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Race Day Nutrition

Race Day Nutrition Guide

This is a guide on how to approach nutrition leading up to a race or main event. Its important to refine it to your own individual needs and foods, but its the basis to ensure that optimise glycogen stores and reduce other influential factors that may have a negative impact to performance.

Race Day -2

Race Day -2: (lunch time onwards)

LOW FIBRE – as little as possible/without veggies, legumes, dried fruits, seeds, nuts, whole grain foods.

Lunch: Moderate CHO intake. Approx. 1.5g/kg of CHO approx. ½ to ¾ + approx. 25g of lean quality protein or approx. ¼ of plate. Include some low oil sauce or dressing for flavour and/or a smoothie.

Dinner: Moderate CHO intake. Approx. 1.5g/kg of CHO approx. ½ to ¾ of plate + approx. 25g of lean quality protein or approx. ¼ of plate. Include some low oil sauce or dressing for flavour.

Race Day -1

Race Day -1: Pre-race/course recce

It’s important to eat plenty of carbs today with low fat and fibre. Include these at each meal, but there is no need to stuff yourself, try get the majority of intake throughout the day then you can have a light-ish dinner and no need to over fill yourself on any of the meals. Below is an approximate guide using the plate diagram, but stick to foods you are familiar with.

Breakfast: High CHO + 20g of quality low-fat proteins.

Example

  • Cooked rice/rice pudding + a fructose source such as honey/jam or cacao + at least 1 glass of Juice or Ice- tea + quality proteins (like scoop of whey).
  • White/toast bread with jam/honey + juice + banana + quality proteins (like low fat yogurt)
  • Cornflakes/cereal with low- fat/protein milk + fresh fruits + juice (+ quality proteins).

 

Lunch: High CHO + 20g of (low-fat) quality protein.

Example

  • White rice, pasta, couscous, gnocchi etc with lean protein (turkey, white fish, LF cottage cheese, Tofu + a fructose source (fresh fruit, juice). If you want, you can include some tomato sauce or non oily dressing such as low sodium soy sauce.

 

1x Snack: 1 g/kg of CHO

Example:

  • White bread/toast/bagel + jam/honey, and/or gummy sweets (Haribo) + juice.

 

Recovery drink/meal (within first 20 min after the training/course recce)

Example

  • 0.8-1g/kg CHO + 25g protein. (If you don’t have a protein containing meal within 1 hour, add some quality proteins to the recovery meal, but then adjust (reduce) the amount at the next meal.

 

Dinner: High CHO + 20g of (low-fat) quality proteins.

  • White rice, pasta, couscous, gnocchi etc with lean protein (turkey, white fish, LF cottage cheese, Tofu + a fructose source (fresh fruit, juice). If you want, you can include some tomato sauce or non oily dressing such as low sodium soy sauce.

Race Day

Big breakfast (3-4h prior if possible): High CHO (~2-4g/kg) + 20g of quality low-fat proteins.

If its an early race and you need to eat in the 2h prior no need to go heavy with the carbs as most of the glycogen storage will have been done the day before. Same composition applies.

Example

  • Cooked rice/rice pudding + a fructose source such as honey/jam or cacao + at least 1 glass of Juice or Ice- tea + quality proteins (like scoop of whey).
  • White/toast bread with jam/honey + juice + banana + quality proteins (like low fat yogurt)
  • Cornflakes/cereal with low- fat/protein milk + fresh fruits + juice (+ quality proteins).

**2-4g/kg does not mean just carbs from solid food, but also from juice/fluids, honey, syrup etc.

1x Snack: 1-2 g/kg of CHO (optional if racing in the afternoon 2-3h prior) 

Example:

  • White bread/toast/bagel + jam/honey, and/or gummy sweets (Haribo) + juice.

 

Warm-up: 40g of CHO If, possible have 5-10 min before the start one gel.

 

RACE: 15g of CHO on every 15 min OR (90g over the course of the race)

 

Recovery drink/meal as soon as possible after the race: 1 g/kg of CHO + 25-30g of quality proteins

Eat good quality and no need for as many carbs the rest of the day.

Recovery guide

Recovery

The primary factor to increasing performance on the bike is training and recovery. Here are some of the fundamentals to optimising your recovery so that you can train day after day, week after week. There are many tools and fads out there, but the most effective thing you can do is sleep and to get your nutrition dialled in. Here we are going to look at how to refine your recovery process to get the best out of your training and racing

Recovery essentials

Sleep 

  • Sleep is indeed the biggest performance enhancer we have avaliable. Aim for consistent bed/wake times. Having a stable routine can be the biggest regulator of training and recovery. Our body has its own circadian rhythm, which helps regulate hormone, metabolism and tissue repair. Start disrupting the timing and all of these can become out of sync and less effective.

  • Aim for 7.5-9h sleep a night. Obviously the latter is more preferable, but thats not often realistic if work hours are long and/or parental duties for example. less the 7h starts to impact that recovery process. 

Nutrition

  • How you arrive at a session, how you fuel during and how you replenish post training can make a big difference on the quality and consistency of training and the adaptive response, especially if training frequency is high or intense.  

  • The key factors to consider for recovery from a nutrition perspective is – refuel, repair and replenish.

Deload weeks

  • Its crucial to allow periods where there are reduced workload from training. The principle form of adapting to training is to progressively overload/stress the body so that it promotes an adaptive response, and then allow the body to adapt. Basic principles of constructing a training program is to reduce volume every 3–4 weeks (~30% of workload)  consolidate adaptations. (this is especially important as intensity increases).

Active recovery / Mobility / Soft Tissue Massage  

  • If you’re heavy-legged after a big training day or block, a 30–60 min easy spin + mobility may be the best for promoting increase circulation and blood flow to the muscles and remove any metabolic waste byproducts.

  • Use foam rolling/massage to help mobilise key muscle groups and counteract the frequent position we adopt on the bike. 

How does nutrition play a role in recovery

In the world of sports science there are three fundamentals that we need to consider after intensive or long training or racing.
 

  1. Refuel (carbohydrates) to restore glycogen, expecially if we have another workout in the next 12-24h 

  2. Repair (protein) to rebuild muscle tissue and aerobic energy system organelles (e.g mitochondria)

  3. Rehydrate (fluids + electrolytes) to restore fluid balance, especially in warmer environments.

Pre Training/Racing (+24h)

If the training session is a key, high intensity interval session or a main event/race then the following principles are important. 

  • For longer high intensity events/training, the status that we arrive at the session is key. Contrary to old traditions of “making up” for kcals after, what status we arrive in is going to play the biggest role to execution of that session or outcome of a race. Consider carb-loading principles: 8–12 g/kg carbs in the 24–36h pre-event (races >90 min).
 

  • Arrive topped up and hydrated. 6-8ml/kg.BW in the 2h prior is recommended as a guide although it may need to be adjusted to individual and environmental needs.

During Training/Racing (basic rules)

  • Less than 1 hour: usually no fuelling needed unless  

  • 1–2.5 hours: 30–60 g carbs/hour 

  • > 2.5 hours (or very hard / race simulation): ~90 g carbs/hour 

The most effective approach is to use a glucose + fructose mix (multiple transporter), ideally around a 1 : 0.8 ratio, which improves carbohydrate oxidation and reduces GI issues vs glucose-only or older ratios.  If we need to consume larger amounts for long duration or high intensity events, training the gut to tolerate the intake is important. If you’re not currently tolerating higher intakes, increase this gradually over a number weeks.

Here is a nice infographic to guide carbohydrate intake during training. 

Post Training/Racing (0–30 minutes)

If the session was intensive or long duration  (VO₂max / anaerobic / race simulation / long ride) and you will be training the next day or in a short period of time, then what you eat close to the finish of that session will play an important role on how you perform in the next. Replenish of liver and muscle glycogen will play a big role in this. Liver gycogen can be replenished pretty fast (~12h) however muscle glycogen can take 24-36h so it is important that this starts early. 

  • Aim for 0.8–1.2 g/kg/hour for the first 4 hours post-session (highest priority if you train again soon). 

  • Protein: 20–30 g high-quality protein alongside carbs. This will not only help repair but enhance glycogen replenishment.

  • Increase fluid intake until you’re back near pre-session body weight and urine is a light straw colour. 

If the session was easy (endurance / recovery ride / or no training for a couple of days):

  • Keep protein consistent, but you usually don’t need to go too carb heavy the same way. Adjust carbohydrate intake according to over all energy requirements for the day.

Hydration: Practical targets (then personalise)

Hydration needs can vary significantly for individual to individual and the current environment training/racing is about to take place in, therefore it is often difficult to prescribe a specific hydration plan. Its suggested that using some general principles to start with and then adjust hydration needs accordingly using feedback of RPE, hydration status measurement (urine colour) and/or calculating sweat rate at a specific environmental temperature.

General drinking guidelines during exercise:

  • Cold: ~250 ml/hour

  • Temperate: ~500 ml/hour

  • Hot: ~750 ml/hour

Then personalise with a simple sweat-rate check:

  • Sweat rate at particular temperature and intensity ≈ (weight loss (pre-post) + fluid consumed) / hours of exercise

  • For recovery- aim to drink 0.5 to 0.75 of sweat rate.

*IMPORTANT For longer durations or hot environments be careful not to over consume or force water on its own. Over-drinking without replacing sodium can cause hyponatremia (low blood sodium levels) which can be very dangerous. In these situations, add some electrolytes (not too many) to your drinks if they are not already included. 

Fuelling Guide

Fueling for MTB performance

XCO racing often comes with a high intermittent power output – repeated surges above threshold, hard accelerations out of corners, steep punchy climbs, and technical sections which demand a lot of energy. Coupled with this, the technical nature of the terrain makes fuelling these efforts also a challenge. Here are some fundamentals  that will help unlock the benefits of the hard work you have done on the bike in training and racing.

Why is it important?

There are two primary fuel sources that supply aerobic endurance performance – fat and carbohydrates. Some fats are stored in the muscle and adipose tissue whereas glucose are stored as glycogen in the muscle and liver. Muscle glycogen is primarily for direct energy production during exercise, and the liver glycogen primary function is to maintain a stable blood glucose level and support the brain. The primary purpose for fuelling during training and racing is to maintain blood glucose levels (preventing low blood sugar level – hypoglycaemia) and secondary to provide additional exogenous glucose to the working muscle for energy production. Most adults store roughly 500–800 g of glycogen total. That’s usually enough for shorter events, but in races over ~90 minutes those stores can run low without refuelling, creating an energy shortage.

When you don’t take in enough carbs during long exercise, your liver glycogen gets used up and can’t keep releasing glucose into the blood. That leads to hypoglycemia—the classic “bonk,” where energy and brain function drop. Your muscle glycogen is also used up, but it stays within the muscles and not released into the blood stream, so depletion mainly causes heavy, unresponsive legs and fatigue, not true ‘bonking’ feeling.

Pre-fuel instead of refuel

Execution of a training session and race performance is very much dependant on the status that you arrive at the session in. This is a separate topic, but its an important consideration when timing your nutrition. Indeed, replenishment post session is important, especially if we have subsequent training, but the notion of making up for lost calories post session can be counter productive to execution of the session that we’ve just undertaken. 

Basic Fuelling Guidelines

Here is a basic overview of carbohydrate recommendations during training for endurance performance. Whilst this varies depending on intensity/duration, it’s a good guideline to follow.

Based on the above chart, here are some guidelines that can be commonly used.
 

  • 1–2.5 hours: 30–60 g carbs/hour

  • >2.5 hours: ~60-90 g carbs/hour 

Use “multiple transportable carbs” when intake gets high

To push above ~60 g/h more comfortably, use glucose + fructose (different gut transporters). A 1:0.8 glucose:fructose ratio is highlighted as a sweet spot for high oxidation and fewer GI issues.

Our partners at Nduranz have a great fuelling calculator based on duration, intensity , body weight and environment. Check it out here…

Fuelling by session type (simple rules)

Easy / endurance rides

Goal: finish the session feeling steady, not “quietly cooked.”

  • 0-60min easy: you may not need anything at all during this, but don’t start depleted.

  • ≤75–90 min easy: you may not need much during, but don’t start depleted.

  • >90 min easy: add carbs to reduce fatigue cost and improve quality later in the week (especially if you train again soon). 

Tip:  30–60 g/h is often enough for truly easy work; scale up if it stops being easy.

 

Interval days (VO₂, anaerobic, race-pace)

Goal: hit targets, repeat efforts, and recover faster.

  • Start fuelled (carb-forward meal beforehand).

  • During: typically 45–90 g/h, depending on duration and how hard the set is. 

Tip: liquid + gels are easiest when breathing/working hard. 

 

Long MTB rides / XCM-style sessions

Even though this is an XCO squad, long rides build the durability that wins XCO late-race.

  • >2.5 hours: aim toward ~60-90 g/h if intensity is moderate+ and you’re practicing race fuelling. 

Race-day fuelling (XCO)

General physiology depicts that as the intensity increases we rely much more on greater contribution from carbohydrates (muscle glycogen). As we know XC racing is full of intermittent spikes above critical power (or FTP) and has a greater reliance on high intensity aerobic (oxidative) and anaerobic (Pcr, glycolysis) contributions to energy production. This means that we should be starting the race in a sufficient state of glycogen AND that those resources may rapidly diminish in race profiles such as XC.

 

Increase carbohydrate intake if your race is >90 minutes

  • 10–12 g carbs/kg to personal preference in the 24–36 hours pre-race (fast-digesting, low-fiber, lower fat). 

 

Race Day/Morning

Keep it simple and low-fiber/low-fat.

  • If you’re eating 2–4 hours before, make it predominantly and familiar foods that work for you.

 

During the race

Because technical sections block feeding opportunities:

  • Front-load early: start taking carbs from the first 10–15 minutes (or a gel on the start line).

  • Use gels/chews/drink mix, not “real food” (less chewing, less gut bounce). 

  • Build a plan around laps (e.g., “every lap: 1 gel” + bottle targets) so you don’t rely on feel.

 
Timing was thought to play an important role (i.e every 15/30min take X grams of carbs). However recent studies show that timing is less important than over all intake, so as a start try to get them in at the right opportunities that work for you and at a loading rate that works. This may well be logistically easy by using the “every / every other lap” protocol.

Hydration

 Hydration can impact performance in many differnt ways – blood flow, temperature control, glycogen use, and GI tolerance, not just avoiding cramps (which is up for debate). Thirst is often a very useful driver of understanding hydration levels whilst exercising in low to moderate climate and will vary from individual to individual, However, here are some good guidelines to start from and adjust based on your own feedback and experience.

Simple starting guidelines

  • Cold: ~250 ml/h

  • Temperate: ~500 ml/h

  • Hot: ~750 ml/h 

You can get a better idea by calculating your sweat rate (in the appropriate environment) by weighing yourself before and after exercise, minus the drink you consumed. However, even if you know that you dont need to try and replace that amount every hour. A guide is to target is 50% to 75% of your sweat rate, as many people absorb roughly 400–800 ml/h (subject to individual variability, practice and tolerance ). 

ACSM guidance commonly frames the goal as avoiding <2% body mass loss during exercise but other research suggests a greater body mass loss towards the end of a race or event.

References

Burke, Louise & Deakin, Vicki. 2015, Clinical sports nutrition / Louise Burke, Vicki Deakin. McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd North Ryde NSW

Podlogar T, Grmek B, Pungerčar L, Cirnski S, Goršek Šparovec T, Rowlands DS. No Performance Effects of Altered Carbohydrate Distribution During Intense Cycling. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2025;36(2):65-75. Published 2025 Dec 15. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2025-0059