The cyclist on his fondness for junk food and what he’s learned about nutrition
My mother told me that whenever she’d try to breastfeed me as a baby I’d push her away. Me and my brother had hyperactivity issues as kids and she blamed it on her divorce and E numbers in our food. When we were at the dinner table we’d act up. When I was 16 I wasn’t cycling so much. I’d started working at Barclays, got quite chubby and was called “the fat banker”. Lunchtime was half an hour and I’d buy a prawn butty and a bag of Walkers crisps. Later, when I was 20, six months after becoming world champion, I sat around in a place I shared in Cheadle [with track sprinter Craig MacLean] and I’d eat a big multi-bag of Walkers, then, when I’d finished them, go to the petrol station for another multi-bag and repeat. I was emotional, in a bit of a dark place. I have a fondness for junk food – it still calls me, sometimes. I think any professional athlete who says they stick to a strict diet and weigh their food out every time is either lying or they’re sick. I’m not going to put diesel in a petrol engine and obviously I do watch my diet, but to do just that and not live a life isn’t for me. I’m not going to make the sacrifices I do and then not enjoy myself sometimes. If it looks and tastes real good and is worth the calories, then I’m on it.
Related: Mark Cavendish on life in the saddle: 'I just love to win'
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