Yesterday’s stage of the Tour de France, a summit finish atop Superbagnères, was – how can I put this? – a bit of a prick. Four big climbs, kicking off with the 19 km climb of Col du Tourmalet. Col d’Aspin, followed by its terrifying descent. Col de Peyresourde; another descent. And then Superbagnères. A day dipping in and out of mountaintop mist, one after another after another. A day of physical trauma that ended with riders coughing up lungs, wheezing on a mountaintop, being swaddled with towels and jackets like a child that has stayed too long in the water at the beach.
Even before the jackets, though, there was a more important order of business: hydration.
There’s a lot of water consumed at the Tour de France, along with other nutritional staples like Fanta, but maybe the most prominent drink of the race arrives in the minute or so after the rider crosses the line. You’ve probably seen it: for the teams with a sponsorship deal (Visma-Lease a Bike and EF Education-Easypost) it comes in a blue carton with AMACX on the side, but for most of the others it’s decanted into another bottle, where it is chugged down with a certain desperation as the rider is still catching their breath.
Imagine the way someone might gasp for air after emerging from underwater. Now reverse it. That is how tart cherry juice is consumed. I think it’s the only way.
Why tart cherry juice? Short answer: Science. Slightly longer answer: it contains an anti-inflammatory antioxidant called polyphenols, which studies have shown can improve recovery, while also containing melatonin to help the wired Tour de France cyclist wind down after a big day of racing bicycles up and down the Pyrenees. After I first noticed it appearing at the Tour de France a couple of years ago, its consumption has boomed; the majority of riders can now be seen gulping it down, day after day.
That doesn’t mean that it is cheap or easily accessible for punters like me, so I had kind of written it off as something that would never pass my lips. It’s not in the shops back home; it’s not something you can just wander up to a rider and ask if they’ll let you have a sip. But then, after the stage to Superbagnères finished, that all changed.
The riders took gondolas down to the bottom of the climb where their team buses were waiting, as did the press, and when our gondola arrived there was a full bottle of cherry juice – decanted into a Vittel water bottle – rolling around on the seat. What would you expect me to do? The choice was obvious.
Want to know how we worked out whose cherry juice we drank, and our journalistically-independent assessment of how gross (or nice) it was? You'll have to be a member. Escape Collective is 100% membership-funded, with no advertising and no affiliate links in our product reviews. Our work – both at the Tour de France and beyond – is only possible through your support.
Did we do a good job with this story?
