As a self-confessed coffee snob and someone who loves a Zone 2 cafe ride, there were a few raised
eyebrows in the office when I announced that I would be riding L’Etape du Tour de France. The route
is the same as what the professionals will ride on stage 20 of this year’s Tour de France. Taking us
between Nice and the Col de la Couillole, following a 138km route with more than 4,600 metres of
ascent, including the climbs of the Col de Braus, Col de Turini, Col de la Colmiane and Col de la
Couillole, it’s safe to say it will be a big day out.
What do Sepp Kuss, Demi Vollering, Mads Pedersen, Eliud Kipchoge and Flora Duffy all have in
common? They all use Maurten to fuel their mind-boggling sporting feats. Even though we will be
taking a good handful of hours longer than the pros to finish the stage of the Tour, it is still super
important for us to focus on our nutrition plan for the day.
That’s where our friends at Maurten come in. Their range works like a modular system allowing
athletes to pick and choose between drinks, gels and bars to hit the required carb intake however they
wish. Personally, I am a big fan of the Drink Mix 320 and Gel 100 which are super easy to absorb
when working hard.
Having done a lot less training over the last six months with work and life getting in the way I was
keen to test my legs and stomach on a long ride with a decent amount of climbing to give me a
baseline to work from. I was lucky enough to secure a place on The Struggle Dales, handily supported
by Maurten. Starting off the ride with two bottles of 320 and eating 3 Solid 225 bars along with 4 Gel
100’s I found I could finish the 108 miles well and never felt like I was going to hit the dreaded wall.
Being from Yorkshire I did enjoy one of the pork pies they put on at the final feed station as a little
morale booster!
With five weeks to go until we hit the roads of France on 7 July, it’s safe to say I will need to get some
more big sessions in the bank and continue to practice fuelling with Maurten.
When to use Maurten
The team at Maurten are clear that their products are not a replacement for real food, they are an
extension backed up by science to meet the demands of endurance athletes.
Maurten isn’t just for race day. You don’t just train your legs during those hard training sessions. You
need to train your gut to absorb carbohydrates efficiently when you are stressing your body – your
harder sessions. This helps to ensure that come race day when it really matters, you’ll be good to go.
It’s a simple mantra — what you do in training is what you do in the race.
