1st
John Borstelmann's scorecard
Gravel Worlds
Saturday 21st August, 2021
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
65g
Carb per hour
877mg
Sodium per hour
884ml
Fluid per hour
992mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
422mg
Total caffeine
How John hit those numbers
1L x PH 1500 (Tablets)
4 x Slices of toast
3 x Black coffee
3.5L x PH 1000 (Tablets)
1L x PH 1000 (Drink Mix)
1L x PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix
500ml x Additional fluid in mixed drinks
1 x Energy gel (22g carb)
4 x Energy gel with caffeine (22g carb, 75mg caffeine)
0.5 x Energy chew packet with caffeine (48g carb, 100mg caffeine)
1 x Energy chew packet with electrolytes (48g carb, 200mg sodium)
1 x Energy gel (21g carb)
1 x Energy gel with caffeine (23g carb, 20mg caffeine)
250ml x Cola Taste
1 x Energy Bar (38g carb)
1 x Energy Bar (33g carb)
1 x Energy gel (24g carb)
How John's hydration and fueling went...
- John raced brilliantly at the Gravel Worlds, defending his title and winning in a time of 7 hours 4 minutes, whilst pushing a normalized power output of around 318w
- The conditions were somewhat cooler than his most recent race (Steamboat Springs), and with thankfully fewer crashes, mechanical issues and dropped bottles, John stuck to a broadly similar hydration and fueling plan
Hydration
- Ahead of the race John preloaded sensibly by sipping on 2 x PH 1500s (in 1L/32oz of water) around an hour and a half, up to 45 minutes before the race start. This meant he would have started the race well hydrated having followed our preloading guidelines almost to the letter
- John’s sodium intake was 877mg/hr, slightly lower than his last race (909mg/hr). That sodium predominantly came from the PH 1000 drink mixes and tablets that he added to his 1L bottles. Given the race conditions (25°C/77°F), the long duration and John’s relatively high sweat sodium concentration of 1,310mg/L, we think this was a suitable consumption level that will have replaced a decent proportion of what John lost in his sweat
- John didn’t cramp at all (having had issues with this in the past), but said that he could tell he was relatively close to cramping when he followed his main rival Colin Strickland’s last attack with 25km to go. Luckily, there weren’t many surges after that so he felt fine and had enough of a kick left to take the sprint
- John drank a total of ~6.25L (~220oz) of fluid, which equates to ~884ml (~30oz) per hour. John stopped to pee early on in the race (55 minutes in) and then had the urge to pee again 30 minutes later, linking this to the three coffees he drank before the start. When you factor in the fluids he had before the start, this may well have been the case
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- We typically recommend taking in ~30g carb (in the form of a gel) ~15 minutes before a race of this length, especially if it’s an early start and your breakfast was light
- John chose not to do this, but did have a large, carb-rich breakfast 2 hours before the start, so will have begun with his energy stores pretty well topped off regardless. Learn more
- Taking in 60-90g of carb per hour over the course of a race of this length and intensity is what both the scientific evidence and our experience suggests is likely to be optimal for a rider of John’s ability
- He consumed about 65g/hr, primarily from PF 30 Energy Drink Mix topped up with some gels and energy chews. This was higher than his last race (53g/hr), where he unfortunately dropped a bottle of fuel in the early stages, a factor that almost inevitably pulled his total energy intake numbers down
- We feel that there’s room for John to experiment with taking in a little bit more carb in some events. He has already undertaken some gut training where he has been able to sustain 80g/hr over the course of 6 hours. It’ll be interesting to see what impact additional fueling has on his performances
- John didn’t experience any GI issues, stating that his ‘stomach felt fine all day’ and rating his GI comfort at 8/9 out of 10. He commented that his energy levels were high overall, being around a 7 out of 10 for the first hour then between 8/9 for the rest of the race
- John also consumed ~422mg of caffeine over the race (~50mg/hr), mostly from gels and Coca Cola. The recommended caffeine dose for performance is 3-6mg per kilogram of bodyweight, which puts him within his own recommended range (237-474mg)
Conclusions
- Overall, John raced brilliantly and underpinned his performance with great execution of his hydration and fueling plan. Understandably, as the race winner and defending World Champ he rated his satisfaction with the outcome as 10/10!
Key info
John Borstelmann
Male
Sweat sodium concentration
1,310mg/L
Sweat sodium classification
High
* determined by our Sweat Test
Result
Position
1st
Overall Time
7:04:37
Normalised power (Bike)
318W
Event information
Sport
Cycling
Discipline
Gravel
Event
Gravel Worlds
Location
Nebraska, Lincoln
Date
21st August, 2021
Total Distance
241.4km / 150.0mi
Total Elevation
3,350m / 10,991ft
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Very Hot
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
17°C / 63°F
Max Temp
29°C / 84°F
Avg Temp
25°C / 77°F
Humidity
44%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
10/10
Hydration rating
10/10
Energy levels
7/10
Toilet stops
Yes
GI comfort
8/10
Cramping
No cramping
John's Thoughts
Everything went much more smoothly than my last race. My gut felt fine and I didn't cramp at all. I had a decent kick left for the sprint
John's full stats
| Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||
| Total intake | 457 | 6,200 | 6,250 | 422 | 992 |
| Per hour | 65 | 877 | 884 | 60 | |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
There is good confidence in the accuracy of the data reported. An athlete feels that the numbers closely reflect what they consumed despite a couple of estimations which may carry some degree of error. The majority of what was consumed is recorded to a high level of specificity (most volumes are known through the use of bottles brands quantities flavours). The numbers are very plausible and align with previous data recordings (if an athlete has collected data previously).