TOOLBOX: Planning the whole nutrition for a multi-stage race in the UCI calendar is no easy task and requires coordination not only with the athletes but also with many staff members who are a crucial part of a cycling team. Today, I show you a Nutritionists’ perspective on what is required of us nutritionists in such scenario.

We know training is essential to improving fitness and performance, but we often neglect recovery and adaptation. What happens when we get that balance wrong and veer into overtraining?

We exercise for many reasons, from the short-term hit of endorphins to the long-term promise of healthier aging. Can one of them be protection from higher mortality risks during periods of high pollution?

Even here in Canada, eventually hot summer weather will come. One strategy popular with athletes for reducing heat stress before or during competitions are ice vests. How effective are they?

Much research has gone into studying both the physiological benefits from heat adaptation along with the practicalities of getting heat adapted. However, can a heat camp blunt your training adaptations?

A breakaway in a cycling race is a hotbed of intrigue, with ‘friends’ working together for the common good while also plotting their betrayal of the group as a whole. What are the factors that actually enhance the odds that the early breakaway takes it all the way to the line?

Toolbox: Cycle sport is intricately mythologized with the heroism and agony of suffering. We watch and marvel not just at the speed and power of the pros, but for the thrill (for us) and suffering (for them) inherent in racing over cobbles, high mountains rain, extreme heat, and even snow. Does being fitter also make you tougher? Does improved fitness actually alter pain tolerance?

We all tend to have preferred temperatures for our cycling, but is there a best temperature physiologically for exercise? And might there be a difference between men and women?

TOOLBOX: You have a long event coming up in 2022 – that big century or gravel ride. While endurance and aerobic capacity is usually built by long and lower-intensity rides, is that the only way? Can you go short to go long?