Cycling nutrition for high-mileage riders is mostly about the meals you eat off the bike: enough total energy, carbohydrate matched to each day's training, and steady protein. Ride fuel matters too. Guidelines suggest 30–60 g of carbohydrate per hour on long rides, and up to 90 g per hour beyond 2.5 hours. Fat quality, recovery meals and practising your fuelling complete the picture.
Why does daily eating matter more than ride fuel?
A rider doing 10 to 20 hours a week spends far more hours at the table than in the saddle. Gels and drink mix cover the ride. Breakfast, lunch and dinner cover the other 160 hours, including all of your recovery.
The biggest risk for high-volume riders is simply not eating enough. The IOC calls this low energy availability: too little food for the training load. Its 2023 consensus describes a syndrome of health and performance problems in both female and male athletes, called REDs (Mountjoy et al., 2023). It also highlights the growing role of low carbohydrate intake. Chronic fatigue, frequent illness, stalled fitness and stress fractures are reasons to see a sports doctor or dietitian.
How many carbs does a cyclist need per day?
It depends on the training load, which is why sports dietitians talk about "periodizing" carbohydrate. The ISSN review gives these daily ranges (Kerksick et al., 2018):
| Training load | Carbohydrate per kg of body weight per day | Example for a 70 kg rider |
|---|---|---|
| General fitness, not training for performance | 3–5 g | 210–350 g |
| 2–3 hours of intense training, 5–6 days a week | 5–8 g | 350–560 g |
| 3–6 hours of intense training, 5–6 days a week | 8–10 g | 560–700 g |
In practice, this means eating more on big days and less on rest days. A long Saturday ride needs a carbohydrate-rich dinner on Friday and a large recovery meal after. A recovery spin on Monday does not.
Should cyclists "train low"?
Some riders deliberately train with low carbohydrate stores to boost metabolic adaptation. A review of this approach found that it often increased adaptation signals inside muscle (Impey et al., 2018). However, performance improved in only 37% of 11 studies and did not change in 63%.
The same authors proposed "fuel for the work required." You match carbohydrate to the demands of each session. Easy endurance rides can be done with less. Hard intervals and long rides should be fuelled well. An earlier consensus paper noted that it is unclear whether train-low strategies improve performance in well-trained athletes (Burke et al., 2011). If you experiment, keep it to a few easy sessions and never combine it with overall underfuelling.
How much protein does a cyclist need?
The ISSN suggests 1.4–2.0 g of protein per kg per day for most exercising people (Jäger et al., 2017). For a 70 kg rider, that is about 98–140 g a day. It works best spread through the day, in doses of 20–40 g every 3–4 hours.
That might look like eggs at breakfast, chicken or fish at lunch, yogurt after the ride and beans or meat at dinner. The same paper notes that about 0.25 g/kg of protein per hour of endurance exercise may reduce muscle damage markers. Most riders find it simpler to focus on meals.
What fats should cyclists eat?
Fat is a steady fuel for long, easy riding and carries fat-soluble vitamins. The ISSN review says a moderate intake of about 30% of daily calories is generally recommended for athletes (Kerksick et al., 2018). The type of fat matters as much as the amount.
Extra virgin olive oil is a practical base fat. It is mostly monounsaturated, works for cooking and dressing, and makes vegetables, grains and legumes easier to eat in volume. It also brings polyphenols. The EU allows one specific claim: olive oil polyphenols contribute to the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress. The effect is obtained with a daily intake of 20 g of olive oil containing at least 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives.
That claim is about blood lipids, not cycling performance. Our page on olive oil for cyclists covers what the research does and does not show for riders.
What should a cyclist eat after a long ride?
Recovery eating depends on how soon you ride again. If you have a hard session tomorrow, a normal carbohydrate-rich meal within a couple of hours usually works.
When you need to refuel fast, such as stage racing or two sessions in a day, the ISSN gives firmer targets (Kerksick et al., 2018):
- About 1 g per kg of carbohydrate and 0.5 g per kg of protein within 30 minutes.
- A high-carbohydrate meal within 2 hours.
- For the fastest glycogen restoration, at least 1.2 g per kg of carbohydrate per hour for the first 4 hours.
Simple meals that fit include a chicken pasta salad with feta and yogurt, a Greek potato salad with olive oil and vinegar with grilled fish. For a quick snack, try egg, tomato and feta toast. Add bread, rice or fruit on big days to reach your carbohydrate target.
How many grams of carbs per hour on a long ride?
For long rides and gravel events, carbohydrate during the ride is the main lever. Two consensus sources line up:
- Around 1 hour of hard riding: small amounts, or even a carbohydrate mouth rinse, can help (Burke et al., 2011).
- Rides of 2–3 hours: up to about 60 g per hour. A single sugar source such as glucose can be used at roughly this rate (Jeukendrup, 2014).
- Rides beyond 2.5–3 hours: up to about 90 g per hour. This needs a mix of sugars, such as glucose and fructose, to be absorbed.
Jeukendrup notes that these targets do not scale with body weight or training status. They may need adjusting downward when riding intensity is low. A steady endurance ride burns less carbohydrate than a race.
Gravel and long-ride fuelling basics
- Start fuelling early. Begin early in the ride rather than waiting until you feel empty.
- Eat and drink on a timer. Small, regular doses are easier on the gut than large ones. The ISSN review describes drinking every 10–15 minutes during long, hard efforts.
- Mix solids and liquids. Bars, rice cakes and bananas suit easy sections. Gels and drink mix suit hard efforts and rough terrain.
- Train your gut. High hourly intakes need practice. Build up over several long rides before an event.
- Manage sodium and fluid. On long, hot days, add sodium through drink mix or salty food. Avoid drinking well beyond your losses.
- Carry more than you plan to eat. Gravel races often have long gaps between resupply points.
A sample high-volume training day
This is an illustration for a 70 kg rider doing a 4-hour endurance ride, not a prescription.
- Breakfast: oats with milk, banana and honey, plus eggs on toast with olive oil.
- On the bike: 60–90 g of carbohydrate per hour from drink mix, rice cakes and gels.
- Straight after: a recovery shake or yogurt with fruit and granola.
- Lunch: a large pasta or potato salad with chicken, vegetables and olive oil dressing.
- Dinner: rice or potatoes, fish or beans, a Greek salad and bread.
- Evening: yogurt or milk-based snack if hungry.
On a rest day, keep the protein and vegetables. Reduce the starchy portions and skip the ride fuel.
Where do supplements fit?
Supplements come after food. Caffeine and carbohydrate products have the strongest evidence for endurance performance. Iron and vitamin D are worth testing for, especially in riders who train indoors or eat little red meat. The IOC consensus on supplements is a good guide (Maughan et al., 2018). For more on food, oil and recovery, see our pillar on olive oil for athletic performance and recovery.
If you want a measured olive oil for daily meals, our Greek early-harvest olive oil tested at 635 mg/kg total polyphenols by HPLC.
Sources
- Mountjoy M, Ackerman KE, Bailey DM, et al. 2023 International Olympic Committee's (IOC) consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2023;57(17):1073–1098. doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-106994
- Kerksick CM, Wilborn CD, Roberts MD, et al. ISSN exercise & sports nutrition review update: research & recommendations. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2018;15:38. doi.org/10.1186/s12970-018-0242-y
- Impey SG, Hearris MA, Hammond KM, et al. Fuel for the work required: a theoretical framework for carbohydrate periodization and the glycogen threshold hypothesis. Sports Medicine. 2018;48(5):1031–1048. doi.org/10.1007/s40279-018-0867-7
- Burke LM, Hawley JA, Wong SH, Jeukendrup AE. Carbohydrates for training and competition. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2011;29(Suppl 1):S17–S27. doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2011.585473
- Jäger R, Kerksick CM, Campbell BI, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2017;14:20. doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0177-8
- Jeukendrup A. A step towards personalized sports nutrition: carbohydrate intake during exercise. Sports Medicine. 2014;44(Suppl 1):S25–S33. doi.org/10.1007/s40279-014-0148-z
- Maughan RJ, Burke LM, Dvorak J, et al. IOC consensus statement: dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2018;52(7):439–455. doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099027
- European Commission. Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims. 2012. eur-lex.europa.eu
