'Pure marketing' - Jumbo-Visma's bicarb use a storm in a teacup
Teams and r📖iders downplay the role of a new bicarbonate of soda supplement in heightening cycling performance

With 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Jumbo-Visma dominating the Classics, one word on lots of lips ♋in Belgium this week is 'bicarb'. Could the secret behind the Dutch teaℱm's staggering spring success lie in a small heap of humble baking soda?
Probably not, as a host of riders and team bosses have poured cold water on any notion that a new marginal gain is hav💛ing a revolutionary impact out on the road.
"Pure marketing" is how one WorldTour manager put it to Cyclingnews at 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday.
There have been several recent reports on the launch of the 'Bicarb System' from Swedish company Maurten, nutri𓃲tion partner of Jumbo-Visma, which is said to be "an advanced sports fuel designed to help athletes pus💖h the boundaries of effort and power during high-intensity exercise".
Bicarbonate of soda – commo🧜nly used in baking and cleaning – supposedly counteracts the production of lactic acid in the muscles, which in theory reduces fatigue, particularly during explosive efforts. Maurten, which also sponsors Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, claims its new system eradicates any potential stomach-related s♛ide effects.
Three-time Vuelta a España champion 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Primož Roglič first used the new system two years ago, but it recently became commercially available and that has been followed by links to a number of Jumbo-Visma riders, as well as athletes from other sports in recent weeks.&n🐻bsp;
But bicarb as panacea is a narrative not easily di🍌gested by all.
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"It's already in use in the peloton for many many many years, across all the teams" said 🦩one team boss we spoke to.
"Lots of ♚companies are trying to push it through the media at the mome🦄nt. It's an extremely small piece of the whole performance puzzle. For me it's nothing special."
Another team boss, Soudal-QuickStep's Patrick Lefevere, echoed that view, suggesting that this kind of hysܫteria naturally follows a period of dominancඣe from one team.
"I think it’s marketing, a kind of bluff," Lefevere told Cyclingnews. "I know how it feels to be a winning team. Before, the blue guys [QuickStep] came on t�ও�he front and everybody was shaking. Now it will be the opposite."
Within the peloton, it would appear that bicarb is not much of a talking point, either.&nbs𓆉p;
"Ah no, the riders are not really worried about this," 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Matteo Trentin told Cyclingnews, confirming that he'd never used b▨icarbonate of soda.
"It is nothing new I don't think. People have been using this for many ꧑years - they used to use it a lot in time trials."
Indeed, reports of pro cyclists using bicarb for performance gains go back decades. Earlier this week, Jumbo-Visma's 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Tiesj Benoot confirmed he'd been using it since 2015, back when he was riding for Lotto-Dstny, whose current leader 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Florian Vermeersch s💖aid he's us𝔉ed it himself since the U21 category.
🤪The novelty would appear to be Maurten's 'Bicarb System', which c🌜laims to address the common issue of stomach upsets, and so allows riders to use more of it.
It remains to be examined what this new bicarb science can really do to performance, and whether there's more to it than mere marketing. Still, it can hardly be said to be the 'secret' behind Jumbo-Visma's success; Jonas Vingegaard doesn't use it and won t👍he Tour de France last year soda-free.
Right now, within the sport, it seems to be be﷽ing met with amusement rather than genuine intrigue.&n🐈bsp;
"My grandmother us🥃ed to cook with it, s🌌o it's nothing special", Benoot joked at the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen.
As for Lefevere, he took a sardonic tone after another humbling from Jumbo-Visma at Dwars d🍸oor Vlaanderen.
"I went looki𝄹ng 🦋for that baker, but I didn't find him."
Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He&rsq🧸uo;s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.