The World's Fittest Athletes Are Eating More Carbs Than Ever?

Why Tour de France champions and ultra-endurance athletes are fueling with 100+ grams of carbohydrates per hour—and what that says about real metabolic flexibility.

This is wild. The current trend in elite endurance sports is moving in almost the opposite direction.

The old recommendation for sports nutrition guidelines suggested roughly:

-30–60 g/hour for events lasting 1–2.5 hours. 

-Up to 90 g/hour for events over about 2.5–3 hours, using multiple transportable carbohydrates (typically glucose plus fructose). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41759826/ People thought around 90 g/hour was close to the physiological ceiling. (I actually remember these guidelines when I was doing a lot of cycling back in the late nineties and early two thousands). 

What's happening now? Elite cycling, Ironman, marathon, and ultra-endurance athletes have started experimenting with:
100–120 g/hour
120–150 g/hour
Some elite professionals even report 180–200 g/hour in specific events. The key isn't simply eating more sugar.
It's:
-Training the gut,
-Using optimized glucose/fructose ratios,
-Maximizing absorption,
-Maintaining blood sugar,
-Preserving glycogen,
-Delaying fatigue over many hours. 
​https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/from-metabolism-to-medals-contemporary-perspectives-and-revisitin/?utm_source=chatgpt.com​

The research is catching up.

​A recently published study compared water, 60 g/hour, and 120 g/hour during three hours of cycling.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sms.70326?utm_source=chatgpt.com

The 120 g/hour resulted in better preservation of critical power than either 60g/hour or water, suggesting that higher carbohydrate availability improved durability during prolonged exercise.

A  2026 review reached the following conclusion:

The needle is clearly moving toward 120 g/hour for many elite endurance athletes.
There are even reports of 120–200 g/hour in competition.
It's important to mention that evidence does not yet show that "more is always better." The best-supported upper limit today is roughly 120 g/hour for trained athletes, and responses are highly individual. ​
research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/from-metabolism-to-medals-contemporary-perspectives-and-revisitin/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Now understand science isn't saying: "Everyone needs 120 grams." It's saying:
"For certain elite athletes performing at extreme workloads, higher carbohydrate intake can improve performance."

This destroys the "metabolic flexibility" argument.

Think about it. Tour de France riders are arguably among the most metabolically efficient humans on Earth.
They're lean. Their mitochondria are extraordinary. Their fat oxidation rates are phenomenal. If anyone were "metabolically flexible," it's them. Yet, many are intentionally consuming 100–12 or more grams of carbohydrate every hour during races. Why? Because they suddenly became metabolically broken? Of course not. Because the demands of the event exceed what fat oxidation alone can support while maintaining winning power output. 

Imagine someone says, "If your truck needs premium fuel to tow 20,000 pounds, then your engine is inefficient." That's the opposite of what's true. The engine isn't weak. The workload is crazy. The fuel matches the demand of the output. That's exactly what's happening in elite endurance sports. And perhaps in workouts or races that are strength-based as well that also challenge aerobic capacity. Think Hyrox or CrossFit games-style stuff. Or maybe a GoRuck event lasting 12 hours or more? This definitely sparks my curiosity.  

Now someone will get this twisted.  I am not saying "Tour riders eat 120 grams an hour, therefore everyone should." That's a weak argument.  I'm merely pointing out that If the most metabolically fit athletes on Earth deliberately consume massive amounts of carbohydrates to maximize performance, then the claim that using carbohydrates automatically proves metabolic inflexibility simply doesn't hold up.

My usual boring disclaimer: Of course, there are some out there performing at a high level over long duration on carnivore or ketogenic diets. Those at the pointiest tip of the spear, are finding record-breaking success pushing the limits of energy intake from precise and calculated intake of glucose/fructose per hour. 

The goal isn't to prove you can survive on less fuel. The goal is to perform at your highest level. Those aren't always the same thing. 

Let me be very clear: this isn't an argument that everyone should start pounding sports drinks or eating 100 grams of carbohydrates every hour. It's an argument against the idea that using carbohydrates somehow proves you're metabolically unhealthy or "doing it wrong." The best endurance athletes on the planet have extraordinary metabolic flexibility, yet they strategically use massive amounts of carbohydrates when the demands of competition require it. Why? Because they fuel the mission—not an ideology. Whether your mission is building muscle, running an ultramarathon, completing a GORUCK event, or simply staying healthy after forty, your nutrition should serve your performance—not your identity.

​There is a certain Tour de France cyclist currently dominating the 2026 Tour. He already has four wins under his belt. He is adopting this strategy. ​Many are already calling him perhaps the greatest of all time. 

I can say anecdotally that when I did my 50k Mountain Ruck Challenge in 2024, I was consuming roughly 30 to 40 g of carbs per hour. I noticed a definite advantage.  I also found that carb cycling for my 2025 bodybuilding competition, after four years off, mind you, served to be by far the best strategy for me to recomp and maintain lean muscle mass while achieving my lowest level of body fat ever in competition. ​Now that I am training for a 12-hour GoRuck event that will be physically challenging in September, I intend to experiment with this tactic and find my sweet spot on my long rucks each week.  My long rucks are between two and six hours.  Through this experiment, I hope to find my own personal sweet spot that will help me get serious traction going into my event. 

I will be documenting this journey on my YouTube channel.  Be sure to subscribe and follow along.

Subscribe here: www.youtube.com/@RobGoodwinFitness