Carb Timing Matters: More Isn’t Better—World Tour Exercise Physiologist, Tim Podlogar

If you’ve followed EVOQ.BIKE for a minute, you know I’m pro-carb—but now smartly pro-carb. I used to just smash carbs all the time, but this podcast has me rethinking this strategy.

In a recent podcast with exercise physiologist and sports nutrition researcher Tim Podlogar (Red Bull—BORA–hansgrohe nutritionist; University of Birmingham), we dug into the stuff that actually moves the needle for amateur cyclists: when to eat carbs, how much, and why timing matters more than maxing out a number. 

We also hit heat adaptation, “openers,” breakfast math, the myth of super-precise fueling, and why your gut—and your future self at hour four—will thank you for doing the homework the day before a race.

Below is a rider-first, usable guide that turns that conversation into actionable takeaways you can apply this week.

Core idea: Fuel up front (glycogen), pace during (exogenous carbs, aka carbs you consume)—and match the plan to the demands of the day rather than chasing a single big hourly number.

Training Plans

1) Periodized Carbohydrates: What It Actually Means

“Carb periodization”—Tim frames it simply: most days you’ll eat moderate to high carbs, but you shift the emphasis based on the next day’s training.

  • Hard day tomorrow? Dinner tonight is simple, low-fiber, carb-forward to top off muscle glycogen.

  • Easy day tomorrow? More fiber, more mixed meals, less urgency around refined carbs.

  • Truly low-carb sessions? Rarely necessary for most amateurs; easy to botch energy balance.

Why this matters for you: your week ends up balanced and you hit the hard days with the right fuel—without turning every breakfast into a science fair.

2) The “Do Your Homework” Rule: Glycogen Loading Beats Early Over-Fueling

If there’s one refrain from the convo, it’s this:

Do the homework the day before.

Translation: Glycogen loading matters more than over-fueling with a massive breakfast or the opening hour of a race.

  • Tim’s target: ~10–12 g/kg carbohydrate across the day before key events (yes, that’s a lot; yes, it works when you actually do it). My personal anecdote: the only downside to this is potentially high water retention and having to pee a lot. I’ve done some MEGA rides on 8-9g/kg and felt really good…play with the number yourself!

  • Why not just smash 120 g/h from the gun? Early in the race, your legs still prefer muscle glycogen; cranking huge intakes too early won’t spare that glycogen and can suppress fat oxidation you’d otherwise have in the background. You risk going net positive on energy over time and gaining weight if you try to live at 120 g/h every ride.

Bottom line: Start topped up; save the highest intakes for when glycogen is fading (later hours, decisive sequences). Your intake pattern should reflect the race timeline.

3) Breakfast Math You’ll Actually Use

Race starts in 3 hours? 2 hours? 1 hour? Tim’s rule of thumb keeps it clean:

  • 3+ hours to go: ~3 g/kg carbs

  • ~2 hours: ~2 g/kg

  • ~1 hour: ~1 g/kg

That tops up liver glycogen (which drops overnight) without over-filling the gut or spiking insulin right before the race start (or hard training session!). It also acknowledges reality: you’re going to fuel on the bike, so breakfast doesn’t need to be a buffet PR.

Pro tip: If you’re an early-start amateur (most of us), avoid the “hotel-buffet trap.” Huge fiber-heavy plates an hour before the start can make you feel sluggish and over-full when the gun goes. Test this on big training days—not race morning.

4) During the Ride: 80–100 g/h Is the Workhorse Range

For most amateurs—and plenty of pros—~80–100 g/h is the sustainable, practical default. It’s flexible enough to scale:

  • Early race/endurance tempo: stick to the low/middle of that range.

  • Decisive middle-to-late moves, long climbs, or critical hours: bump up toward the top end (or beyond if you’ve trained your gut) before the hard parts

A helpful mental model from Tim: your gut is a funnel. You pour carbs in; they drip into the bloodstream. Peak oxidation from an intake pattern may lag ~60–90 minutes, so front-load the hour ahead of decisive racing. Don’t wait until the base of the climb to tear a gel with your teeth.

5) Why “120 g/h From the Gun” Isn’t Magic

Tim’s caution isn’t anti-carb; it’s context:

  • Moving from ~90 → 120 g/h early does not further spare muscle glycogen; you mostly shift substrate use and reduce fat oxidation, with questionable net benefit in hour 1–2.

  • It often blows up the energy balance across the week/month if you try to maintain it daily.

  • The place where 120 g/h shines? Later hours, or when you know the decisive sequences will demand exogenous carbs and your gut can handle it. Train up to it—don’t live there.

Actionable move: build from 80–100 g/h, then practice stepping up for 30–90 minutes ahead of crucial segments. That’s how you get “high when it matters” without making “high” your default every ride.

6) Openers: When, Why, and How Hard

Openers aren’t about burning matches. They’re about feeling snappy, a bit of neuromuscular wake-up, and—importantly—setting up glycogen super-compensation afterward.

  • Do them earlier the day before (not 8 p.m.) to allow time for refueling.

  • Post-openers, prioritize carbs—this is prime time to store glycogen efficiently.

  • Keep the session short and sharp, not a secret threshold workout.

Key reminder: the most efficient window to pack glycogen is after exercise. Don’t nail openers and then under-eat. That’s failing the homework.

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7) Simple vs “Healthy” Carbs (and Why Timing Decides)

Race prep and race day are not the times for avocado toast or a healthy start type breakfast if you are trying to maximize your carb stores without overfueling.

For glycogen filling and in-ride fueling, simple, low-fiber carbs are your friends:

  • Gels, chews, drink mix, candy (yep, Tim likes Haribo), white rice, low-fiber breads.

  • Save the “healthy” high-fiber grains, crunchy salads, and loads of seeds for non-race days.

Personally, I stick to oats and honey, with dried fruits. Yes, there’s some fiber in there for sure, but it works for me. Test out your concoction! Think fast digestion and easy absorption.

8) Heat Changes the Game (for Both Power and Fueling)

Heat doesn’t just feel hard; it steals blood flow from your gut to the skin for cooling. Less gut perfusion = slower absorption = lower practical carb utilization at a given intake. Add humidity, and it’s amplified.

What to do:

  • Heat-acclimate before hot races. No heat chamber? Use post-ride hot baths (15 minutes, fully submerged if possible) several times per week for a couple of weeks. Finish your ride, avoid cooling down too much, and get in the bath promptly. Saunas can work, too.

  • In the heat, expect that your ceiling for tolerable intake may drop. Don’t force 120 g/h because a chart says so.

  • Consider more drinking-format carbs when it’s blazing; liquids are often tolerated better (see our tips on hydration in summer).

On the training side, HR-guided intensity around your first lactate threshold can be smarter in heat, since power can be depressed while internal load climbs. That keeps the stimulus appropriate without overreaching.

9) Fat Oxidation, Low-Carb Training, and What Really Improves Your Engines

Tim’s take is refreshingly non-dogmatic:

  • High fat oxidation in trained athletes mostly tracks with big aerobic capacity and mitochondrial volume—i.e., consistent volume over years—not magic low-carb tricks.

  • You don’t need to “teach the body” to burn fat by starving it of carbs every week. Train, progress, repeat. The physiology follows.

That said, when you jack carbs early and often, you’ll typically see lower fat oxidation during sub-threshold work. That’s not always “bad,” but it’s a reminder: timing and context beat “more is more.”

10) Precision Is Overrated (and Can Be Misleading)

We all love numbers, but Tim reminds us: the error bars are huge in the real world.

  • Food labels can vary; your gel says 40 g, but you rarely get all of it out of the packet.

  • Power meters vary; mechanical efficiency varies; HR lags.

  • Weighing pasta to the gram doesn’t convert you into a diesel.

Practical approach:

  1. Know your ballpark: breakfast rule, 80–100 g/h on the bike.

  2. Train the gut gradually; carry more than you think you’ll need.

  3. Adjust by feel: if you’re getting that “empty” sensation late, you likely under-fueled an hour earlier. If your gut’s sloshing, you overdid intake for the conditions.

11) Smart Timing Tactics You Can Use This Weekend

  • Before a long climb or decisive section: take a gel 15–25 minutes beforehand so the funnel stays primed when you can’t eat (see Cyclist Nutrition Guide for in-ride fueling examples)..

  • Mid-race surge windows: if you’re aiming to run higher (e.g., 100–110+ g/h) for a spell, compress the spacing (take a gel every 15 minutes in a 45min window and up the carb drink mix during that bit) rather than adding brand-new foods mid-race. Then settle back to your base rate.

  • Late-ride fueling ≠ wasted: carbs in the final hour contribute to recovery if oxidation lags; they’re not “too late” as long as the gut tolerates them.

12) Low-Fiber Protocol Without Wrecking Your Routine

Many “healthy eaters” struggle when they try a sudden low-fiber pre-race day. Don’t go from kale mountain to zero overnight.

  • Practice a lower-residue day before hard training days to learn what sits well.

  • Some riders drop 1–2 kg of “gut content weight” on a low-fiber taper; others don’t budge. Individual variance is normal—don’t chase the scale.

13) The Amateur Edge: Mental Simplicity

  • Homework first: glycogen loading the day before, openers early enough to refuel after.

  • Breakfast math: 1–3 g/kg based on time to start.

  • Base rate: ~80–100 g/h, scaled to the race timeline and heat.

  • Late-race bias: more when glycogen is low and decisions are made.

  • Gut training: incremental; don’t jump from 60 to 120 g/h in a week.

  • Heat plan: acclimate; respect intake limits; hydrate.

  • Keep it simple: the plan should calm you, not stress you.

Sample 72-Hour Playbook (Saturday Race, 8:00 a.m. Start)

Wednesday (normal training day)

  • Eat normally. Evening: moderate carbs, normal fiber.

Thursday (recovery day)

Eat normally. Evening: moderate carbs, normal fiber.

Friday (openers + glycogen loading)

  • Morning/early afternoon: light, short openers (don’t chase Watts PRs).

  • Immediately post-openers: start the carb push—simple, low-fiber carbs spread across the rest of the day. Aim toward 8–12 g/kg across Friday (yes, that high).

  • Dinner: white rice/potatoes + lean protein; minimal fat/fiber.

Race morning (Saturday, 8:00 a.m...so getting on the bike at 7:15am)

  • Wake ~4:30 if you want to eat more, sleep in a bit if needed. Don’t forget, you’ve done your Carb Homework the night before…that is most important

  • If eating at 5:00, target ~2 g/kg. If 6:00, ~1 g/kg. If 7:00, carb drink or maple syrup swig!

  • Possibly sip a small carb drink while prepping.

  • On bike: start near 80–90 g/h.

  • 60–90 minutes before decisive section(s): nudge toward 100–110+ g/h if you’ve trained it; concentrate intakes so you’re not fumbling on the climb.

  • Heat expected? Lean more on fluids, and respect that your gut ceiling may be lower.

Post-race

  • Don’t stop fueling just because you’re done pedaling. Intake now accelerates glycogen restoration—and you’ll thank yourself at tomorrow’s coffee ride.

Final Takeaways

  1. Timing beats totals. Hitting 120 g/h indiscriminately is rarely the win; loaded glycogen + late-race exogenous carbs is.

  2. Breakfast is a top-up, not a second dinner. Use the 1–3 g/kg rule by clock, not vibes.

  3. Openers should help you refuel better—not deplete you. Do them early, then eat.

  4. Heat lowers your fueling ceiling. Acclimate and adjust.

  5. Precision is cool; repeatability is cooler. Know your ranges, train your gut, and keep your system simple enough to execute under stress.

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Brendan HouslerComment