Carbohydrates are known to be an important fuel for peak cycling performance. It’s the preferred fuel for the high-intensity efforts, and its availability is often seen as a limiter for performance. Carbohydrate drinks are therefore often used to deliver both fluids and energy during cycling, but can carbohydrates serve as a special ergogenic aid by tricking you into riding harder?

Time trials are all about “leaving everything on the road.” You want to pace yourself so that you hit the finish line with nothing left in the gas tank. Many strategies for achieving this have been proposed in the scientific literature. The other question to ask is what the effects of ability are on pacing strategy, and whether such strategy is ingrained or learned.

Cyclocross season is steadily progressing from the early season of warm and dry race days to the downright miserable and ugly weather that define the sport. With such nastiness, the temptation may be to skip the warmup and just hammer off the start line. Does a warmup really gain you a concrete advantage, and what type of warm-up might be best?

Start “slow” and under control, then get faster as the time trial unrolls. That’s been the mantra for most cyclists and coaches in the sport. While it’s certainly true that hammering out of the gates is a huge physical challenge and blowing sky-high early on in a TT is no fun, can you really afford to not go hard early on in a TT?