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The drug almost every rider takes at the Tour: Caffeine
Yeah, that’s probably not what you were thinking. Caffeine is one of the most effective performance enhancers out there.
For years, it wasn’t always allowed in professional cycling as it has undeniable performance benefits.
That cup of joe packs more of a performance punch than you probably expected. However, it takes a bit more Caffeine to get into the “ performance boosting zone,” as I’ll explain below.
Did you know that many Tour riders taper their caffeine intake a few weeks before the Tour to get the maximum benefit from Caffeine during the Tour?
How much Caffeine is the “right” amount?
You need more than you probably think. From a pure performance standpoint, the clinical evidence indicates that 4.5mg per kg of body weight is ideal. So for an 80kg athlete, that is 360mg of Caffeine to push yourself into the “performance zone”. While you may “feel” the Caffeine at a lower amount, we’re seeing it takes more than expected to get real performance benefits.
When do you take it?
Caffeine lasts much longer than you expect. The half-life (or time for the Caffeine to decrease by half) is around 5 hours. So you want to front-load the Caffeine towards the beginning of your workout (often starting an hour before your workout). That ensures you’ll have plenty of it flowing in the system throughout your workout/event.
Why do you take it?
Countless studies show that caffeine extends the time to exhaustion, boosts mental acuity, increases energy production, and even can help boost VO2 Max. You name and area of performance, there is a study that shows that caffeine will help with it.
There are even some recent studies that speculate that the biggest benefits of caffeine are neurological – it makes you think you aren’t as tired or the effort you are doing is not as hard as you thought when you didn’t have caffeine.
Stacking Caffeine & Ketones
If you want to exponentiate the effect of Caffeine, add 4g of DeltaGold Ketone Ester to a cup of coffee. This will provide a rapid and marked increase in mental acuity and the ability to focus during training (or work), in addition to the performance benefits you’ll get from glycogen-sparing ketones. Just be sure to also consume 5g to 10g of carbs with your Ketones if are about to go train or race.
Caffeine Strategy
Step 1: Coffee/Espresso
Riders will get their first dosage of Caffeine (call it 80mg) from their morning coffee/espresso. Then, most will do a 2nd espresso shot on the team bus en route to the start. At this point, their total consumption is 160mg.
Step 2: Pre-Workout Drink
Many riders will also have a pre-workout drink with an additional 150mg of Caffeine. Something like Ascent’s Pre-workout is a tasty option.. First Endurance is also out this week with a new Pre-Workout drink that is all about performance.
Your pre-workout increases your total Caffeine to over 300mg before the riders even hit kilometer zero.
Step 3: Caffeinated Gels
After the first hour, look to caffeinated Gels for your final 100mg of Caffeine. I recommend Maurten’s Caffeinated Gel or Clif Double Shot Espresso Gel. Both pack a good caffeine punch and are rider favorites. You don’t necessarily want to trickle in Caffeine with micro-doses, but instead, want a good amount in tandem with your fuel.
As the race goes on, Riders might have one more caffeinated Gel halfway through the race.
One note on coffee, you probably don’t want to get all the recommended Caffeine out of coffee as that much coffee will cause some reflux, so utilizing specific sports supplements (pre-workout, gels, etc..) can improve the way you take it on board.
