Pasta, the cyclist's main fuel. Yet in recent years it has often been demonized, modified, and sweetened. Diets, excessive gluten intake, and blood sugar spikes have led to it being almost banned. Riders have not done as they once did. Alberto Sordi: «Macaroni, you provoke me and I'll eat myself». No, you provoke me and I'll leave you there.
But something is changing thanks to research and tradition that are merging. Whole wheat pasta and pasta made from ancient grains have been rediscoveredCereals with many properties and high quality. And it's no coincidence that some teams have their own special suppliers. La PCamerino auction for example it replenishes the stocks of Astana and Colpack. The nutritionists we have come to know are constantly seeking quality products, with unique characteristics and as natural as possible, distancing themselves from industrial production.
An ancient avant-garde
Fabio Lo Savio, The communications manager for this "small" Italian company, La Pasta di Camerino, explains a few things that can give us an idea of what the "new old" pasta is like.
«Among our products we have pasta Hammurabi whose flours come from an ancient grain, of Mesopotamian origin, hence the name. The peculiarity of Hammurabi is that it has a high protein content, 22%, and a low gluten content, less than 10%. A high content of mineral salts, starting from potassium and has a lot IronThis makes it ideal for athletes, both for recovery and to refuel for upcoming training sessions."
But how did this grain come to be rediscovered? It's the result of extensive research.
Hammurabi is an einkorn wheat. Its field yield is quite low, which is why it was lost, like so many others, over the years when other needs arose. It was preferred to grow grains with higher yields. It has unique characteristics, as we've seen, starting with its protein content. These are "good" proteins, natural, and completely untreated.
Digestibility and gluten
Pasta di Camerino, a company whose history is linked to the Maccari family, is an example of Italy working well (after the 2016 earthquake, it hired new workers and supported them with a salary increase during the COVID era). And in this project, research, linked to tradition, played a very important role. It's not easy to make gluten-free or nearly gluten-free pasta. Gluten, in fact, as the nutritionist said a few days ago, Laura Martinelli, It gives consistency to the pasta and when you remove it you end up adding fats in order to create the product.
«True – confirms Lo Savio – Gluten is used to give consistency to the pasta, which otherwise would not hold its shape when cooked. In the past, those who have tried to make pasta with different grains have often failed. That's when the skill of the pasta maker comes into play. We ourselves spent years achieving our goal, between researching the grain and actually making the pasta (Camerino comes in three shapes: tortiglioni, spaghetti, and penne).
But the result is there. The pasta holds together well even with very little gluten, is made naturally, has a good flavor, and is also very digestible, another quality much appreciated by riders. Several months ago, someone told us about a highly digestible pasta and ancient grains. Manuele Boaro, recommended by his nutritionist Erica Lombardi.
Close to cycling
The grains are grown in the Camerino area, in the Marche region, and in Romagna. As we said, this is a truly Italian product, but to be of high quality, it also requires a certain amount of processing. It was said that one of the secrets of good pasta was “good” water.
«It's like this, but we also need fresh air – concludes Lo Savio – We use water from the Sibillini Mountains, but drying also takes place in the air from our hills at 600 meters above sea level. A drying process that requires a much longer process than industrial ones.
«Hammurabi was born in 2018 and we immediately understood how much its qualities could be appreciated by athletes. It is no coincidence that we have a testimonial who answers to the name of Juri Chechi, We are sponsors of the Lube Civitanova volleyball (a team that recently won the Italian Cup and the world championship, ed.) and we are close to cycling. We attended the Nove Colli pasta party. We closely support Colpack because it is a team that pursues the same values as us, it supports young people.... Furthermore, we know that Hammurabi pasta is also appreciated by the Astana pros."
