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Training the gut has become as important as training the legs, heart, and lungs in the hyper-carb modern peloton.
Riders are rolling around Andorra and the Côte d’Azur with their jersey pockets and handlebar bags overflowing with energy gels as they learn to love cycling’s coveted one-twenty.
“Gut training is an essential part of getting ready for races,” Tudor Pro Cycling nutrition consultant Tim Podlogar told Velo.
“You want riders to be able to comfortably eat 120 grams of carbs per hour,” he said. “They need to do that when the pace is high, and when the temperature is high as well. Both intensity and heat can negatively affect gut comfort when eating carbs, so riders need to be prepared for that.”
120 grams of carbohydrate per hour is the fueling gold standard of the fastest, strongest, best-fed peloton in history.
It’s the guiding star of the “carbohydrate revolution” that’s changed modern endurance more than aero bikes or carbon-plated running shoes.
But slurping from a stream of sticky icky energy gels and molar-melting carb drinks isn’t so simple.
Have you ever tried guzzling 15-20 gels during your five-hour weekend ride?
G.I. distress and the grupetto stalk any rider who’s not done their gut training.
That’s why nutrition experts like Podlogar are layering fueling targets on top of the power, duration, and interval goals of every rider’s most crucial workouts.
Strong legs and strong guts win bike races
Everybody in the elite peloton – whether they’re Tadej Pogačar or a pimply neo-pro – is fueling at 120 grams per hour, or close to it.
Riders who can’t achieve a carbohydrate century get left behind.
As XDS-Astana head of performance Vasilis Anastopoulos told Velo, “the ability to tolerate carbs is becoming one of the biggest factors in winning or losing.”
And that’s why it’s become crucial for riders to prepare their stomach for the sugarfest to come.
“It’s been common practice to train the stomach for years now. But it’s become so much more important since it’s been established that riders are regularly able to tolerate 120 grams per hour,” Visma-Lease a Bike head of nutrition Gabriel Martins told Velo.
“We want riders to be as comfortable as possible with those amounts before they need it to race,” Martins said. “They need familiarity with our partners’ products, too.”
Martins works with his Visma-LAB athletes all year round to troubleshoot the fueling pitfalls thrown up by gut training.
For example, while one rider might react better to plain water and gels, one might rely purely on liquid calories from carb drinks.
“Fueling key training sessions like it’s a race dials in what, how much, and how often a rider can eat or drink,” Martins said. “These rides are not only about teaching the stomach to tolerate the total quantity of carbohydrate.”
Training for the coveted 120
Studies have proven the gut is an adaptable, trainable organ that can be primed and strengthened like a muscle. Recent papers have revealed that carb capacity can skyrocket in as little as 10-12 weeks of regular gut training.
Ultra trail runners are turning to wild and wacky methods inspired by competitive eaters to train their somersaulting stomachs. Things are a little less carnivalesque in pro cycling.
There’s no hot dog swallowing or gallon-guzzling on a UAE Emirates team camp [that we know of …!].
Instead, riders keep it specific and slurp through tens of dollars’ worth of energy product while they execute key training rides.
“During training weeks where you don’t have any races, you can aim for one or two days where you try to train the gut and where you try to really go to your limit,” Lotto racer Arjen Livyns told his team partner Precision Fuel & Hydration.
Training with a 100 percent energy tank doesn’t only prepare the stomach for the stress of racing.
It also helps riders reap every reward possible from high-intensity sessions, and pushes the accelerator on recovery.
“I do gut training on hard workout days,” Livyns said. “I feel it’s a big difference. When you do endurance rides, everything is easier, and your gut isn’t forced like when you do a lot of efforts.
“Everything in your body goes out of balance [during hard sessions] because it’s already so hard to do the training … they’re similar to the racing days.”
Most seasoned pros will have become capable of chowing 120 grams of carbohydrates per hour.
However, the regular turnover of the stomach lining means high-carb fueling is a skill that requires constant nurturing.
Meanwhile, younger, less carb-comfortable pros might begin their fueling journey at 80 or 90 grams and be tasked with increasing what they can handle, week-on-week.
No bonks … and no bad bellies
Simon Yates recently told Velo how riders don’t bonk in the 120 era. A 500-calorie-per-hour pipeline of glucose and fructose means a “hunger knock” is almost impossible.
Yet ironically, G.I. distress is also a thing of the past.
It seems a wild oddity given that even the best-trained guts are at risk when under extreme stress.
Experts believe “Cases of the Dumoulins” have been put into the rear-view thanks to the evolution of modern sport nutrition and the renewed emphasis on gut training.
“We don’t really see any stomach complaints anymore,” Visma’s staffer Martins said. “That better availability of product and the consistent fueling practice means G.I. isn’t so much of a problem any more.”
Products are now optimized with hydrogel technologies and refined glucose-fructose ratios that maximize fueling potential in a stomach-friendly fashion.
Lorry loads of these gels and drink mixes are delivered to teams by their partnering brands to fuel riders in training and racing.
“Back in the day, you would only have 30-gram units of drinks and gels. Now you have drinks with 80 grams of carbs, sometimes more,” Martins said. “These extra concentrated sources are now widely available, so riders have become more exposed to them, and they’re easier to stomach.
“It all means high carb is now a much more realistic approach,” Martins said.
Mid-race pukes and poops are now blamed on kitchen hotels rather than sugary gels.
Carb ingestion vs. carb absorption
Gut training and better sports nutrition are making it easier for riders to hit the 120 “gold standard.”
So has the “carbohydrate revolution” hit its zenith?
Far from it. As recently explored by Velo, many believe 120 is only the start for a peloton that rides harder and burns faster than ever before.
Plenty of athletes surpass the golden number – from Victor Campenaerts exceeding 130g at the Tour de France, to ultra runner David Roche downing an incredible 150g per hour when he won the Javelina Jundred 100-mile trail race.
However, the ingestion of a crazy number of carbs does not guarantee absorption and utilization.
Only sophisticated “oxidation” tests show how much carbohydrate is assimilated by the stomach and translated into the power at the pedals.
Martins said only a handful of riders on the Visma-Lease a Bike “super team” were privileged to have undergone such a process. It’s likely that next-to-no riders on less-monied teams will know their “carbohydrate oxidation” numbers.
Experts believe that such testing could be the next step of cycling’s “carbolution.”
“Going forward, we will be seeing more and more personalized approaches. Riders will have their capacity to absorb and utilise carbohydrates actually measured using laboratory-grade equipment,” Tudor’s nutrition consultant Podlogar said.
“Then, I think there will be individuals who discover they benefit from consuming more than 120 grams an hour.”
And guess what?
When they learn it’s possible to exceed 120, they’ll have to train their guts all over again.
