What Does 8,000 Calories Look Like?

The Tour de France is full of cyclists undertaking unimaginable feats—feats of strength, endurance, courage and ... consumption.

Tour de France competitors, who cycle more than 2,200 miles in 23 days, burn about 5,000 calories during each stage of the Tour. Naturally, a cyclist must feast on as many calories as he or she burns, but also consume more if the rider wants to remain healthy and energetic. This requires competitors to devour a massive 8,000 calories per day. Yep, those rail-thin cyclists pedaling up Alp d'Huez like it's a ride in their neighborhood park consume what is equivalent to 25 cheeseburgers in a single day.

As humans, this is not normal. The standard American diet recommends the average person ingest 2,000 calories per day. Now, if one lives an active lifestyle, he or she could increase their caloric intake to 3,000 calories. But, consuming more than twice that is teetering on gluttony or psychosis, and it shows that the TdF is one of the most physically strenuous events in the world.

So, how does a cyclist consume so many calories in a single day? Here's a taste of what that might look like.

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