Completing the ALPENBREVET is no easy feat. Whether you’re riding the Platintour 278 km or aiming to complete the Bronzetour 64 km, you’re guaranteed to be burning plenty of calories. While climbing a number of mountain passes, and fueling correctly is critical to getting all the way round safely.
For those participating in the Platintour and Goldtour’s, prepare to be cycling for up to ten hours or more. For these distances, it’s critical to begin well fuelled and to continue that throughout the day. Along with a decent meal the night before (including carb-rich foods like rice or pasta) we recommend having breakfast at least 1.5-2 hours before the event starts to give your body the time to process what you’ve eaten. Oats with honey and eggs on toast are two ideal breakfasts to have before the ALPENBREVET. If you can have both, even better.
If you’re looking for an additional ‘boost’ in the days leading up to the event, consider taking WINFORCE O2 MAXX BOOSTER – a nitrate-rich sports drink designed to improve blood flow and oxygen transportation throughout the body; perfect for an endurance event such as the ALPENBREVET. One final O2 MAXX BOOSTER along with breakfast on the morning of the event will ensure you’re 100% prepared for what’s to come…
HINT: Digesting food takes blood away from your legs and uses it for your stomach. So the closer to the event that you eat, the less power you’ll have when you roll out. The earlier you can eat breakfast, the more ready you’ll be when the flag drops.
Once you’re riding, eating correctly can be as simple or as complex as you like. The harder you ride, the more energy your body will consume. As a general rule we recommend eating 70 – 90 grams of carbohydrates per hour, along with drinking 1.5 l of fluid (roughly two cycling bottles) for every two hours you’ll be riding. How you take on this amount of energy is up to you: a mix of solid food and carbohydrate sports drink is usually easiest. Alternating between the two to keep you topped up the entire way round. It’s extremely important not to get behind in your energy consumption. Once you’re behind, you run the risk of bonking, losing the ability to concentrate, needing longer stops at feed stations and ultimately falling behind on your target time for the event.
WINFORCE PANFORTE bars have nearly 40 g of carbohydrates per bar, and one serving of WINFORCE Carbo Basic Plus includes close to 60 g of carbs. By combining one PANFORTE bar with one bottle of Carbo Basic Plus drink mix during each hour of the event, you’ll stay on top of your energy requirements for all the climbing and descending you’ll be doing. WINFORCE will be available at all feed stations along the route to help you with this.
HINT: Both PANFORTE and Carbo Basic Plus are made from natural ingredients and aren’t overly sweet. They are designed to help keep your stomach comfortable while riding long distances, and will ensure you avoid big sugar highs and lows which can take you on a physical and emotional rollercoaster.
In the final part of your ALPENBREVET, a WINFORCE Booster will keep your energy and concentration levels high. With 160mg of caffeine in one easy-to-drink serve, it’s the perfect solution for fatigue resistance after a long day on the bike.
Finally, always remember to eat early, in small amounts, and often – even when you don’t feel like it. Your legs will thank you in the second half of ALPENBREVET, no matter what distance you’re riding.
Good luck!