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zipvit, sports, nutriton, supplements, cervelo, test team, testteam |
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| ZipVit Sport helps me to win, says Cervélo's Emma Pooley |
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It has been quite a season for Emma Pooley. The Cervélo TestTeam rider has had a 2010 to remember, with win following win, including triumphs at the Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs, the Tour de l'Aude - her first major stage race win - the Giro del Trentino and the British National Road Race Championships.
Having the best riding equipment to hand, not least a Cervélo bike, is naturally a major contributor to her success, but Emma knows that without excellent sports nutrition, her challenge for the cycling world's biggest prizes would fall short.
The reason for this is that when Emma's in the saddle in the thick of competition, all the science that goes into the products ensures that she can refuel properly with a minimum of fuss, leaving her free to concentrate on reaching her maximum level of performance.
And it is here, Emma says, that ZipVit Sport's Project ZV products are ideal, not least because they fulfil the most important criteria of all - taste.
The ZipVit Sport products taste great, especially the bars, she says. In fact, I could eat too many of them - the chocolate ones are really nice.
I also really like the energy drink, it tastes way better than any other brand I've tried and seems to do the job.
What you want from sports nutrition is to have something that gives you what you're supposed to eat and drink in a form that you enjoy.
When you're competing you do have to think about eating, but there isn't much time in a road race. It's panicky and stressful, so it's easier to think about it if your sports nutrition tastes good.
Emma also likes ZipVit Sport's ZV7 energy gels which, when it comes to delivering energy in a quickly and easily, have no equal because they are produced in a quantity specifically designed for endurance athletes, and contain significantly more carbohydrate in them than their nearest rivals.
When I'm racing I take gels, not bars, Emma says, unless I'm in a stage race, when you know you're eating for the next day.
Bars require that you chew them and that's time-consuming, but gels are different because you can take them in a few seconds. I like that, and I take them before races if I'm going to have a big effort, which gets me fired up.
This is the second year that ZipVit Sport has supplied Cervélo TestTeam as part of its product development programme, which involves asking the riders for feedback on the products and how they might be improved.
The suggestions have already inspired a host of innovations and Emma is very happy that the relationship is continuing to reap benefits for both sides.
When you're a professional cyclist, you don't always get a lot of choice when it comes to sports nutrition, she says. When it comes to energy drinks, for example, you take what you are given and you have to drink it.
When you're competing and riding through the feed zone at high speed and someone hands the drink to you, you're not going to say 'I'm not having that'.
That's why it's good we have the ZipVit Sport drinks, which taste good, especially the recovery drinks. I like them because they contain natural sugars because recovery drinks with artificial sugars taste bad, they always taste too sweet.
But also, it's nice to work with a company that wants your feedback rather than telling you 'this is what you've got'.
That they are interested in the feedback makes you feel more valid as a rider. |
Posted: 17th August 2010
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