When Colombian Lucho Herrera exploded onto the European cycling scene in 1985 by winning the Alpe d’Huez stage of the Tour de France, he forged a path for his fellow countrymen to follow. We all know about Rigoberto Uran, Esteban Chaves and this year, of course, Nairo Quintana won his second Grand Tour when he stormed to victory at the Vuelta. 

But, as 43 year old David Guthrie, a keen amateur cyclist and runner, found out, Herrera's success was partly down to a little known Colombian secret. When Guthrie logged onto an obscure website about Colombian cycling, he was intrigued to stumble across an article, “The Food That Fuels Colombian Cycling.” Apparently Lucho Herrera would stuff his back pocket with ‘bocadillos’...