Nutritional Practices of Male Cyclists before and during an Ultraendurance Event
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The aim of the study was to investigate the pre- and during-race nutritional intake of cyclists competing in a 210-km 1-day ultraendurance cycle race. Forty-five endurancetrained male cyclists participated in this dietary survey and completed a 3-day dietary record. Mean reported carbohydrate (CHO) intake over the 3 days before the race (5.6 ± 1.7 g/kg) was below the recommended guidelines of 7–10 g/kg. Although 57% of participants indicated that they CHO loaded 1–3 days before the race, only 23% of these participants achieved CHO intakes of ≥7 g/kg over the 3-day period before the race, demonstrating a discrepancy between perceived and actual intakes of CHO. Most participants indicated the use of CHO supplements before (84%) and during (98%) the race and achieved a CHO intake of 63 ± 23 g/hr during the race. Although most cyclists failed to meet recommended prerace CHO intakes, most achieved the recommended CHO intakes during the race.
Havemann is with the UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Dept. of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Newlands, South Africa. Goedecke is with the South African Medical Research Council.
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