Nutrition guide for cyclists: Professional nutrition - competition nutrition in the pro check

Do you remember the 1998 Giro d'Italia? The year in which Marco Pantani dominated the race and went on to win the Tour de France? Do you know what Pantani used to win the Tour of Italy? "With EPO", some may say sarcastically, and they are probably right. But Pantani had something else in his jersey pocket: on one of the mountain stages, the climber from Cesenatico conjured up a small, round aluminium foil object from his jersey pocket. The TV cameras focussed on the package because the world wanted to know what gave Pantani his wings. He peeled off the foil in front of everyone and revealed ... a salami roll: a simple wheat roll with a little butter and two slices of sausage. The thought of it still turns the stomach of every nutritionist today, but Pantani committed the sacrilege with intent: he had had enough of all the sugar bars he received from the sponsor.

The right energy supply

Carbohydrate bars, energy gels with and without caffeine, protein bars, rice cakes, bananas or baguettes - cyclists scoff at pretty much anything that provides energy. How important the choice of food really is for performance on the bike depends very much on the competition in question. If you're only whizzing round the corners in a short criterium, you can usually get by with a water bottle filled with cola, for example, as the body's glycogen stores have enough energy for the entire race distance. The situation is different for longer road races, where the body has to provide a constant supply of energy. Here, the regular intake of carbohydrates determines whether the athlete arrives relaxed or heads towards a hunger pang feeling deeply depleted.

The supreme discipline of nutrition in cycling is multi-day races for both professional and amateur athletes: Anyone tackling a stage race such as the Schwalbe-TOUR-Transalp, for example, has to dose their energy intake in such a way that it provides constant fuel but does not put a strain on the gastrointestinal tract. It is precisely this point that many athletes pay too little attention to: when hunger pangs threaten, they thoughtlessly throw supposedly effective but unknown products into the tank.

Carbohydrates, the super fuel

The consumption of carbohydrates is and remains crucial, as they provide the primary fuel for intensive endurance exercise. Carbohydrates require less oxygen to metabolise than fat. New studies on the subject have brought a curious detail to light: you don't even have to eat carbohydrates to benefit from them! Researchers have discovered that rinsing your mouth with a drink containing carbohydrates activates receptors in the oral mucosa, which in turn activates the central nervous system in the brain and has a performance-enhancing effect. This means that you don't have to consume anything during workouts of up to 60 minutes, thereby tapping into valuable oxygen for combustion - apart from the fact that the glycogen stores in the muscles and liver have enough carbohydrates ready for such short workouts anyway.

How much fuel?

Exercise duration: scientifically recommended amount of carbohydrate per hour*
- 30-60 minutes: one sip of carbohydrate drink, rinsed in the mouth
- 1-2 hours: up to 30 grams of carbohydrates/hour
- 2-3 hours: up to 60 grams of carbohydrates/hour
- More than 3 hours: up to 90 grams of carbohydrate/hour

It's all in the mix

If only glucose is consumed, the release of energy from carbohydrates is limited to around 60 grams per hour. Recent studies show that glucose-fructose mixtures can provide more energy.

Tip

In the training phase directly before the competition, slowly increase the amount of carbohydrates via sports drinks, gels or bars over several (four to five) days.

* regardless of gender or body weight.

You can find the entire article with the recommendations of our nutrition expert Phillip Rauscher in the PDF download below.

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