Sean Fowler took a break from cooking for Garmin-Sharp last week to look after the Irish team at the World Championships; he reveals who the "best grubbers" are.
By Brian Canty
As part of Cycling Ireland’s efforts to increase the level of professionalism when national squads gather for major fixtures, it acted on Dan Martin’s suggestion of bringing in a team chef supplied by his squad Garmin-Sharp for last week’s World Championships.
Sean Fowler, born and raised in Colorado, ran a successful restaurant El Raco d’Urus in the Spanish Pyrenees with his wife Olga when a chance meeting with Garmin-Sharp’s Tom Danielson led to him becoming the team’s head chef when it was in its early years.
Then came an approach from Martin to work for Ireland at the World Championships in Florence last year. And Fowler was back again last week.
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He had the full use of the Garmin-Sharp van for the week. No ordinary vehicle, it is kitted out with stoves, cookers, washers, freezers, fridges and just about anything a chef of his standing needs to feed an army of riders and staff on a three-week race like the Tour de France.
Fowler has done every Tour since 2009 and has five Vueltas and four Giros to his name.
But doing the job for Ireland is one he enjoys as much as any.
“Dan Martin approached me first day; we’re good friends and he convinced me to come on board,” he told stickybottle in between cooking up a storm in Ponderadda.
The bigger squads like Garmin Sharp have an impressive fleet of vehicles, with the cooking van made available to Team Ireland at the Worlds.
“I love working with the Irish; they’re a very appreciative, happy-go-lucky people and good to be around. They’re cycling to the bone, they’re positive people. And professionally, they’re second to none.
“They have so much passion. There is absolute dedication on their part to make the best of it they can.”
And Fowler says he immediately felt joining up with the national squad was the right decision.
“It’s not necessarily a money-driven passion that has them here; it’s a true passion for cycling,” he said.
“Whether they get paid or not, their premier priority is to do the best they can for these cyclists; to grow an Irish cycling community and I’m happy to be a part of it.”
Fowler is a meticulous type and chooses his fruits and vegetables very carefully. Only the best are good enough.
“I buy everything locally and make sure it’s fresh and of the highest standard,” he said.
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Fowler said a rider like Ryan Mullen, who digs deep immediately his time trial efforts begin, could "lose it all" in a big event if his diet was not perfect (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“I’m a cyclist myself and know the demands of the sport. So every meal is tailored to what every cyclist wants and the demands of a certain day.
“For example, Ryan’s pre-race meal yesterday; he needs to eat that four hours before the race. He was in a time trial so that’s different to other races,” he said in reference to U23 time trial silver medal winner Ryan Mullen.
“They go deep in that straight away and you need to be extremely careful in what you eat because you can lose it all. Plain rice and protein, omelette and nothing else. It’s my call.
“If it was his call he’d not stop eating. I’m serious about this. I always make sure the food is safe. My premier priority is to make sure they don’t get sick.”
Desserts are often a complex issue with cyclists; some have them, others see them as detrimental to performance.
“You have to be careful about what’s in it, that’s all,” said Fowler of the after dinner treats.
“So no sugar, better fruit. And we use alternative sweeteners like honey. But you have to be careful with honey too.
“These guys really try to control their metabolisms. You need simple foods and nothing that will upset them.”
But on a Grand Tour, all bets are off, generally.
“You can’t eat enough there, usually,” he said.
“I’ve seen some good grubbers but of them all I’d have to say Jack Bauer tops everyone. He’s amazing. He’s so skinny though. Dan is medium correct; not too much or little. He doesn’t skimp but he never goes overboard.”
Fowler said he’s hoping to be used more by Cycling Ireland, with the track a very likely outlet for him.
“We’ve been talking and they’ve a pretty intense track cycling team in Majorca. I’ve never ridden the track before so we made a nice exchange with the team; I’ll come and teach them how to cook and give them recipes and how to cook them and they can teach me how to ride on the track.”
