The pro peloton is calling for more carbohydrate than ever before, and the nutrition brands that partner cycling’s elite are scrambling to keep up.

Carb-specialist sport scientists are locked into their own race to discover new ways to deliver unprecedented levels of carbs to athletes in the fastest, most effective way possible.

“There’s a type of ‘arms race’ right now,” Tobias Christensson, head of nutrition at Maurten, joked to Velo.

“We are definitely seeing a trend of others following what we’re doing, looking to deliver more carbohydrate, more easily, without any stomach problems.”

Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel and the rest of the WorldTour are racing on radical new carbohydrate solutions that max their energy stores to levels that weren’t deemed possible before.

Riders are able to consume twice the carbohydrate they did a decade ago, and it’s translating into faster racing and more intense competition.

And it’s a trend that’s translating across the endurance world, from marathon and ultra running to triathlon and cross-country skiing.

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Brands like Maurten, Precision Fuel and Hydration, Enervit, and Science in Sport are working with partner teams to match cycling’s ceaseless call for carbs.

“Five or six years ago, it used to be 60 grams per hour as a maximum for carbohydrate consumption, then it was 90, now it’s 120,” Astana-Qazaqstan trainer Vasilis Anastopoulos told Velo.

“Since these extra high-carb drinks and gels were introduced, we’ve seen really positive impacts on riders. It’s a real game-changer. Maurten were the first to do it and a lot of others are now following.”

Teams become test-studies as companies hunt out the next blockbuster breakthrough in the burgeoning market of sport nutrition.

And the record-pace peloton has proven that high carbohydrate is where it’s at.

The past season has seen the release of double-strength gels by Maurten and 226ers, a mega-carb drink mix from Precision, and a Pogačar-approved range by Enervit that maxes sugars and minimizes stomach issues.

There are plenty more examples in what is becoming a “carbohydrate cold war”.

Any brand without its own mega-carb solution is risking being left behind by both pro peloton partners and an increasingly demanding amateur market.

Keep up with the ‘carbohydrate revolution’ or get left behind

Maurten and Science in Sport opened the world to extra-high carb fuelling when they developed new ways to navigate the “G.I. distress” that can derail an athlete when a surge of sugar insults their stomach.

The “hydrogel” transporter mechanism used by Maurten and a refined glucose: fructose ratio in Science in Sport’s “Beta Fuel” blew the doors off what athletes thought was possible, and enabled them to compete harder than ever before.

“Beta Fuel, Maurten and this whole new era of nutrition has brought us the capacity to fuel better, with better efficiency of absorption and oxidation. These products don’t make you feel sick and promote the desire to keep eating,” Ineos Grenadiers nutritionist Aitor Viribay Morales told Velo.

“Before, you could fuel 120 grams per hour, and people did, but it was so much harder. You might have needed five or six gels for example. It was difficult for the stomach and hard to tolerate, mentally. It’s so much simpler and safer now.”

Beta Fuel drink mix was developed by Science in Sport and Team Sky in advance of Chris Froome’s infamous raid over the Colle delle Finestre at the 2018 Giro d’Italia.

Froome’s super-efficient, stomach-safe nutrition strategy was a cornerstone to an 80km solo escape that sank Simon Yates and is remembered as one of Froome’s greatest days.

“We wanted a fueling strategy that was easy to take practically, as opposed to unwrapping food when the race was going to be pretty intense. Consuming more carbohydrates from fluids would be a more practical solution during really high-intensity days,” former Team Sky nutritionist James Morton said of the Beta Fuel development process.

In the time since then, almost every nutrition brand with a stake in elite endurance has released its own haymaker high-carb gel or super-strength drink mix.

Enervit and 226ers worked with UAE Emirates and Movistar respectively during the development of their new product ranges, Precision collaborated with Lotto Dstny for the drink powder it released this summer, and 6D is in a constant feedback loop with Soudal Quick-Step. The examples seem endless.

“Consuming 100+ grams of carb per hour is the new norm in the pro peloton,” said Dave Colley of Precision Fuel and Hydration. “We’ve adapted our range in recent years to help make it easier to hit these higher numbers.”

Bike racing is increasingly becoming a fueling competition.

Any team or nutrition partner that doesn’t keep up with the modern “carbohydrate revolution” will get left behind.

What’s next in the world of super-sugars?

The question is, how far can things go?

Pro cyclists, triathletes, and ultra-runners are breaking fueling ceilings by eating upward of 120g of carbohydrate per hour in competition. That’s almost double what was deemed stomach-safe just a decade ago.

Experts believe this new 120g carbohydrate threshold can be exceeded, and that a new nutrition norm will be established.

But for as long as some still struggle to stomach much more than 80g per hour – something that puts a significant handbrake on their hopes of success – nutrition brands will continue hunting quicker, easier ways to serve sugars in a way suited to every sportsperson.

Some in the industry believe wild new product innovations will be the basis of the next breakthrough, whole others suggest more marginal developments.

From space-age auto-dosing mechanisms to products refined for use in extreme heat or altitude, the carbo-industry is scouring for methods to serve sugars in the most simple, failsafe fashion.

But no matter how far things evolve, one thing that won’t change.

It will all come down to carbohydrate – the macronutrient of speed, power, strength … and sporting success.