MailOnline goes behind-the-scenes to find how Tour de France riders practice to outlive the race

For us mere mortals, the prospect of biking 124 miles (200km) in at some point is problem sufficient.  

However the Tour de France‘s world-class cyclists are pressured to cowl a whole bunch of miles of floor – a lot of it steep and unforgiving alpine terrain – virtually day by day for 3 weeks.

The bodily health and psychological toughness required to even try such a feat is nearly incomprehensible for anybody whose physique and thoughts has not been fortified by years of devoted coaching.

However the sheer period of time spent on the bike means the our bodies of even these superhuman athletes will inevitably break down. 

Not solely should they obtain peak bodily situation forward of the Tour, however they need to discover methods to gasoline, get well and maintain themselves for day after day of savagery within the saddle.

So how do they do it? 

To search out out, I went to the Porsche Human Performance Centre (PHP) to see how my health ranges evaluate to these of a Tour de France rider, earlier than assembly with sports activities scientists from Precision Fuel and Hydration (PF&H) to find the hydration and vitamin science wanted to maintain prime cyclists acting at their peak. 

The exams

The PHP is among the world’s main utilized sports activities science laboratories and is geared up with state-of-the-art know-how to assist athletes fulfil their potential.

To be able to correctly assess my health ranges and evaluate them with these of top-tier professional cyclists, their sports activities scientists instructed me I might have my physique composition examined earlier than enduring a trio of making an attempt physiological exams.

After working up a severe sweat, PF&H scientists – who’re working with crew Lotto Dstny for this 12 months’s Tour de France – would conduct a complicated sweat take a look at to analyse the composition of my perspiration and clarify how every athlete’s distinctive sweat profile requires a tailored hydration answer to unlock most efficiency. 

First up – the max energy output take a look at. 

Strapped onto a stationary wattbike, I used to be instructed to crank out a pair of all-out sprints, for six seconds every. 

I’m a eager (learn ‘very beginner’) bike owner, and at a comparatively match – although considerably chunky 205lbs (93kg) – I weigh some 44-66lbs (20-30kg) greater than most pro-cyclists, so I used to be naively assured that my numbers would a minimum of be corresponding to the professionals. I would discover out later that I used to be sorely mistaken. 

After the sprints got here the true ache – the VO2 max take a look at, which is broadly seen as the easiest way to measure an athlete’s general cardiovascular health and cardio endurance.

With a cumbersome masks uncomfortably strapped to my face and wired to a monitor to measure my oxygen consumption, I used to be clipped into one other stationary bike.

This one was particularly designed to torture the legs and lungs, steadily growing resistance each minute and forcing its rider to push more durable and more durable till an eventual, and inevitable, lactic acid-induced implosion. 

Having barely recovered from what was a really painful expertise on the torture bike, I used to be then thrown into what was primarily a sauna, and hooked up to yet one more stationary bike. 

To simulate the punishing situations of the Tour de France within the peak of the French summer season, the chamber was heated to 107F (42C), and for half an hour I used to be instructed to carry a median energy output of 225 watts – a bit of cake in regular situations… not so in such roasting temperatures!

Though my warmth chamber take a look at wouldn’t be in comparison with any knowledge registered by skilled athletes, it supplied a unbelievable perception into the unimaginable bodily demand positioned on a Tour rider’s physique within the peak of the French summer season.  

In between every session, I used to be weighed and my water consumption was measured to calculate the quantity of fluids misplaced. 

Lastly, after a much-needed chilly bathe and a develop into garments not dripping moist with sweat, I used to be welcomed by Chris Harris and Raff Hussey – a pair of notably affable and evidently very well-conditioned sports activities scientists from PF&H – to conduct the sweat take a look at. 

By strapping a tourniquet round my arm after which stimulating a small gel pad with an electrical present, the PF&H crew have been capable of induce sweating in a single particular spot on my physique and take a pattern for evaluation.

The science

Whereas I used to be ready for my outcomes, Chris defined why the sweat take a look at is such an essential a part of constructing a coaching and hydration routine for world-class and beginner athletes alike.

‘Each particular person’s sweat profile is totally different. Not solely do some folks sweat at a a lot greater fee than others when their our bodies are positioned below stress, however the amount of sodium and different electrolytes misplaced of their sweat additionally varies dramatically,’ he mentioned.

‘Everybody is aware of that dehydration negatively impacts efficiency, and staying hydrated earlier than, throughout and after intense train – particularly for an endurance occasion like a stage of the Tour in sizzling temperatures – is clearly essential.

‘However if you happen to’re not changing the sodium and potassium and different electrolytes you are dropping in your sweat then that is when your efficiency can actually nosedive.’

And nosedive is not an understatement. Raff identified a study carried out in 2015 on triathlon athletes discovered that rivals who adequately changed the sodium misplaced of their sweat completed a center distance course a median of 26 minutes sooner than those that did not. 

That is as a result of sodium is a key ingredient in all method of bodily reactions.

The scientists instructed me that for light train in cooler situations, taking in plain water is sufficient to mitigate sweat losses. 

However as fluid losses by way of sweat – and subsequently sodium losses – begin to mount, it’s important to switch sodium with a view to reconcile the deficit and to keep away from your blood turning into diluted.

A lack of sodium will increase the pressure in your cardiovascular system, making it more durable to your coronary heart to pump blood to your pores and skin to chill you down and to your working muscle tissue.

Muscle cramps may also be skilled if losses are allowed to go uncorrected for lengthy sufficient – one thing that proves completely debilitating for endurance athletes within the later levels of an extended race. 

This, Chris tells me, is why the sweat take a look at is so essential, particularly for the Tour de France the place every day presents a special problem.

If an athlete is aware of whether or not they’re vulnerable to sweating kind of than common – and crucially, whether or not they’re dropping kind of sodium than common – their crew’s nutritionists and hydration consultants can tailor-make a plan for every stage of the race primarily based on their distinctive necessities. 

The outcomes – and the way prime cyclists enhance their health and keep fuelled

After gobbling down some much-needed meals (maybe the one exercise that day wherein I’ve an opportunity of beating a Tour de France rider), it was time to match outcomes. 

First, the max dash. This was the realm wherein I believed I had the slightest likelihood of measuring up nicely with a Tour rider… however the hole was genuinely staggering. 

I used to be capable of produce 1043 watts in my 6-second dash, however a world-class Tour bike owner places out between 1600-1800 watts when racing for the road on the finish of a stage – all whereas weighing 55-66lbs (25-30kg) much less, and after a whole bunch of miles of driving.

In addition to their years of conditioning within the saddle and flawless approach, PHP sports activities scientist Jack Wilson defined prime cyclists are subjected to savage high-intensity interval coaching that trains their anaerobic and neuromuscular techniques for max-sprint energy.

This allows them to provide distinctive energy with out having to pack on muscle mass, holding physique weight low – a key issue for endurance rides and hard climbs. 

Our our bodies use totally different vitality techniques to provide energy output relying on the depth of the exercise: cardio, anaerobic, and neuromuscular.

The cardio system supplies vitality for extended, endurance-based actions, utilizing oxygen to transform saved carbohydrates and fat into gasoline. This method is environment friendly and sustainable, and is used when biking at low depth over lengthy distances.

Throughout intense train, at coronary heart charges of 80-90 per cent of our most, the physique switches to the anaerobic system, which breaks down saved carbohydrates for vitality with out utilizing oxygen – however produces numerous lactic acid.

And at last, the neuromuscular system entails the mind and nerves speaking with our muscle tissue to generate power for terribly explosive actions.

To enhance my dash, he prompt incorporating short-duration, excessive depth rides into my coaching routine that might see me dash for 15-30 seconds, earlier than driving in a snug cardio zone of 60-65 per cent of my max coronary heart fee to get well, earlier than repeating for some 7-10 repetitions. 

Then got here the VO2 max outcomes.

VO2 max testing is essential in biking because it reveals an athlete’s most capability to eat oxygen throughout intense train. It’s measured in millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of physique weight per minute (ml/kg/min).

The upper the quantity, the better the athlete’s means to eat and utilise oxygen, which clearly interprets to higher cardio capability and efficiency on gruelling endurance rides interspersed with brutal climbs. 

I used to be pleasantly shocked to find my VO2 max got here in at 60ml/kg/min, which I am instructed was fairly good for a reasonably energetic one who spends 9 or extra hours a day behind a desk. 

However in fact, a median skilled bike owner nonetheless blows me out of the water, with a VO2 max of 70-85ml/kg/min. 

Jack defined that a wide range of coaching modalities can be utilized to enhance your VO2 max capability, with a spotlight positioned on lengthy, regular rides of roughly two hours in an cardio state of wherever from 60-75 per cent of your most coronary heart fee, relying in your health ranges. 

Or, in less complicated phrases, driving at a tempo the place you may maintain a dialog with out an excessive amount of hassle and breathe by way of your nostril. 

Jack added that intermittent ‘threshold’ coaching classes are additionally important to enhance a bike owner’s means to maintain greater intensities for longer durations. 

Driving for 20-Half-hour on or simply under our ‘lactate threshold’ – the purpose at which lactic acid builds up within the bloodstream sooner than it may be eliminated – is a unbelievable, and really environment friendly, method to supercharge our means to keep up a better tempo for longer durations. 

For reference, most individuals’s lactate threshold might be discovered wherever between 75-85 per cent of your max coronary heart fee – or driving at a tempo that’s sustainable, however provided that you are respiratory by way of your mouth with out holding a dialog. 

Lastly, Chris and Raff revealed the outcomes of my sweat take a look at. 

Seems, I am a really sweaty man. PF&H found that I lose round 1,850ml of sweat per hour of intense train – virtually two litres of fluid! 

Initially I wasn’t overjoyed to listen to this, however the sports activities scientists rapidly cheered me up by telling me a propensity to sweat rapidly and profusely is definitely a optimistic trait for an athlete. 

It signifies an environment friendly thermoregulatory system and permits the athlete to chill down extra successfully, thereby delaying the onset of fatigue and enhancing efficiency – however provided that the fluids are changed.

Extra intriguing for me although was the outcomes of the PF&H sweat evaluation. Though my fluid loss was actually fairly excessive, the sweat take a look at revealed that I lose simply 450mg of sodium per litre of sweat – some 500mg lower than the common quantity. 

Because of this, though I run the danger of turning into dehydrated rapidly when driving laborious or in sizzling temperatures, I’m able to train for lengthy intervals with out affected by hyponatremia – in any other case generally known as low blood sodium ranges – and might subsequently keep away from cramps, muscle fatigue for longer.

However Chris and Raff claimed that some folks can lose enormous quantities of sodium of their sweat – one athlete examined by PF&H recorded a sodium lack of a completely staggering 2,314mg per litre of fluid. 

The speed of sodium and electrolyte loss is essentially dictated by one’s genetics, that means no quantity of coaching or variations in food plan could make a significant influence on the amount of sodium secreted in sweat. 

Present process a complicated sweat take a look at, such because the one supplied by PF&H, is an accessible and correct method to measure your sodium loss throughout train. 

As soon as the outcomes have been verified, the crew’s sports activities scientists will curate a personalised hydration plan explaining how a lot fluid – and electrolytes – you want to eat and when for max efficiency output. 

Now, with all of the health exams carried out and my hydration plan within the again pocket, I feel I am going to put my toes up and watch the professionals present me the way it’s carried out.