“WELL, IF IT WORKS FOR BERNAL…”

RECREATIONAL RIDERS HAVE NO NEED TO CONSUME MORE THAN 60G OF CARBS PER HOUR AS THEY’RE NOT OXIDISING CARBS AT THE SAME INTENSITY AS ELITE RIDERS

Surf the internet and you’ll unearth a maelstrom of training sessions, nutritional advice and must-buy gear to improve your cycling performance. Yet tread carefully. Genetics and years of physical conditioning mean the likes of pro stars Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas are cut from a di erent cloth. There are many examples, but here are two of the most popular elite snippets that don’t always transcend to us mortals…

Beware of fasted training. This is a session popularised by Team Sky (now Ineos) where riders fuel on little more than water, the idea being that you force the body to burn more fat for fuel, which would pay dividends at the races by sparing precious glycogen (carb stores in the muscles) for hard e orts. Now, Ineos supplements its riders’ water with a sprinkle of protein to prevent muscle wastage. It’s a definite marginal gain for 30 houra-week riders. For recreational riders, depleting carbohydrate stores impacts the immune system. This is potentially worse for female riders, in extreme cases leading to hormonal imbalance and amenorrhea (irregular menstruation).

Is 90g of carbohydrate per hour the Holy Grail? Historic thinking suggested that consuming 60g of on-the-fly carbs per hour via glucose was optimum. Then studies showed that adding fructose to the mix could elevate this to 90g/hr, meaning more energy and better performance. This has been taken to the extreme by some elites with studies showing they peak at 120g/hr. “In general, recreational riders have no need to consume more than 60g/hr as they’re not oxidising carbs at the same intensity and rate as elites,” says Patrick Wilson, author of

The Athlete’s Gut. You can, however, train your gut to manage greater quantities if you so wish, adds Wilson. “For example, start at 30g/hr (equivalent to one gel) during a longer session and add 10g/hr each week until you reach your target. But, again, for most 60g is fine.”