Cycling diet: what to eat before, during and after a ride

What should you eat before a bike ride?

Your pre-ride meal should top up glycogen stores without sitting heavily in your stomach. The joint position paper on sports nutrition from the American and Canadian dietetic and sports medicine organisations recommends 1–4 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight, eaten one to four hours beforehand [1]. For a 70 kg cyclist, that is 70–280 g. You can get this from white rice or pasta with grilled chicken, white bread and a ripe banana.

At this meal, keep fat, fibre and large portions of protein low [1]. They slow stomach emptying and can cause discomfort and gas in the saddle. Keep it simple: rice rather than pulses, white rather than wholemeal bread, and ripe fruit rather than raw salad.

If you set off early with your cycling group

Group rides often start early, and there may be less than two hours between getting up and getting on the bike. If you have two or three hours, breakfast can be your pre-ride meal, with easy-to-digest carbohydrates and very little fat. Three breakfasts that often work well:

• White toast with jam or cooked ham, and tea.
• Fine oats with skimmed milk or soy drink, and sliced banana.
• White bread with quince paste and low-fat fresh cheese.

If you prefer a plant-based drink, choose soy or one containing at least 3% protein; soy is an allergen. With less than an hour to go, reduce solid food and choose something semi-liquid. A smoothie made with skimmed milk, ripe banana and honey digests quickly.

Setting off fasted for a long or intense ride and counting on eating at the first stop can catch up with you quickly. After a night’s sleep, liver glycogen—which helps keep blood sugar stable—is low. You may feel it on the first climbs.

What should you eat and drink during a bike ride?

On the bike, energy and fluid can determine whether you finish comfortably or hit the wall. Adjust carbohydrate intake to the duration of the effort [1]:

• Less than 45 minutes: none is needed.
• 45–75 minutes: small amounts are enough, or rinse your mouth with a sports drink.
• One to two and a half hours: 30–60 g of carbohydrate per hour.
• More than two and a half hours: up to 90 g per hour, using glucose and fructose mixtures.

There is no single fluid target that works for everyone. The American College of Sports Medicine’s fluid replacement guidance recommends drinking in line with sweat losses, so that you do not lose more than 2% of your body weight [2]. Its starting range, designed for endurance runners, is 0.4–0.8 litres per hour [2]. Aim towards the upper end if you weigh more, ride faster or it is hot, and the lower end on cool days at an easy pace.

For long rides in hot weather, the guidance suggests drinks containing around 0.5–0.7 g of sodium per litre [2]. Many sports drinks already contain sodium, and salty food in your pocket adds some too.

Drinking more than you sweat is the main cause of hyponatraemia, a fall in blood sodium caused by dilution [2]. The risk is higher if you ride slowly for many hours and drink more than you lose.

What should you carry in your jersey: ordinary food, gels or bars?

This is one of the questions we hear most in consultations, and both options have their place. It depends on your pace and the terrain.

Ordinary food works well on flat terrain and at a steady pace. Small white-bread sandwiches with turkey, tuna or quince paste, dates, dried apricots and ripe bananas provide carbohydrates without becoming sickly. They are affordable, easy to tolerate and help satisfy hunger.

Gels and bars are more practical at a fast pace or while climbing, when heavy breathing makes chewing difficult. A gel usually provides 20–30 g of carbohydrate, and its label helps you add up your hourly intake. Have it with a few sips of water rather than an isotonic drink, to avoid too much sugar accumulating in your stomach.

Keeping track of carbohydrate per hour follows the same principle as our basketball diet.

What should you eat after getting off the bike to recover well?

If you train again in less than eight hours, what you eat as soon as you get off the bike affects how much you recover [1]. Otherwise, have a complete meal as soon as you can. In either case, replace fluid and include carbohydrates and protein.

For fluid, the joint American and Canadian position paper recommends replacing 1.25–1.5 litres for every kilogram lost, spread over the following hours [1]. If you have two rides close together, as in a stage event, increase carbohydrates to 1–1.2 g per kilogram per hour during the first four hours [1].

Around 0.25 g of protein per kilogram, or 20–40 g, is enough to support muscle repair [3]. A smoothie with skimmed milk, banana and cocoa, or a white-bread sandwich with omelette and a yoghurt, covers all three needs.

If you train several days a week

Your weekend performance depends on what you eat each day. The joint American and Canadian position paper scales carbohydrate intake to training hours [1]:

• One hour a day: 3–5 g per kilogram per day for light training; 5–7 g for moderate training.
• One to three hours a day: 6–10 g per kilogram per day.
• More than four hours a day: 8–12 g per kilogram per day.

For protein, that guidance recommends 1.2–2.0 g per kilogram per day [1], while another position paper recommends 1.4–2.0 g [3]. It is best spread every three to four hours [3]. Healthy fats should provide 20–35% of calories; reducing them below 20% does not improve performance [1]. The shared foundations across sports are covered in our sports nutrition guide.

Do you need supplements to improve your cycling?

There is a huge range of products for cyclists, but scientific support is selective. The International Olympic Committee consensus on supplements finds strong evidence for only a few active ingredients [4]: caffeine, creatine, buffering agents such as bicarbonate, beta-alanine and nitrates. Even so, people’s responses vary considerably [4].

If any is considered, your doctor or dietitian-nutritionist decides on it [4]. The consensus also warns that some products are contaminated with banned substances, which can lead to a positive test without your knowledge [4].

At Alimmenta, we do not recommend branded supplements or provide supplement doses. No sports supplements for minors. The foundation is a well-planned diet and good hydration.

What mistakes do we see most often in consultations?

• Starting to eat only when hunger becomes intense. On a long ride, the dreaded bonk may be close by then, so start eating in the first hour.
• Drinking only when it is hot. You sweat on cool days too, even if you notice it less.
• Eating too little during the week to lose weight and relying on Saturday’s ride. You start depleted and recover less well.
• Copying what the fastest rider in your group eats. Their grams per hour depend on their weight, pace and stomach.

What are the risks of cutting calories to climb faster?

Trying to improve the power-to-weight ratio leads some cyclists to cut back on food sharply. Training for weeks with too little energy can take a toll on your health.

The International Olympic Committee consensus on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) describes what happens when you eat less than your body needs to train and function. If it continues, it can affect immunity, bone health and metabolism, and menstrual periods in women [5]. It also increases the risk of stress fractures and can reduce performance in both men and women [5].

If you want to lose body fat during the off-season, use a moderate, planned energy deficit without cutting protein or strength training, as explained in our fitness diet. If your weight or food causes anxiety or guilt, seek support from a specialist psychologist too. In sport, this can be hard to recognise because it is mistaken for commitment.