Are there any studies on fat burning in performance cyclists?

Question

I know if you're dawdling along you can eat pretty much anything to keep you going, but if you're putting in effort you need to take on carbs/sugars, right?

Anecdotally from a pro coach who said it varied by rider, as in one of his riders could last for hours on water and a banana, whereas another needed four gels an hour; lots of other anecdotes from amateur riders who can do 80 miles on an espresso etc. But is this non-reliance on taking on carbs in-built/genetic or can it be trained into everybody?

Ian · Answer

Look at the work of Jeff Volek https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Jeff+Volek&btnG=
Rethinking fat as a fuel for endurance exercise  is one of his many papers, also Metabolic characteristics of keto-adapted ultra-endurance runners
He has also writen a book The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance
Low-carbohydrate diets for athletes: what evidence? Is likely to be cited by most recent papers.
These days most of his work is in Type2 diabetes, hence I dont' think he has published much on sport since his book.  Some of his sport research was done with static bikes using
professional long distance cycleists.
Ignore any research that had people on a low carb high fat diet for less then a few weeks before measuring performance as it is a common error other researchers make.

Are there any studies on fat burning in performance cyclists?

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