Visma Riss a Bike announced on Thursday that Jonas Vingegaard will compete in the Tour de France, with Tadej Pogačar expected to be his biggest rival again. The Slovenian crashed on stage 11 in 2022 and on stage 17 in 2023 and said he thought he had eaten too much. According to Visma Riss a Bike nutritionist Askar Jekendorp, that’s because they have an advantage when it comes to fuelling.
“To be honest, I don’t think Pogačar’s team is close to our system,” Jeukendrup told nos.nl. Under sporting director Merijn Zeeman, their approach includes a nutrition app and tailored advice for each rider. The team now employs 15 chefs who are also nutritionists, so nothing is left to chance.
“That puts us in a lead that’s almost impossible for other teams to catch,” he said. “It’s not just the investment in food that counts, it’s what the riders receive and when.”
Carbohydrates are the best
UAE nutritionist Gorka Prieto confirms the amounts discussed by Jeukendrup, saying: “The maximum is around 120-130 grams per hour. Initially it was thought that riders could only consume 60 grams per hour without developing intestinal problems.”
But Professor Jukendrup’s 2004 research into the discovery of another gut transporter showed that a combination of fructose and glucose could increase intake by up to 90 grams per hour during a race, often reaching 120 or 150 grams, which could improve performance by up to 17 percent.
About Ketones
Ketones, which are legal in the peloton, can help speed recovery, but only to a degree that’s between 0 and 2 percent effective, according to Jeukendrup, but he cautions against their use, saying they can cause gastrointestinal issues, especially when combined with high carbohydrate and salt intake.
“Stomach problems are common in endurance sports. They’re completely normal and have to do with what you eat, when you eat it, the weather and the intensity of the race,” he said, meaning that getting your nutrition right is crucial to performance and avoiding problems.
The Tour de France starts in Florence on June 29th and can be watched on FloBikes.com.
