The UCI's New Race Nutrition Guidelines: What 120g/Hour Actually Looks Like

In May 2026, the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism published a landmark paper: the UCI Sports Nutrition Project's guidelines for race nutrition in road cycling. Co-authored by researchers including Professor Stephen Seiler, the document synthesizes decades of field data from WorldTour teams into evidence-based recommendations for fueling during competition.

The headline number? May is the time to stabilize at 100-120g of carbohydrates per hour during races. That's not a typo. For high-intensity stage races and long road events, the pros are consuming the carbohydrate equivalent of 2-3 energy gels every 15 minutes.

Why Carbohydrate Intake Matters

It has long been recognized that carbohydrate intake during exercise can delay fatigue and improve endurance exercise performance. The mechanism is straightforward: your liver and muscles store about 500-600g of glycogen, enough to fuel roughly 90 minutes of hard riding. Beyond that, you're either eating or you're slowing down.

Carbohydrate intake during cycling races has been common practice since the 1980s, supported by contemporary studies which showed that carbohydrate feeding during exercise helped maintain blood glucose and high rates of muscle carbohydrate oxidation. But until recently, recommendations topped out at 60-90g per hour, based on the assumption that the gut couldn't absorb more.

That ceiling has been shattered. The use of Highly Branched Cyclic Dextrins (HBCD) paired with fructose is the preferred choice to ensure rapid gastric emptying even under maximal effort. By using multiple carbohydrate transporters (glucose uses SGLT1, fructose uses GLUT5), riders can push absorption rates well past 60g/hour without GI distress—if their gut is trained.

Gut Training Is Real Training

Here's the uncomfortable truth: your gut adapts to high carbohydrate loads the same way your muscles adapt to intervals. With "Gut Training" now established, May is the time to stabilize at 100-120g of carbohydrates per hour during races. That means practicing your race nutrition repeatedly during training, starting at lower doses and building tolerance over weeks.

For amateur riders used to 30-40g per hour, jumping straight to 120g is a recipe for nausea, bloating, and potentially a very unpleasant roadside stop. The protocol: start at 60-80g per hour in base training, increase by 10-20g every 2-3 weeks, and reserve the highest intakes for race-specific efforts.

Hydration and Electrolytes in the Heat

Temperatures in May 2026 can see sudden spikes, and dehydration of just 2% of body weight can cause a drop in aerobic power exceeding 10%. That's enormous. For a 70kg rider, losing 1.4kg of fluid—easily possible in a hot gran fondo—could cost you 30-40 watts at threshold.

Now is the time to evaluate your sweat rate, and if you finish your ride with white salt crusts on your bib shorts, you are a "salty sweater" who should increase sodium intake to 800-1000mg per liter. Sodium isn't just about preventing cramps (though it helps). Sodium maintains the osmotic drive that pulls water into the bloodstream. Without adequate sodium, you can drink all you want and still become dehydrated at the cellular level.

The Research on Injury Prevention and GI Issues

The UCI project also addressed a perennial problem: gastrointestinal distress during races. Short-term low fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAP) diets, gut training, and use of mixed saccharide (glucose/maltodextrin-fructose) foods/supplements are evidence-supported strategies for reducing gastrointestinal symptoms.

Probiotic supplementation and carbohydrate hydrogels currently have equivocal evidence—they might help some riders, but the data isn't strong enough for blanket recommendations. What *is* clear: promoting personal hygiene and food safety principles are important factors in avoiding gastrointestinal infections. Don't share water bottles. Wash your hands. Don't eat sketchy roadside food.

What This Means for Your Riding

If you're training for a gran fondo, century, or multi-day stage race, your nutrition is as trainable as your FTP. Here's the protocol:

Weeks 1-4: Practice 60-80g carbs per hour on rides longer than 2 hours. Use a mix of liquids and solids. Track how you feel. Weeks 5-8: Increase to 90g per hour, with at least one session per week hitting race intensity. Use glucose + fructose blends (2:1 ratio). Weeks 9-12: Target 100-120g per hour during race-simulation efforts. This is when you dial in your race-day fueling strategy.

Don't experiment on race day. By the time you pin on a number, your gut should be as adapted to high carbohydrate intake as your legs are to high power output. Dehydration and bonking are optional—if you train your nutrition as seriously as you train your watts.

The UCI's research makes one thing clear: the old "eat when you're hungry" approach is obsolete. In 2026, race nutrition is a performance variable you can control—and the riders who take it seriously are the ones finishing strong.