'Training the gut' and preferring solid foods – Thymen Arensman on how the pros pack in the carbohydrates
Dutch rider takes to Reddit to answer♐ fans' questions, includဣing insight on modern fuelling

One of the biggest changes in professional cycling in the last five years has centred on fuelling. Rewind to the 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:Giro d'Italia in 2018, when Chris Froome went on an 80km solo raid over the 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:Colle delle Finestre, his strategy of eating up to 100g of carbohyꦬdrates per hour wa🧸s unusual and the secret to his success.
Look at this year, though, and those huge, solo attacks are no longer particu꧅larly unco🍌mmon, and pro riders will take in over 90g of carbs per hour in just training rides, more in racing.
Ineos Grenadiers' 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:Thymen Arensman, who went on his own 70km winn﷽ing attack in the recent Tour of the Alps, gave an insight into his fuelling – an🦩d many other topics ahead of the Giro – in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) w🎉ith the on Thursday.
After winning t🅰hat stage in the Alps, Arensman explained in his winner's press conference that he had been trying to eat between upwards of 120g of carbs per hour, and that was likely the key to his♍ success.
"I just went with feel and ate when I could and thought was a good moment to eat! I think I was at like 120-150 but that’s just guess🦩ing!" he🌟 explained on Reddit.
Taking on 150g of carbs per hou🍌r using energy gels could mean consuming more than five gels each hour, more depending on the brand, which is not easy on the digestive system.
"It’s training!," Arensman said of how riders are able to consume so much energy these days. "Like training your lungs/heart/mind you can train the gut! So that’s also what we do. Effort rides in trainiꦏng are also 90+.
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"The main thing i💞s training! If you do it out of nowhere of course your stomach will be destroyed if you didn’t train it!" Arensman add🍨ed.
However, whilst gels and carbohydrate drinks are the most efficient way of getting carbs in – 150g of carbs in real food would b𒉰e about six bananas, or 10 slices of bread – they're not the first choice for every rider.
Riders like Ironman triathlete and ex-Grenadier Cameron Wurf may be knocking b🍨ac✱k 700ml bottles full of energy gel, but even in this ꩵmodern era of fuelling, real food has its place.
That might look likജe fruit, sandwiches, cakes, or rice cakes (think British flapjacks but made out of rice, not the puffed rice discs you see in supermarkets).
"Also on flat days or at the start ♊of the stages I am probably a bit lower [in grams of carbs per hour] and I try to only eat solid food," Arensman said. "I prefer solid food but yeah when you go full you have no choice but to take gels!"
As well as his openness about fueling, Arensman is one of the few pro riders to share his watts data publicly on . On that stage-winning ride at the Tour of the Alps, Arensman🍸's weighted average power was 353 watts, per his Strava.
Between training rides and pre-race preparations, Arensman answered questions about fueling and much more on Reddit on the eve of the Giro,🍎 promising to﷽ be back to answer more on Thursday afternoon.
Matilda is an NCTJ-qualified journalist based in the UK who joined Cyclingnews in March 2025. Prior to that, she worked as the Racing News Editor at GCN, and extensively as a freelancer contributing to Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Velo, Rouleur, Escape Collective, Red Bull and more. Sh⛦e has reported from many of the biggest events on the calendar, including the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France Femmes, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. She has particular experience and 🌳expertise in women's cycling, and women's sport in general. She is a graduate of modern languages and sports journalism.
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