Adventure Racing
Eat like a gourmet, perform like an athlete
Nutrition strategy has evolved – the key to powering a good performance in an endurance adventure race like Red Bull X-Alps is quality, say athletes.
In France, the saying “eating well is the beginning of happiness” is almost a foundational pillar of the country's constitution. Is it also the secret to performing well at an endurance event like Red Bull X-Alps – both in the main event and the shorter Challenger race?
For French athlete Tanguy Renaud-Goud, the ‘eat well’ maxim was a fundamental part of his strategy. During the 2025 edition, his team had their own chef, Estefano, who cooked gourmet meals from bacon gnocchi to steak and asparagus.
Was it just nice to have a tasty meal at the end of the day – or was there a performance gain from dialing up the culinary quality? “In my first edition I lost six or seven kilograms,” Tanguy says. “And this year I lost no weight and was in much better shape [because] the nutrition was so good!”
Feasting during Red Bull X-Alps
© Tanguy Renaud-Goud
Tanguy Renaud-Goud
© zooom / Lukas Pilz
Steak and Asparagus
© Tanguy Renaud Goud
Damien Lacaze thinking about Tanguy´s next meal
© zooom / Lukas Pilz
Diverse strategies through the years
Nutritional strategies have varied significantly in the history of Red Bull X-Alps as fashions and trends evolved. In previous years there were athletes like Gavin McClurg and Marko Hrgetic who went for high fat and high protein approaches, reasoning that fat, rather than carbohydrate, was the better slow-burning fuel for endurance. One year, Gavin sourced wild hunted deer meat before the start to keep him going, arguing that he needed to eat like a ‘wild frontiersman’.
Then there have been athletes at the other end of the spectrum who have advocated going vegan, such as Simon Oberrauner and Paul Guschlbauer, because it’s easier on the stomach. Pascal Purin, an Austrian athlete who competed in 2015 and 2017, took this one step further, aiming to eat only organic food that had been grown under the sun. He used to eat “tons of salad” to keep him going.
As nutrition strategies evolved over the years, Red Bull X-Alps athletes have increasingly sought solutions that combine performance, convenience, and taste. This year, Tactical Foodpack stepped in to support the athletes with lightweight, freeze-dried meals that are made from real ingredients, carefully cooked, and designed to keep energy levels high across long, demanding days.*
Taking a nutrition break with a Tactical Foodpack meal
© Tactical Foodpack
Out on a hike with Tactical Foodpack products
© Tactical Foodpack
Enjoying a Tactical Foodpack meal on the go
© Tactical Foodpack
*𝘛𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘟-𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 2026 - 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘯, 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦.
Calories, taste, and strategy: the winning formula
For many athletes, who burn up to 5,000 calories a day (sometimes more), the primary nutritional goal has often been to simply consume enough. For a long time during his unprecedented winning streak, the mantra for Chrigel Maurer’s team was “pasta is pasta”. In other words, quantity not quality was the most essential factor.
But both Tanguy and Lars Meerstetter say there is an unintended benefit of eating good food – you eat more of it. Lars recalls that when his father made his favourite dish of Älplermakkaroni – a Swiss alpine carb-heavy take on macaroni cheese with potatoes and raclette – he’d eat way more.
“It's very important that I like the food,” he said, “because then I can't stop eating.” He said when his dad made a basic pasta and pesto, he’d only eat one and a half plates. “But if he cooks my favourite dish and it's nicely cooked, I eat two and a half, three plates easily just because it's so good and I can't stop. And that's perfect because then you get what you really need.”
Tanguy says the “pasta is pasta” mantra might be good for two or three days, but after that it becomes increasingly important to have pleasure in what you eat. “After seven days pleasure is what ensures you eat enough.” He also says good food plays another crucial role for team morale and unity. “It’s also a moment when there are no problems and no stress,” he adds.
If you push, you have to eat as much as you can
During a shorter event like Red Bull X-Alps Challenger, getting in enough calories – and the right kind – is still key. “If I do a one-hour ski race I use 1,500 calories. It's quite a lot in an hour but it's really intense,” says Chrigel.
He says he still adheres to his philosophy of focusing on the calories. “If you push, you have to eat as much as you can,” he says. “In the end, everyone is different. The most important is to test what works in training and competitions. But I try to get really a lot of carbs on average. And if I push, I take sugar and caffeine – it’s maybe not healthy but when you push it’s essential.”
Lars agrees. “It’s very important just to get enough calories in, to be able to eat [when] you’re not really hungry. But you need to eat a lot. That's one of the trickiest parts.”
Having food that’s enjoyable to eat and dense in calories is therefore a vital part of an athlete’s strategy.
