Team GB’s Anna Henderson became the first UK cyclist to win a medal in the road race time trial at the ongoing Paris Olympics. And credits her vegan lifestyle for the accolade.
Despite facing torrential rain, slippery roads and hazardous conditions, the 25-year-old powerhouse secured a silver medal in the gruelling event.
Once a self-proclaimed ‘meat lover,’ Henderson made the life-changing decision to adopt a plant-based diet and since then, says she has experienced significant improvements in her cycling career.
She said: ‘I feel better. I’m faster. I used to be like, “I’ll never be vegan, I love meat”. But I think what happens is that we all dissociate from what meat is and what animals are. I made that connection and then I couldn’t eat meat anymore or any animal products.’
Henderson rides for professional cycling squad Team Jumbo Visma-Lease a Bike and she previously said they had been really good supporting her choice.

‘It’s super easy (going vegan), actually. I think riders are scared that it will be really hard, but in my opinion, I’ve been totally fine and it’s been a really good experience,’ she explained.
Her only regret, she said, was that there are not more riders in the professional cycling peloton who follow the same lifestyle.
‘All round for me it’s been such a huge positive change in my life. And I hope that riders will make the change soon.’ she said.
Henderson rode the Olympic 32.4km course through the centre of Paris on Saturday, finishing 1min 31sec down on Brown’s gold medal-winning ride.
Vegan Olympic Stars
Henderson is not the only vegan in the world of professional cyclists.
Former Olympic medalist Australian rider Adam Hansen, who completed a record run of 20 consecutive grand tours, has also claimed his vegan diet is critical to his longevity.
‘Every time I got blood tests done with the team, they were always amazed at my results because I was the healthiest rider by far with my blood markers,’ he said. ‘The medics always said I had some of the best results they’d seen.’

Team GB’s Lizzie Deignan, who will be competing in this year’s upcoming road race alongside Henderson, is also a vegetarian after giving up meat at age 10.
Riders at the Olympics should consume around 5,000 calories a day to keep up with the gruelling demands of a tour race where they are sat in the saddle almost all day.
In order to keep up their calorie intake on a day-to-day basis, vegan riders are advised to simply eat more, and more often and obtain healthy fats from nuts, seeds or avocado, and should also consume higher glycaemic-index carbohydrates in the four hours post-ride.
Olympic cyclists also need high levels of protein, or amino acids, to stimulate recovery from training so large amount of whole foods such as grains, legumes, nuts and seeds are recommended.
Following her medal win Henderson set her sights on a pastry from a traditional French patisserie as her reward.
‘There has been blood, sweat and tears,’ she added. ‘I’m really thankful to everyone around me that got me here and everyone that got me through.’