Enduro World Championships

Greg has developed a precise fueling strategy to overcome the challenging logistics of enduro riding, and he stuck to his plan well for this championship race. Part of this meant carrying more fuel than he anticipated needing to account for any unexpected hunger or course delays. The Enduro World Champs is a unique event, featuring multiple short sprint stages throughout a longer day. While Greg’s total race time across all stages was just over 22 minutes, he was on the course for over 4 hours, requiring consistent and effective fueling to maintain energy levels. His impressively high carb intake over the 4.5 hours is particularly interesting, considering how little of that time was spent actually racing. Greg has been actively working on increasing his intake following our analysis of Epic Enduro and was able to put this into practice to improve his energy levels as the day progressed by fueling appropriately. He utilised a variety of fueling products, consistently taking a PF 30 Gel or PF 30 Caffeine Gel 15 minutes before each sprint. After the 4th stage, he even opted for 100g of rice, as incorporating real food can help prevent flavour fatigue when relying on nutrition products for extended periods.

There was limited water availability on the course and consequently, Greg had to carry most of the water he planned to consume throughout the day. He still managed an average of ~776ml per hour, a suitable amount given the mild race-day weather and was even higher than the ~591ml/h he drank at Epic Enduro. While Greg recognized he could have consumed more, the added weight and logistical difficulty of carrying extra water made it impractical and he saw no hydration-related issues of being ‘close to the line’. Before future events, gathering some sweat rate data could help him fine-tune his intake for races in warmer conditions. In addition to sweat rate testing, a sweat test would be beneficial to support his sodium intake and make sure it matches his actual losses. Although Greg didn’t have precise data on race day, he estimated he consumed around ~799mg of sodium per litre of fluid, which helped him avoid cramps and stay hydrated.

In addition to his morning coffee, Greg supplemented with a PF 30 Caffeine Gel before stages one and four. Since caffeine has a half-life of 4-5 hours, spacing his intake this way would have helped maintain a steady release of the ergogenic effects, masking any fatigue or energy dips across the five short race stages. His total caffeine intake remained within the scientific guidelines, which is a change from his previous race where he exceeded these recommendations over a longer period of time. By adjusting his intake for the shorter duration, he ensured optimal performance benefits while minimising the risk of gastrointestinal issues.