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Anthony is an ex professional road cyclist with 20+ years racing experience, including competing Internationally in North America/Europe for 10 years in more than 1000 events. His experience of sales and marketing worldwide in (Publishing, Cycle Manufacturer and Website/Internet industries) spans more than 10 years.

OrganicAthlete: When did you become vegetarian?

Anthony Mortimore: When I was 18 years old.

OA: Why?

AM: Health reasons. I started looking into foods and nutritional information.

OA: What was it like competing at an international level as a vegetarian?

AM: It was fine. I needed to supplement for insurance with protein powders in certain situations/countries. At the time there were only 2 english speaking Pros in the European peloton who were vegetarian (Robert Millar (Multi hilltop stage winner in the TDF) and Sean Yates (I think). In the USA where I raced for more than 10 seasons where the lifestyle and diatary options were more diverse.

Remember this was 1985, and the common diet in the peloton was heavily meat based.

OA: Did you find it difficult to find food?

Only when in certain situations in Europe. The USA and Canada was fairly Ok. California, Colorado and some states in the east coast were more well stocked with whole foods than others.

OA: What was the response of your teammates to your lifestyle?

Positive. Back in the 80s there was a curiosity, in the 90s more and more riders were doing there own research and checking out more options for themselves regarding foods and diet quality.

OA: Why aren't more athletes consuming a plant-based diet?

I don't know. Possibily the conditioning around certain activities and food. I remember a quote from Greg lemond in the 80s when he was asked about his diet which included everything like common junk food at the time. He said the food quality didn't mater, because the furnace was burning hot. But for me I've always been of the opinion that the the best quality food could only be better for my performance and well-being.