Nutrition can be make or break in an event like the Etape and your preparation should start in the days beforehand.

As you will be tapering down your training at this point it’s important to manage both the nutritional content and amount you eat. While we have discussed in previous articles how fasted training with limited carbohydrate availability can improve training adaptations and make you better at using your fat stores as a fuel, the key in the final days before the event is to make sure you start well hydrated and with full carbohydrate stores.

Carbo-loading, or a modified diet with a very high carbohydrate intake, in the 24-36 hours before your event works well, so try to consume around 8-10g of carbohydrate per kilogramme of body weight (so 560-700g for a 70kg or 11-stone person) in the day before the event. This is probably a lot more than you will be used to eating and as you won’t be training much you should replace some of the usual fat and protein content of your diet and reduce the fibre content a little by taking on white versions of pasta and rice to aid digestion. To ensure you remain well hydrated, drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol and caffeine. Sipping on a sports drink throughout the day is also a great way to keep hydrated and top up your carbohydrate stores at the same time.

On the day

On the day itself you will want to have a fairly light breakfast, preferably around three hours before your start time. Again, this should be focused on easily digested carbohydrates and preferably something you are used to such as porridge or muesli. You will be climbing almost from the very start of the Etape so you don’t want anything too heavy in your stomach as you climb the Col de Chaussy.

While the summit of the first mountain occurs after just 19.5km of riding, this is a good opportunity to take on a relatively large dose of food such as an energy bar or some flapjack as you now have a descent and pretty much the only flat bit of the day coming up as you travel along the valley (another good opportunity to take on some food) to the start of the next climb at 62.5km.

As you enter the second half of the ride and digestion time is limited, look to switch to more easily digested foods and place more emphasis on liquid energy and hydration as the day warms up. Overall you should be aiming to take on 60-90g of carbohydrates per hour and energy drinks, gels and sweets such as jelly babies (or the French racer’s favourite ‘pate de fruits’) are good choices to give you easily digestible carbohydrate energy.