference between high-performance and healthy. And when it comes to race nutrition, it’s really more focused on the high performance rather than health. You don’t eat vegetables on the bike.

I love that Rally Cycling works with Clif Bar because there’s a lot of variety. I use the Chocolate Mint and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut bars earlier in the race because they’re delicious, and then towards the end as I’m getting closer to the finish, I’ll switch to gels. At that point in time, you’re not even tasting anything—it’s all about getting energy into your body.

Rice Bowls After a Workout

The worst thing is when it becomes like a chore to eat. At stage races, you’re just eating a ton of white rice and plain chicken and it’s so boring. So, when I have control of my food, I like to use really fresh ingredients and a lot of different sort of sources of protein. My family says I’m the best cook in the family.

I love making bowls with brown rice—usually those one-minute microwave cups—and then add a ton of vegetables and some sort of protein, whether it’s ham, turkey, chicken, cheese, eggs, something like that. It’s just also really easy to throw together straight after training. I love a good hard cheese as a topping, and when I spend time in Spain for training, I start adding a lot of fruit to my salads.

Finding the Best International Food

On my team, I’m known for being the person who finds the best restaurant in town. It’s fun when you go to different places also try foods that they’re known for. So when I go to Italy, I love a nice crunchy shortbread, and a nice chocolate croissant in France is great. I mix it up.

I’m always trolling places on Instagram—I do take a lot of joy out of finding a good coffee and a good pastry. I start by scrolling the town’s geo-tag until I spot a good-looking dish. Once I see a photo that strikes me, I look where it is, then I do a bit of Googling to see other reviews and what else is around. I don’t force my teammates to stop in the middle of rides for snack stops or anything, but at the beginning or end of rides, my teammates appreciate that I put the time into finding the best coffee and snacks.

Can’t Leave Out Australian Classics

I love Vegemite. Vegemite with avocado, Vegemite with cheese, Vegemite on toast when you have a sore stomach—it’s so versatile.

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