{"id":1855951,"date":"2026-03-31T02:18:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1855951"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:18:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:18:36","slug":"how-the-pogacar-effect-rewrote-the-rules-of-high-carb-fueling-for-the-cobbled-classics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1855951","title":{"rendered":"How ‘The Poga\u010dar Effect’ Rewrote the Rules of High-Carb Fueling for the Cobbled Classics"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Copy-of-Biathlon-2.jpg”]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Updated March 31, 2026 03:20AM<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

High-carb fueling pressed fast forward on the cobbled classics, and now Tadej Poga\u010dar and Mathieu van der Poel are pressing fast forward on high-carb fueling.<\/p>\n

\n

The wild new era of one-day racing has made the peloton a freight train that is fueled with 500 calories of carbohydrate per hour, from zero hour.<\/p>\n

Carb-loading techniques, supplement stacks, and even feed zone strategies have been dragged into a new dimension by a Mad Max take on monument racing.<\/p>\n

Visma-Lease a Bike nutritionist Gabriel Martins told Velo<\/em> that the paradigm has shifted as fast as the racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cRacing has changed dramatically in the last few years, with how it\u2019s so hard from the very start. And that\u2019s totally changed the way teams and performance departments look at fueling, too,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one wants to take any risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has to start a race as if they\u2019re going in the breakaway \u2013 they\u2019re fueling to the maximum from the start. It\u2019s the only suitable approach with how things are now,\u201d Martins said on a recent call.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For all but the select few, the upcoming Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix double-header is a fight for survival.<\/p>\n

Carbohydrates are their life raft.<\/p>\n

The Poga\u010dar effect<\/h2>\n
\"Poga\u010dar
Poga\u010dar and Van der Poel have turned the cobbled classics up to 11.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Van der Poel and Poga\u010dar pushed the high-speed evolution of cycling to a different level in the northern classics.<\/p>\n

Racing is wild from kilometer zero as outsiders battle to \u201canticipate\u201d long-range attacks from these cycling superheroes. In the group of favorites, the battle for Pogi\u2019s wheel is like a bar brawl.<\/p>\n

This \u201cPoga\u010dar Effect\u201d has joined advances in aerodynamics, tire technology, and training to push the accelerator on spring\u2019s toughest races.<\/p>\n

Gent-Wevelgem was raced at record speed on Sunday. Likewise, the past three editions of both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix were the fastest on record.<\/p>\n

Pogacar rocketed De Ronde<\/em> to a new mark of 45.0kph in 2025. Van der Poel took the speediest trip through \u201cHell\u201d when he romped to victory in 2024 at 47.8kph.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A new approach to high-carb fueling<\/h2>\n
Van der Poel \u2013 and those who failed to close him down \u2013\u00a0produced some spectacular power numbers at the E3 Saxo Classic.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The numbers spilling out of the E3 Saxo Classic lay bare how harsh the cobbles have become.<\/p>\n

MVDP pushed 446 watts (approx 6 w\/kg) in the final 90 of the \u201cMini Flanders\u201d. The power file from Jonas Abrahamsen\u2019s 6,000-calorie sufferfest was so top-heavy it made my turbo trainer wince.<\/p>\n

More than 50 minutes above 510 watts? Ouch.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Fueling strategies have had to shift to feed this raging classics beast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to use the most aggressive fueling and supplementation possible with the way guys like Poga\u010dar are making races,\u201d Jayco-AlUla trainer Peter Leo told Velo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it\u2019s so hard, you have to use every tool available.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, fueling these crazed classics doesn\u2019t simply mean \u201cmore.\u201d Multiple team nutritionists have told Velo<\/em> that riders are accepting that 120g of carbohydrate per hour is typically the maximum.<\/p>\n

A brief trend for experimental \u201chyper-fueling\u201d is only for those with guts of steel.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Wout van Aert drops the hammer on the Kemmelberg and look who\u2019s in his wheel \ud83d\udc40\ud83d\udd28<\/p>\n

In Flanders Fields is GO! pic.twitter.com\/fn3DNGT7sX<\/p>\n

\u2014 Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) March 29, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Instead, carbohydrates are front-loaded and intensified.<\/p>\n

Riders start guzzling gels as soon as they\u2019ve clipped in for races that could be broken open before they\u2019ve even seen a cobblestone.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unlikely now that any rider doesn\u2019t go with 120 grams per hour from the very start,\u201d Martins said. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t the case just a few years ago. Fueling the first hour might have been more moderate as riders are already loaded with glycogen from the days before.\u201d<\/p>\n

But 120 isn\u2019t a fixed number. It\u2019s flexed to \u201cfuel the work required.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tudor Pro Cycling nutrition expert Tim Podlogar explained on the Knowledge in Watt<\/em> Substack<\/em> how riders might venture higher in anticipation of the most decisive moments of racing.<\/p>\n

Think an hourly rate of 120g, 120g, 140g, 140g, 110g, 110g, for example.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a carbohydrate pyramid that peaks for cruelest cobbles and most horrid Hellingen<\/em>, and ensures riders can bulldoze through the final.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

High-carb fueling in small packages<\/h2>\n
\"High-carb
Nobody is guaranteed a bottle in a classics feed zone.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fueling hard and fueling early also makes riders less reliant on hazardous feed zones.<\/p>\n

Compared to the calm and typically uphill bottle points of a stage-race, feed zones in a northern classic are a 400-watt lottery.<\/p>\n

Riders face the grim reality of missing a hand-up in high-speed picnic points that might be littered with street furniture or ride as smoothly as a farm track.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Frozen, wet fingers mean a bottle isn\u2019t safe until it\u2019s stowed.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no guarantee a team car will be on hand to provide emergency (and potentially sticky) rations either. Staffers are stretched thin as they support mechanicals and navigate narrow lanes.<\/p>\n

Visma nutritionist Martins explained teams manipulate their drinks to ensure any hand-up a rider does<\/em> keep hold of is saturated with speed-bringing sugar.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always plan to maximize what we can achieve at every bottle point. We get as much carbohydrate as we can into the bottles, and pass up as much [sport nutrition] as we can,\u201d Martins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, instead of bottles with 30 or 40 grams of carbs, we increase that up to 80 or 90 grams. We can\u2019t really go higher than 90 because it\u2019s so risky for the gut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nutrition brands are pumping out drink powders that can be dosed to provide anything between 30 and 90 grams of carbohydrates per bottle.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the modern Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, maximal concentration is the only concentration.<\/p>\n

Fewer bonks, more speed<\/h2>\n
\"High
A new approach to high-carb fueling means riders rarely bonk, which further accelerates the racing.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a rare sight to see Van der Poel on the verge of a \u201cbonk\u201d when he secured his heroic against-the-odds victory at E3.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hunger knock\u201d has been all but eliminated in a peloton that\u2019s wired on sugar.<\/p>\n

In fact, there hasn\u2019t been a high-profile blow-up since Poga\u010dar all but lost the 2022 Tour de France when he turned white and pasty on the Galibier and Granon.<\/p>\n

Martins said his \u201cKiller Bees\u201d barely go near a bonk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last five years or so, it\u2019s become very rare. Everything is so maximised now, from the carb loading in the days before to the breakfast and then the sport nutrition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne big difference is that we really know how to get the carb load right now. I\u2019d say that having your glycogen stores fully topped up before a race is probably the highest predictor of performance.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe see a very big difference between fueling very high but not being fully loaded before a race and fueling high on top of full glycogen stores,\u201d Martins said. \u201cThe outcome can be completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The peloton sped up during the \u201ccarbohydrate revolution.\u201d Now riders like Poga\u010dar and Van der Poel are forcing the bunch to adopt \u2013 and adapt \u2013 its lessons.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a positive feedback loop of racing aggression and feeding intensity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve learned so much that riders don\u2019t really bonk now, even at these super high intensities,\u201d Martins said. \u201cEverything is maximised.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Beyond high-carb fueling: Bicarb bombs and mystery bottles<\/h2>\n
\"Pidcock
Pidcock pulls a gel and MVDP slurps a vial of \u2026 something \u2026 in the final of Milan-San Remo.<\/span> (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another thing stopping riders from blowing up?<\/p>\n

Supplements, both before and during the race.<\/p>\n

Sodium bicarbonate and beta-alanine have been go-to ergogenic aids for decades. Only now, like everything else, their use has been studied and perfected to the point that they can be overloaded in the classics.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiders go pretty hard on supplements and<\/em> carbs in one-day racing to compensate for the intensity,\u201d said team Jayco staffer Leo. \u201cEven more so since guys like Poga\u010dar started to do what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an example, Leo explained that riders all use different bicarb-loading protocols to suit the sensitivity of their stomach.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Some may \u201cload\u201d this muscle-acidity buffer over several days; others might go one-and-done the morning of the race using new stomach-safe hydrogels and carb mixes.<\/p>\n

The brave go full-send with a mid-race bicarbonate bomb \u2013 typically taken as a pill or gel \u2013 to take the sting out of the 800-watt attacks.<\/p>\n

What are you drinking? Don\u2019t ask<\/h2>\n
\"Mysterious
Mysterious \u2018finishing bottles\u2019 are very much a thing in pro cycling \u2013 especially the classics.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But of course, bicarbonate gels, anti-cramp shots, and caffeine pills are simply the supplements that are openly talked about. They\u2019re safe, legal, and over-the-counter.<\/p>\n

Out of the spotlight, the \u201cfinishing bottles\u201d that have been mythologized since the times of Merckx still lurk in the shadows.<\/p>\n

Leo revealed these mystery vials are not just an old wives\u2019 tale. These circumspect shots still lurk in the jersey pockets and team cars of the Poga\u010dar-era peloton.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re typically a cocktail of painkillers, stimulants, caffeine, and who-knows-what<\/em>, and pack more punch than the generous Vodka Martini.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re generally a high sugar, high-caffeine concentration with some stimulants to improve alertness for the final,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cParacetamol is also quite commonly used, which is a real grey area. It can have really negative side effects when used at high effort,\u201d he continued. \u201cTaurine also sometimes goes into these bottles, and is well proven to be effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what happens beyond the finish line?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get us started on the cherry juice, ketones, protein shakes, and salmon tablets \u2026<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\n
<\/p>\n
Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Updated March 31, 2026 03:20AM<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-training\/how-pogacar-effect-rewrote-rules-high-carb-fueling\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Copy-of-Biathlon-2.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated March 31, 2026 03:20AM High-carb fueling pressed fast forward on the cobbled classics, and now Tadej Poga\u010dar and Mathieu van der Poel are pressing fast forward on high-carb fueling. The wild new era of one-day racing has made the peloton a freight train that is fueled with 500 calories […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1855951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1855951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855951\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1855951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1855951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1855951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}