Why “Everyday” Nutrition Matters More Than You Think: What the Research Shows About Nutrition and Cycling Performance

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Giles Elmore (BSc Hons) MRSPH

As cyclists, we often meticulously build fuelling plans for epic long rides, hard interval sessions or competitive races. However, research suggests that maybe we should be thinking beyond just what we consume while on the bike. Your overall daily nutrition quality and the total energy available to your body across a 24-hour period, may have more effect on your performance than you realise.

A series of controlled studies (Jurov, I., Keay, N., Spudić, D., & Rauter, S. (2022a & b)) examined what happens when trained endurance athletes reduce their energy intake for short periods. Their findings carry a strong message for cyclists who seek out quick weight-loss diets or routinely eat less than they burn.

In the first study, researchers reduced athletes’ energy availability by 50 percent for just fourteen days. This wasn’t extreme dieting; it was simply a combination of increased training expenditure and reduced overall intake, the sort of imbalance many endurance athletes slip into during heavy training or attempted weight cuts. The results were almost immediate and significant. Endurance performance declined, VO₂max dropped, explosive power weakened and hormonal disruptions appeared. These were trained male endurance athletes, yet two weeks of under-fuelling was enough to impair their aerobic capacity and overall performance.

A follow-up randomised trial applied a more moderate, stepwise reduction in energy intake. Even this gentler approach led to measurable reductions in aerobic performance and increased physiological strain. In other words, even controlled, “sensible-feeling” calorie reductions carried a performance cost when maintained over time.

Finally, a third study from the same group focused specifically on the effects of reduced energy availability on neuromuscular performance, (How effectively your muscles and nervous system work together to produce force, power, coordination and quick responses). Again, the outcome was clear: athletes in a low-energy state produced less explosive power. For any rider who relies on surges, accelerations or sprint efforts, this represents a meaningful loss of capability.

Together, these studies highlight an important truth: nutrition isn’t just something to think about during a long ride. It’s the total energy available to your body across the whole day that supports training, repairs tissues, maintains hormonal balance and builds fitness. When that energy is lacking off the bike, performance inevitably suffers on it. The research shows that rapid weight loss plans and insufficient daily fuelling can undermine cycling performance far quicker than most riders realise.

What does this mean for you?

Well, firstly, if you’re thinking that a few weeks of aggressive weight loss before a big trip to the Alps will make you quicker on the climbs, the evidence suggests it might be wise rethinking that approach. The reduced energy availability seen in these studies mirrors the physiological state created by rapid dieting, and the outcome was a clear decline in endurance capacity, power output and overall performance within just fourteen days. In other words, short-term calorie cuts may feel like a shortcut to having an easier time in the mountains, but they are far more likely to leave you underpowered and less resilient when you arrive.

Secondly, and by far the main take away, is that for us cyclists, the implication is straightforward. If the results we seek are for long-term improvement, consistent training quality and sustainable body composition changes, then aggressive dieting or chronically low energy intake is perhaps counter-productive. It comes down to the fact that adequate & consistent daily nutrition is not an add-on or after thought to hours spent on the bike; it is a central pillar of performance and should therefore be approached as such.

Weekly Fun Fact: Maurice Garin, (the winner of the first Tour de France), in a 24 hour race in 1893 fuelled his ride by consuming: Oysters, Red Wine, Champagne, Coffee, 19 litres of hot chocolate, 7 litres of tea, 8 cooked eggs, 45 Cutlets, 5 litres of tapioca and 2 kg’s of rice.

If you’re unsure whether you’re fuelling correctly on a daily bias or want expert help optimising your day-to-day nutrition, G2 Nutrition offers personalised diet analysis and practical guidance.

Get in touch at giles@g2nutrition.com, or ask in MdV next time you drop in.

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