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Mark Cavendish declares American pistachios his official snack

Fancy a member of the cashew family, mate? Mark Cavendish says American pistachios are his official snack.
Fancy a member of the cashew family, mate? Mark Cavendish says American pistachios are his official snack.

In a compelling move with possible political overtones, Mark Cavendish (Great Britain/Omega Pharma-QuickStep) has declared American pistachios, a nut from the cashew family, his official snack. The United States is the second largest producer of pistachios in the world after Iran. The Iranian pistachio industry has yet to respond with its own sponsorship of a WorldTour racer.

This declaration is the second most notable association between a professional cyclist and a nut product. Recently retired American cyclist David Zabriskie has offered a chamois creme called DZ Nuts for the past several years; even though the product is better suited for safeguarding the perineal area, its motto is “Protect your junk.”

Pistachios, sometimes dyed red or green, increase antioxidants in their consumers and elevate lutein, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and gamma-tocopherol levels in the blood. An early morning phone call to Doctor Alistair Onions of Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton, B.C., revealed that these are all good things.

No word has come so far as to whether Cavendish or the lead-out man he’ll reunite with next season, Mark Renshaw, will be eating American pistachios on the bike, though one can only conclude that the nuts would have to be shelled.

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