It’s getting hot out here: How we approach racing in hot weather

The days are getting longer, the sun is shining more brightly, and the temperatures are rising; we are certainly passed the spring classics and are well into the beginning of our summer block of racing – where the action is often as hot as the temperatures.

As we’re sure many of you know who are reading this, riding in these weather conditions, whether that be racing or training, brings its own challenges to make sure that you’re hydrated as best as possible and are fuelling your body correctly to deal with the sweltering conditions.

We sat down with two of our experts, Job van Leeuwen (Nutrition Expert) and Steve Benton (Trainer Coordinator), to find out more about how we as a team deal with racing in hot temperatures and ensuring the riders can perform as best as possible on the bike.

Sweat, sweat, sweat

Everyone sweats during whatever type of exercise they do and although the amount varies due to several factors, higher temperatures are of course one of the main factors for an increased sweat rate, due to the body wanting to get rid of the heat.

“The sweat rate can differ quite a lot from person to person. It can be somewhere between 500 millilitres and up to three litres per hour, although the latter is a very extreme example.” explains Van Leeuwen.

You might have noticed when watching races in the summer months that there are white stains on the kits of riders throughout the peloton – those are sodium stains that are left behind from a riders sweat. As a team, we undertake Precision Hydration sweat tests with every rider so that we can measure their sweat levels, as well as the amount of sodium they lose while sweating.

Van Leeuwen continues: “When doing the tests, we’re then able to see how much sodium a rider loses, and from that we know to then provide them with extra sodium before and after the race to make up for the extra losses.”

Electrolytes – A buzz word

Alongside losing sodium through your sweat, the body also loses a variety of electrolytes including potassium and magnesium. Electrolytes help the human body regulate chemical reactions, maintain the balance between fluids inside and outside your cells and more.

Electrolyte drinks are therefore very common in sports nutrition and that is no different within the team.

“Our Sanas Isomix drinks contain carbohydrates but also electrolytes. Since you lose electrolytes with your sweat you need to replace them. The electrolytes, especially sodium, and carbohydrates then help absorb the water in the intestine, so the drinks don’t only help with replacing energy sources but also help with replacing electrolytes and staying hydrated.”

Van Leeuwen also has a word of warning for any casual rider too: “It’s really important to replace those electrolytes during very long exercises when it’s warm  if you only drink water then this can  dilute your blood and throw off the ‘normal’ balance that you have of electrolytes and fluids.”

As a team, riders will normally consume one bottle of Sanas Isomix per hour when racing but in hot weather conditions this becomes two – although the quantity of Sanas Isomix remains the same, it is just spread over two bottles, so the riders still get in the necessary electrolytes but not an excess amount of carbohydrates.

Why do we do all of this?

We’re sure that you will have noticed when out riding, or doing other exercise yourself, in hot conditions that your performance levels differ compared to when it’s colder or a more temperate climate. Thankfully, you’re not imagining that and it’s something backed up by scientific studies, as Benton points out.

“Firstly, heat stress from the environment can have a negative impact on performance – challenging the capabilities and limits of the cardiovascular system as well as hindering temperature regulation and hydration balance. When researching the effects of heat stress on exercise performance in elite road cyclists, studies found that power output was six and a half percent lower and blood lactate was significantly higher when athletes performed in temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius compared to 23 degrees Celsius, which in turn can have an unfavourable effect on muscle contraction and ultimately performance.”

Likewise, Van Leeuwen adds: “Losing a little bit of fluids is not a big issue, but if you lose more than two to three percent of body weight in water, it really starts to have an impact on your performance. That’s why it is important to drink enough and stay hydrated. This especially counts for longer stages and exercise, simply because the time period where you lose fluids is longer. Plus, if the body overheats it plays a big role too, so that’s why we try to help the body cool down.”

Therefore, it is important for us as a team to control as many factors as we can which contribute to performance on the bike in hot weather, so that our riders can ride to the best of their abilities.

From ice socks to slushies – ways we combat hot weather at race

If you’ve watched any racing during the height of summer or checked out the team’s social media then you will have noticed a variety of ways that those within the peloton tackle the searing temperatures.

Alongside the aforementioned extra bottles of fluid and ensuring that we have enough electrolytes with our Sanas Isomix, the team’s Nutrition Experts keep a track of the input and output of our riders throughout the day and incorporate this in their personalised nutrition plans to ensure that the riders are optimally fuelled. This happens every day, no matter the weather, but it is also a factor ensuring that the team can perform as best as possible.

During a warm-up, especially on a TT day but also on any stage that the riders might jump on the rollers, we have several ways of helping keep the riders core temperature down. This includes wearing our IZI Body Cooling ice vests and have small portions of ice slushie during certain periods of the warm-up to regulate their core temperature.

In-race we will try and cool the bottles as much as possible by putting ice inside the cool boxes that are in each of the cars. Likewise, sales of pantyhose (or stockings) go through the roof during this time of year with every team in the peloton adding ice to them and making “ice socks”, which the riders then put at the top of the jersey on the back of their neck. A more old-school method, but one that falls into the category of “if it’s not broke, why fix it.”

Heat acclimatisation – putting in the groundwork

Preparation for the hot temperatures starts well before the race, as Trainer Coordinator, Benton points out:

“The first step is progressive and increased frequency of exposure to warmer training temperatures and environments within rider training plans.”

“Next to that we conduct active heat training sessions. The aim is to spend time with elevated core temperature in preparation for upcoming hotter races. We achieve this by riding indoor on the Elite rollers without a fan and wearing extra clothing (winter jacket, rain jacket) – we do this keeping the intensity low but core temperature high, employing a detailed protocol for rider health and safety. These are not easy sessions to begin with and it is essential to ensure adequate hydration levels are maintained before, during and after the session.”

• Alongside the on-bike sessions, the team also uses of passive heat acclimatisation methods such as sauna or hot bath sessions

It is important, as Benton points out that “maintaining consistent, accurate body mass and hydration records before and after these types of sessions is essential for maximum effectiveness and above all health and safety of the riders.”

Ready to race

With all of those factors and approaches taken into account, the riders are in the best position possible to perform as the temperatures and action gets hotter in these coming summer months.

We hope you enjoyed this long-form blog piece and learned some useful information from our ever insightful experts, and maybe during this summer’s racing you might just notice some of these things put into place!