If you are like me, you were enthralled with watching the Tour de France and the Paris Olympics. I find myself wondering about the strategies those high-performing athletes use to fuel their bodies before, during, and after extremely hard training sessions/competitions. A webinar Fueling the Tour de France, (sponsored by Hexis) addressed my curiosity and solidified my observation that sports nutrition has indeed evolved into being a central component of elite athletes’ training and competing strategies.
For example, Tour de France riders historically refueled minimally—perhaps a protein shake—soon after the day’s race. They waited until they got back to the hotel to eat three to four hours later. Today’s riders quickly consume a significant amount of carbs right after each stage to speed up their recovery. Today’s cyclists also eat significantly more carbs compared to their peers of 10 to 20 years ago. They now experience fewer episodes of hitting the wall, bonking, and being completely depleted. This hastens recovery. After all, if you don’t dig yourself into a hole, you don’t have to dig yourself out of a hole!
The following key messages from the webinar might be of interest—and inspire you to take a closer look at your fueling patterns and carbohydrate intake, in particular. While you may not be a Tour de France cyclist, you likely have a similar goal of being the best athlete you can be.
• Tour de France losses are commonly linked to inadequate carbohydrate intake. A cyclist may not win the tour in a single stage, but he can lose it in a single stage.
• Fatigue related to training hard vs. fatigue related to under-fueling is difficult to distinguish. Experimenting with eating more grains, fruits and veggies can help identify and resolve an underfueling problem.
• To optimize the availability of fuel (carbs) for muscles and the brain, runners who exercise intensely should:
—carb-load the day or two before the endurance event.
—consume adequate carbs during the endurance event.
This will reduce the risk of bonking/hitting the wall plus will improve stamina, endurance, and overall performance.
• Ideally, each competitive runner has a meal-by-meal plan and day-by-day approach that offers high, medium, or lower carb meals, according to the demands of the day. That is, not every day requires a high carb intake. For a Tour de France cyclist, flat stages require fewer carbs compared to mountain climbs, with further adjustments needed for heat, wind, and rain.
• While some high-level endurance runners have a support crew that helps provide them with food and fluids during an event, the cycling Team Sky has their own kitchen truck with three performance chefs (!) who guide the cyclists’ food intake during the Tour. The four main meals are breakfast, on-bike fueling, post-bike fueling, and dinner.
• Overall daily targets are 2.5-9 g carb/lb (5-20 g carb/kg) per day to fuel muscles, >0.9 g protein/lb ( 2 g/kg) per day to preserve muscle mass, and minimal dietary fat intake (so the athletes fill up on carbs, not fat).
• During hard efforts that last longer than 2.5 hours, the goal is to consume 90 to 120 grams of carbohydrate per hour. That’s about 350 to 500 calories from carb/hour—a lot more than most endurance athletes consume!
• Marathoners and Ironmen triathletes, take note: For a 150-lb (69 kg) Tour cyclist doing extreme work, 9 g carb/lb. (20 g carb/kg) translates into 1,350 grams of carbohydrate. That’s 5,400 calories just from carbohydrate alone— about the amount in a 2-pound bag of uncooked white rice. No wonder Tour de France cyclists consume bowls of white rice for a pre-race breakfast!
•Consuming that much carb from food can be difficult. Hence, concentrated sources of carbs such as gels and chews can help athletes hit their carb goals.
• During endurance exercise, sports drinks facilitate the ability to consume 120 g carb per hour. Tour de France riders rarely go below 80 g/hour. Endurance runners should choose hydration fluids that offer more than just plain water!
• Consuming a variety of carb sources enhances their transport out of the GI tract and reduces the risk of intestinal distress. Carb blends (such as sports drinks made with glucose + fructose) have limited variety, so don’t eat too much of the same commercial sports food! Standard carb-rich foods (banana, granola bar) both offer a wider variety of carbs.
• Tour de France cyclists must train their guts to be able to comfortably digest and absorb up to 120 g carb (~500 cals)/hour. In training camps, they not only do on-bike training but also gut/ digestive training. They practice eating as they would for a race. Gut training can take years, as the cyclists gradually increase their intake of carbs per hour. Simultaneously, they test different products they might want to use.
Note: Cyclists report less GI distress than runners, in part because they train their guts better (and in part because runners have more intestinal jostling).
• Cyclists might plan to start feeding early and for as long as they can manage if they know they will be unable to ingest much during the upcoming mountain climbs.
• In the first 60 to 90 minutes of recovery, a cyclist may consume cherry juice (carbs + antioxidants), quickly absorbed carbs, and a whey + carb recovery shake. When traveling back to the hotel, they eat a meal (such as salmon and pasta with extra salt) and sweets (cake, fruit). If they have a hard ride the next day, they eat and refuel as much as possible. At the hotel, they snack, have a massage, eat another dinner, and go to bed with a full belly!
• At the elite level, some endurance athletes practice carbohydrate periodization (training with depleted muscle and/or liver glycogen stores some of the time) for selected workouts at the start of a training block. Sleeping low (with low glycogen stores) and then training on empty (no pre-exercise carbs) a few times a week can enhance cell signaling and induce adaptations that can improve performance. These train low sessions get phased out as training intensity increases.
Note: Athletes not yet at the elite level should focus on the fundamentals of fueling adequately. No need to train low when there are easier ways to enhance performance!
Conclusion: Food is more powerful than many runners think it is. If you have a hit-or-miss sports diet, think again. A sports dietitian (RD CSSD) can help you eat to win!
Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD counsels both fitness exercisers and competitive athletes in the Boston-area (617-795-1875). Her best-selling Sports Nutrition Guidebook is a popular resource, as is her online workshop. Visit NancyClarkRD.com for more information.