Communitysarah & anthony

THIS IS EXACTLY HOW PRO RIDERS FUEL A STAGE IN THE GIRO WITH CHRIS HARPER

with Chris Harper

10:08·22 May 2026

LISTEN NOW

Listen on

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OPEN FOCUSED VIDEO PAGE →

CHRIS HARPER

PROFILE →

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Start your first on-bike hour at 80g of carbs, then step up to 120g per hour for the harder hours that follow.
Front-load breakfast with easily digestible carbs — pancakes, banana, yogurt and toast can hit 200g without feeling heavy before a stage.
Time your final pre-race snack as late as possible — Harper was eating his rice cake 30 seconds before leaving the bus.
Rest days still need serious calories; 3,700 kcal on a recovery day is not under-fueling, it's the baseline for adapting to Grand Tour load.
The Team Sky keto image was likely deliberate misdirection — copying low-carb approaches from social media posts can actively harm young riders.

TOPICS

CYCLING NUTRITION

Go check out our FREE Skool community, it's got amazing tools in there and a thriving community of cyclists - https://www.skool.com/roadman/about

Chris Harper takes us inside the Giro d’Italia and breaks down exactly how modern pro riders fuel each stage. From 200g carb breakfasts to 120g of carbs per hour on the bike, we get into the science behind performance, recovery, and surviving back-to-back mountain stages. Chris explains what a full race day of eating looks like, how riders recover after burning nearly 7,000 calories, and why cycling’s old low-carb era is finally dead. If you’ve ever wondered what WorldTour nutrition actually looks like during a Grand Tour, this episode gives you the full picture from inside the peloton.

If you liked this video you will love our other video "New Study FINALLY Confirms What Winning Masters Cyclists Have Known For Years". Click here to watch it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyMysrsaeAg

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KEY QUOTES

“I think I did under two hours and I'm going to eat 3,700 calories on my rest day. It's not like it's a small amount of food.”
Chris Harper — Professional cyclist, Pinerello Q36.5

“close to 6,800 calories for the day. So that broke down as a 1,000 calorie breakfast with 200 gram of carbs, 40 grams of protein, 8 grams of fat.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“how for so long did we have power meters which measured our kilojoules of energy expenditure and we never connected that to our energy input going I burnt 6,000 kilojoules of energy on the bike today and I ate 500. maybe the problem. Like how did it take us a decade to connect those two?”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT3 SECTIONS

Race Day Versus Rest Day Fueling

This is exactly what a world tour rider eats on a stage of dejiro datalia. We break down breakfast, lunch, in ride fueling, and dinner for Chris Harper from Pinerelloo Q36.5. So, what's a eating day look like for you on a let's not say tomorrow because it's a TT stage. It's a bit atypical, but say yesterday versus today, like a normal racing road stage and then a rest day. What's the big calorie changes looking like and how does that break down meal per meal? I mean obviously the biggest the biggest difference between the days most of the time is actually the on bike fueling like uh yeah most days if you're racing and you're fueling on the bike like say yesterday for a mountain stage maybe we start the first hour with 80 g of carbs and then we move to 120. So you look at that and you're like once you add that up over five hours that's already a lot of calories in the day, a lot of carbohydrates in the day. Whereas when you change to a rest day, of course your meals outside of the bike are not going to be as big, but also you're not you're not going out for a 2hour easy ride and having 240 g of carbs. So yeah, uh that that comes out of it. So yeah, the rest days are interesting days I think in the fact that yeah, obviously you're managing not to go over anything, but also you want to be well fueled and and helping your body recover. So yeah, probably yeah, I probably don't have the the right scientific knowledge to to say it, but uh yeah, just from what I can see, it's not like we're not under fueling the rest days. It's still it's still a lot of a lot of calories. Like I think yeah, I think I did under two hours and I'm going to eat 3,700 calories on my rest day. It's not like it's a small amount of food. Yeah. I think uh David Don from Hexus, a mates with David, he sent me your, if you don't mind me sharing it, he sent me your nutrition breakdown from uh the other day. Actually, not sure what stage it was. Yeah, I think they shared uh shared the block one, which was close to Oh, was it? Yeah, close to 6,800 calories for the day. So that broke down as a 1,00 calorie breakfast with 200 gram of carbs, 40 grams of protein, 8 grams of fat. What's a 200 gram of carbs breakfast look like for anyone like listening? Like a I had a bagel this morning. There's 28 gram or 30 grams of carbs in a bagel. So that's like I don't know what's my math like eight bagels or something. Yeah. For breakfast. How are you getting that much in? So, I think my breakfast block day was pancakes with banana, uh, yogurt and maple syrup and then maybe a piece of toast with jam. Nice. So, I mean those days when you're looking and three hours uh actually I think that morning I had it quite early and then before before we actually do the stage sometimes we'll also have like a little pre-race meal like a banana rice krispie something with a bit of carbs. Um but so you 94 grams of carbs in that. So that's a 400 calorie almost no protein two grams of protein. Yeah. Is how far out from the stage is that?

Post-Stage Recovery And Dinner Breakdown

Uh that'll be like an hour or more. Um I think also also that would be be some by carb the mortm by carb. I think I used that on that stage which because that stage was so long I I would have eaten that by carb like 30 seconds before I got out of the bus. Scoff that down and then get out cuz I want it wanted as late as possible. Um so yeah. And straight after the stage, you went with,300 calories, and again 246 g carbs, 59 g of protein. I'm assuming that's some sort of postworkout shake has made up at least a part of that. Yeah. So, our a standard standard day for us would be we'll have our cherry cherry shot from Amax, uh, who's our nutrition sponsor, uh, as well as a recovery shake from them. And then depending on how big it is, we can also like if the nutritionists think we need to get more carbs, they might add some fructose to it to bump up um the carbohydrates of the recovery shake. And then we always have a recovery meal, which yeah, varies a little bit. You know, something like a a rice bowl or a pasta bowl or yesterday we had uh we had a couple wraps, chicken wraps. Um, and then yeah, you'd have that and then possibly another little recovery snack, which will be something smaller like a Yeah, like a banana bread type thing with some berries. And then um then yeah, once you've had all that, then our nutritionist will will look at the day, look at how much we ate on the bike cuz we'll log it once we get into the bus and then they can make the adjustments for for dinner. And yeah, you went dinner again, another 200 gram of carbs for dinner and another 48 gram of protein. It's a serious day of eating. Like for anyone who's not riding the bike in Grand Tours, like you're quite jealous of that cuz I'm flicking out my Hexus on the way home going, "Ah, can I have a pizza?" It's like I rode the bike for an hour today. 180 watts. There's not a lot of wiggle room here. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's Yeah, it's obviously It's not Well, I don't know. It It is a lot of food, but also it's a lot of the right food, if that makes sense. It's like, yeah, if we got told or if after the stage you were, you know, I love to eat pizza, but also like, you know, maybe a normal pizza. It's not it's not 200 g of carbs, but it's got a it's got a buckload of calories from fat, which we're not trying to trying to get when we're racing. So, yeah, I'd love it if we got in the bus and ate pizza, but it's probably not the best thing we can do for our recovery. Um, but the cheat code is you lads are so fit that you're putting out so much power. And this is what blows my mind and I've chat to Sam and David about this. How for so long did we have power meters which measured our kilogjles of energy expenditure and we never connected that to our energy input going I burnt 6,000 kles of energy on the bike today and I ate 500. Yeah, maybe the problem. Like how did it take us a decade to connect those two? It's baffling. Yeah, I don't know.

How Carb Science Has Evolved

It's weird. I mean, I remember when I first started riding as well and like Sky were the were the super team of the world and I don't know, there was so much like so much nonsense in the media about them doing like ketogenic diets and all that. And I mean, yeah, you hear about it now. And yeah, they probably also were doing a little bit different to what we do now, a bit more extreme with things in that sense, but I think now the science has caught up and it seemed that like that's actually not the best way to do things. And if you're trying to hit 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour, this makes it a lot lot easier. Fueling used to be the bit that I'd overthink the most. mixing different things, trying to track carbs, and after a couple of hours, everything just felt way, way too sweet. This is the new for endurance 2:1 fueling line. I've been using it recently, and it's probably the simplest setup I've come across since I started cycling. Every serving is 30 grams of carbohydrates. So, it's basically one gel and one bottle and you're at 60 grams of carbs per hour. There's no real thinking needed while you're riding. I'll just sip the drink steadily and I'll take a gel when I need it. same ratio across everything. So, it all just fits together really nicely. The other thing I noticed straight away is how light it is. It's not overly sweet. So, on longer sessions, it's just easier to keep taking on without getting that heavy, sickly feeling. And price-wise, it's actually insanely cheap. 79 cents for a gel and 30 cents for a drink serving. Both giving you 30 grams of carbohydrates, which is pretty hard to beat anywhere on the market. It's a brand new line. gels and drinks for now with more coming and it's slotted straight into my training without much thought. If you're looking for a simpler way to fuel your sessions, go to forend insurance.com and check out the 2:1 line from for insurance. I'll link that in the show notes below, too. You know what? I don't think they were. I've talked to people inside the team and I think it was all It was actually one of my big pet peeves on that where they thought it was funnier like you know me having a picture of scrambled egg and smoked salmon going in six hours. Yeah. and he's like, "Oh, what you don't see is like the 250 gram of oats just out of screen." It's like there's kids watching that that are like 15, 16 year olds now who want to be world tour and they're going out and just destroying themselves. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. I mean, it's Yeah. I guess they're I don't know. I think someone also once said it was a bit they like to play a bit of a psychological game with everyone and be like, "Oh, this is what we're doing and everyone's going to copy us and it's not actually what they're doing." And I don't know if that's true or not, but Yeah. It's it's just that's Yeah. You're not really going to in influence the people who are already at the top level at the sport, but you might influence a 15year-old who thinks he doesn't need to take any carbohydrates on his 4hour ride because Chris's keto. Yeah.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many calories do pro cyclists eat during a Grand Tour stage?+

According to WorldTour rider Chris Harper, a full Giro d'Italia mountain stage day totals roughly 6,800 calories. That figure includes a 200g carbohydrate breakfast, on-bike fuelling of 80 to 120g of carbs per hour, and a structured post-stage recovery meal.

What do pro cyclists eat for breakfast before a mountain stage?+

Chris Harper's pre-stage breakfast at the Giro d'Italia includes pancakes, banana, yogurt and toast, adding up to around 200g of carbohydrates. The goal is to arrive at the start line with glycogen stores fully topped up without causing gastrointestinal distress during the stage.

How many carbs per hour do pro cyclists eat during a race?+

Chris Harper targets 80g of carbohydrates per hour at the lower end and ramps that up to 120g per hour during the hardest stages of the Giro. Reaching the higher end requires a mix of glucose and fructose sources so the gut can absorb carbohydrate through multiple transport pathways simultaneously.

What should cyclists eat for recovery after a hard stage race day?+

Chris Harper's post-stage recovery routine combines a tart cherry shot, a fructose-boosted shake and a rice or wrap-based meal. The tart cherry targets inflammation, the shake restores muscle glycogen rapidly, and the solid meal provides sustained recovery nutrition in the hours that follow.

How many calories do pro cyclists eat on rest days?+

Chris Harper still consumes around 3,700 calories on Giro d'Italia rest days, even without racing. Calorie intake stays high because the body continues repairing muscle tissue and restoring glycogen between stages, and dropping intake too sharply would compromise performance in the days that follow.

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

Weekly insights from the podcast. The stuff that actually makes you faster.

READ THE GUIDE

The written companion to this episode.

The 2026 Giro d'Italia: 3 Stages and 3 Riders That Will Decide the Pink Jersey

The 109th Giro d'Italia starts Friday in Bulgaria. Here are the three stages and three riders that will decide the pink jersey.

Ben Healy on the Roadman Podcast: The Tactical Reset Behind a Tour Stage Win

Ben Healy didn't get fitter between 2024 and 2025. He got smarter. Here is the story behind the yellow jersey, the descent attack at the Tou…

British Cycling, Win At All Costs, And What The Academy Riders Actually Saw

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Communitysarah & anthony

THIS IS EXACTLY HOW PRO RIDERS FUEL A STAGE IN THE GIRO WITH CHRIS HARPER

with Chris Harper

10:08·22 May 2026

LISTEN NOW

Listen on

Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube

OPEN FOCUSED VIDEO PAGE →

CHRIS HARPER

PROFILE →

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Start your first on-bike hour at 80g of carbs, then step up to 120g per hour for the harder hours that follow.
Front-load breakfast with easily digestible carbs — pancakes, banana, yogurt and toast can hit 200g without feeling heavy before a stage.
Time your final pre-race snack as late as possible — Harper was eating his rice cake 30 seconds before leaving the bus.
Rest days still need serious calories; 3,700 kcal on a recovery day is not under-fueling, it's the baseline for adapting to Grand Tour load.
The Team Sky keto image was likely deliberate misdirection — copying low-carb approaches from social media posts can actively harm young riders.

TOPICS

CYCLING NUTRITION

Go check out our FREE Skool community, it's got amazing tools in there and a thriving community of cyclists - https://www.skool.com/roadman/about

A BIG shoutout to our incredible sponsors -

KEY QUOTES

“I think I did under two hours and I'm going to eat 3,700 calories on my rest day. It's not like it's a small amount of food.”
Chris Harper — Professional cyclist, Pinerello Q36.5

“close to 6,800 calories for the day. So that broke down as a 1,000 calorie breakfast with 200 gram of carbs, 40 grams of protein, 8 grams of fat.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“how for so long did we have power meters which measured our kilojoules of energy expenditure and we never connected that to our energy input going I burnt 6,000 kilojoules of energy on the bike today and I ate 500. maybe the problem. Like how did it take us a decade to connect those two?”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT3 SECTIONS

Race Day Versus Rest Day Fueling

Post-Stage Recovery And Dinner Breakdown

How Carb Science Has Evolved

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many calories do pro cyclists eat during a Grand Tour stage?+

What do pro cyclists eat for breakfast before a mountain stage?+

How many carbs per hour do pro cyclists eat during a race?+

What should cyclists eat for recovery after a hard stage race day?+

How many calories do pro cyclists eat on rest days?+

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

Weekly insights from the podcast. The stuff that actually makes you faster.

READ THE GUIDE

The written companion to this episode.

The 2026 Giro d'Italia: 3 Stages and 3 Riders That Will Decide the Pink Jersey

The 109th Giro d'Italia starts Friday in Bulgaria. Here are the three stages and three riders that will decide the pink jersey.

Ben Healy on the Roadman Podcast: The Tactical Reset Behind a Tour Stage Win

Ben Healy didn't get fitter between 2024 and 2025. He got smarter. Here is the story behind the yellow jersey, the descent attack at the Tou…

British Cycling, Win At All Costs, And What The Academy Riders Actually Saw

The "macho and primal culture" framing gained traction after the Varnish-Sutton review. The Academy alumnus on the podcast pushes back. Both…

USE THESE TOOLS

RELATED EPISODES

More episodes you might enjoy

Episode

Community1:35:20

IT TOOK ME 10 YEARS TO REALISE YOU COULD JUST DO THIS...

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THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FESTINA AFFAIR (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED)

Go check out our FREE Skool community, it's got amazing tools in there and a thriving community of cyclists - https://www.skool.com/roadman/about

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LIKED THIS EPISODE?

Join the Clubhouse to discuss this episode, ask Anthony your questions, and connect with serious cyclists.

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THIS IS EXACTLY HOW PRO RIDERS FUEL A STAGE IN THE GIRO WITH CHRIS HARPER

KEY QUOTES

Race Day Versus Rest Day Fueling

Post-Stage Recovery And Dinner Breakdown

How Carb Science Has Evolved

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

IT TOOK ME 10 YEARS TO REALISE YOU COULD JUST DO THIS...

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FESTINA AFFAIR (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED)

THE DARK SECRET BEHIND HIDDEN MOTORS IN CYCLING

RELATED CONTENT

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FESTINA AFFAIR (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED)

THE DARK SECRET BEHIND HIDDEN MOTORS IN CYCLING

TESTOSTERONE'S COMMON USE IN MASTERS RACING (SHOCKING)

LIKED THIS EPISODE?

THIS IS EXACTLY HOW PRO RIDERS FUEL A STAGE IN THE GIRO WITH CHRIS HARPER

KEY QUOTES

Race Day Versus Rest Day Fueling

Post-Stage Recovery And Dinner Breakdown

How Carb Science Has Evolved

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

IT TOOK ME 10 YEARS TO REALISE YOU COULD JUST DO THIS...

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FESTINA AFFAIR (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED)

THE DARK SECRET BEHIND HIDDEN MOTORS IN CYCLING

RELATED CONTENT

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FESTINA AFFAIR (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED)

THE DARK SECRET BEHIND HIDDEN MOTORS IN CYCLING

TESTOSTERONE'S COMMON USE IN MASTERS RACING (SHOCKING)

LIKED THIS EPISODE?

THIS IS EXACTLY HOW PRO RIDERS FUEL A STAGE IN THE GIRO WITH CHRIS HARPER

KEY QUOTES

1.Race Day Versus Rest Day Fueling

2.Post-Stage Recovery And Dinner Breakdown

3.How Carb Science Has Evolved

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

IT TOOK ME 10 YEARS TO REALISE YOU COULD JUST DO THIS...

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FESTINA AFFAIR (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED)

THE DARK SECRET BEHIND HIDDEN MOTORS IN CYCLING

RELATED CONTENT

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FESTINA AFFAIR (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED)

THE DARK SECRET BEHIND HIDDEN MOTORS IN CYCLING

TESTOSTERONE'S COMMON USE IN MASTERS RACING (SHOCKING)

LIKED THIS EPISODE?

THIS IS EXACTLY HOW PRO RIDERS FUEL A STAGE IN THE GIRO WITH CHRIS HARPER

KEY QUOTES

1.Race Day Versus Rest Day Fueling

2.Post-Stage Recovery And Dinner Breakdown

3.How Carb Science Has Evolved

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

IT TOOK ME 10 YEARS TO REALISE YOU COULD JUST DO THIS...

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FESTINA AFFAIR (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED)

THE DARK SECRET BEHIND HIDDEN MOTORS IN CYCLING

RELATED CONTENT

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FESTINA AFFAIR (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED)

THE DARK SECRET BEHIND HIDDEN MOTORS IN CYCLING

TESTOSTERONE'S COMMON USE IN MASTERS RACING (SHOCKING)

LIKED THIS EPISODE?

Race Day Versus Rest Day Fueling

Post-Stage Recovery And Dinner Breakdown

How Carb Science Has Evolved

Race Day Versus Rest Day Fueling

Post-Stage Recovery And Dinner Breakdown

How Carb Science Has Evolved