What cyclists should eat depends on the ride ahead. In the UCI's 2026 culinary nutrition review, Dana Lis and Nicki Strobel describe chefs raising carbohydrate and cutting fibre before long stages, then adding vegetables and protein on rest days. Daily carbohydrate ranges run from 5 to 7 g per kg on light days to over 8 g on heavy ones.
Where do these numbers come from?
The review is one of the topic reviews behind the UCI's nutrition position statement, and part five of our series on them. Lis, of Summit Sports Nutrition and the University of California Davis, and Strobel, of NSN Cycling Team and the University of Agder, describe how chefs, dietitians and soigneurs turn targets in grams into breakfasts, bottles and dinners at a Grand Tour. It is a consensus paper built on team practice, so its numbers show what teams do and were never tested against another way of eating.
The daily ranges for everyone else come from the position statement itself, led by Louise Burke. It sets carbohydrate by training load, protein at 1.6 to 2.1 g per kg a day spread across the day, and fat at about 20 to 35% of energy.
How much carbohydrate does a cyclist need a day?
The statement's ranges follow the training, so the same rider needs different amounts on different days.
| Day | Carbohydrate a day | For a 70 kg rider |
|---|---|---|
| Light endurance training | 5 to 7 g per kg | 350 to 490 g |
| Moderate training, under 3 hours a day | 6 to 10 g per kg | 420 to 700 g |
| Intensified training, over 4 hours a day | More than 8 g per kg | More than 560 g |
| Meal 1 to 4 hours before a race | 1 to 4 g per kg | 70 to 280 g |
| Grand Tour flat stage, 4 to 5 hours | 8 to 10 g per kg | 560 to 700 g |
| Grand Tour mountain stage, 5 to 6 hours or more | 16 to 20 g per kg | 1,120 to 1,400 g |
| Grand Tour rest day breakfast | 1.5 to 2 g per kg | 105 to 140 g |
The Grand Tour rows come from the review's illustrative stage plan and describe professionals racing day after day. They show how far intake moves with the work, and for a club rider they mark the top of the scale. Protein for the same 70 kg rider comes to about 112 to 147 g a day, which our protein guide breaks into meals.
What should cyclists eat on an easy day?
On rest and low-load days the review's chefs cut the total energy and carbohydrate density of the menu and keep the same meal structure, changing portions, ingredients and food format. They spread protein across the meals and bring back the fibre-rich and colourful foods that get squeezed out on hard days, such as oats, barley, lentils and other legumes, leeks, onions, berries, apples and grapes. The dishes are lentil and vegetable stews, vegetable soups, grain bowls, salads, and yoghurt or skyr with berries.
The position statement adds that higher-protein meals can be emphasised on recovery days, because protein targets are hard to reach on days when very high carbohydrate intakes are needed. For an amateur, an easy day is the day to eat the vegetables and the wholegrain bread, with carbohydrate towards the bottom of the light range.
What should you eat before a long ride?
Before a hard or long day the menu changes shape. Professional riders aim for about 3 to 4 g of carbohydrate per kg at breakfast, 3 to 4 hours before the start, from foods that are easy to digest and low in fibre and bulk. The review lists porridge, muesli, bread, rice, pancakes with syrup, lower-fibre baked goods, juices and smoothies. Through the day, rice, pasta and low-fibre baked goods carry the carbohydrate, because a big plate of vegetables fills the stomach without fuelling the legs.
The amount changes with the stage. In the review's plan breakfast rises from 2.5 to 3 g per kg before a flat stage to 3.5 to 4 g before a mountain stage, and on the bike from 80 to 90 g an hour to 110 to 120 g. For an amateur, a breakfast of 1 to 4 g per kg in the 1 to 4 hours before a long ride is the statement's range, which is 70 to 280 g for a 70 kg rider.
A plate model can get you close without weighing food. A 2019 validation study asked 12 sports dietitians to build plates for easy, moderate and hard training days with a plate-based teaching tool. The plates matched the recommendations for energy, carbohydrate, fat and fibre at every load, and gave more protein than recommended at all three.
How do you eat for winter rides?
The review gives a table to cold racing, which suits a British winter. Cold raises energy use and carbohydrate burning through shivering and muscle tension, blunts appetite and thirst, and can freeze bars and gels. The chefs' answers translate straight to a winter club run.
- Add carbohydrate without adding volume, with honey, jam, syrup or sugar on porridge and rice pudding.
- Eat and drink by the clock, with planned drinking every 15 to 20 minutes, because hunger and thirst cues fade in the cold.
- Serve warm food before and after riding, such as porridge, stews and soups thickened with starch.
- Carry warm sweet drinks in an insulated bottle, and test bars and gels in the cold before relying on them.
What does this mean for your training week?
Our view at WattPlan is that most amateurs gain more from matching each day's plate to that day's ride than from any single food. Look at the week as three kinds of day. An easy day gets the vegetables and protein, a key session gets a carbohydrate breakfast and a carbohydrate dinner, and a long ride gets the low-fibre breakfast and food on the bike.
The Plan tab in WattPlan lists the coming sessions with their length and planned Load, so the long and hard days stand out from the easy ones. In the workout player, feed reminders run on structured workouts of 60 minutes or more and on free rides, asking for 60 g of carbohydrate every 45 minutes, which works out at about 80 g an hour. That rate stays the same whatever the session, so the meals around it are yours to set. Our post on train low covers the days you might choose to eat less carbohydrate.
What to do this week
- On Sunday, mark each day of the coming week as easy, key or long from your plan.
- On easy days, aim for 5 to 7 g of carbohydrate per kg, put protein on every plate and eat most of the week's vegetables, beans and wholegrains.
- The night before and the morning of a long ride, swap high-fibre foods for rice, white bread, porridge and juice, and eat 1 to 4 g per kg 1 to 4 hours before you start.
- On cold rides, drink every 15 to 20 minutes whether you are thirsty or not, and carry a warm sweet drink.
- If you are often hungry, tired or losing weight you didn't mean to lose, talk to a doctor or a registered dietitian.
What we don't know yet
The review describes how professional teams cook, nobody has followed amateurs who copy them, and its stage plan is labelled illustrative. Nobody has tested a day-by-day plate against eating the same every day in riders training 6 to 10 hours a week. The position statement's ranges are wide because needs vary, and the authors call them suggested ranges to be individualised for each rider. The 2019 plate study compared the dietitians' plates with the recommendations and never measured riders' performance.
Sources
- UCI Sports Nutrition Project: Plate to Performance, Culinary Nutrition Support for Professional Road Cycling, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism
- UCI Sports Nutrition Project: Position Statement on Nutrition for Cycling, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism
- Validation of the Athlete's Plate Nutrition Educational Tool: Phase I, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism