His form fizzled out behind a hedge. Matthias Sollmann raced in the top one hundred for two days during his first Transalp participation, but then his stomach rebelled. Cold sweat poured out of his pores. The 32-year-old only crawled up the final stage climb with the last of his strength. "I felt like I'd been filled with baking powder - just before the explosion. The only thing that helped was to go behind the hedge. The stomach cramps were really unbearable." Sollmann had actually done everything right and tested the gels he was taking beforehand. But at the first refreshment point, he grabbed a different product - a huge mistake, as he later reported at the finish.
Not everyone can tolerate fructose in gels
Stomach problems, diarrhoea, abdominal pain: during tough races and stage races, this pain is more the norm than the exception. There are many reasons for these problems. The strain worsens the supply to the digestive organs, which quickly leads to discomfort. The symptoms of malnutrition usually go hand in hand with the food that has been consumed. "Sensitive bikers can have problems with gels, especially during intense exertion," explains nutritionist Philipp Rauscher. The expert sees the manufacturers' carbohydrate mixtures as the cause. "The industry is faced with a dilemma: on the one hand, they want to provide athletes with as many carbohydrates as possible per unit of time. On the other hand, this leads to problems." Rauscher is particularly focussed on the use of fructose (fruit sugar). "From a purely scientific point of view, mixtures with fructose offer an enormous advantage in terms of the amount of carbohydrates ingested. You get a lot into your body. But it's not uncommon for the digestive tract to go on strike."
Always test gels before the race
This is known as "intestinal fructose intolerance (IFI)", the most common type of fructose intolerance. It is estimated that up to 30 per cent of people in Europe are fructose intolerant. But what exactly happens with this intolerance? Due to incomplete absorption, a large proportion of the fructose consumed passes through the wall of the small intestine into the large intestine. This can cause symptoms such as diarrhoea, flatulence and pain. This can happen more quickly during a long race than on the home circuit. "The amount of fructose that is ingested is sometimes extreme - you can't eat that many apples. I advise everyone, even if it sounds like a prayer wheel, to always test the products on a long, hard session," says Rauscher. But despite some problems, gels have not triumphed in endurance sports for nothing. The story of the high-tech pastes themselves is less than 20 years old: "Energy from the tube!" was the slogan used by Squeezy. The cycling community initially thought the energy gels were rubbish. But the advantages quickly won over the athletes: easy to use, quicker digestion, easier to swallow and use in portions. Within a very short time, more and more companies introduced gels, so that today the market has become almost unmanageable. In the meantime, the paste has transformed from a simple carbohydrate gel to a high-tech fuel. More and more additives are supposed to improve performance, be it sophisticated carbohydrate compounds, guarana, caffeine or sodium. But how well can gels be used and how are they handled during the race? What use is quick energy if it gets stuck in the packet? "Even at the office desk, some packs are difficult to open. In a competition, it's a completely different matter," explains Rauscher, adding that you should do some dry runs with the chosen product beforehand. "Handling is at least as important: How do I tear open the pack when it counts? Do I need both hands, or are my teeth enough? The consistency of the contents also plays a role: Will everything come out because the gel is so liquid and the pack wasn't designed for it? Or does the paste make my whole mouth sticky? We therefore defined two main criteria in our test: firstly, how easy is it to use? And secondly, how well tolerated is the product?
By the way: On the third Transalp day, things went better for Matthias Sollmann again: "In the evening after the stomach attack, I bought my usual type of gels from a sports retailer. I managed to stay in the top one hundred and learnt an important lesson: never change a running system. Or rather: gels."
Fuel in the gel: sugar and carbohydrates at a glance
Fructose
Fructose is a simple sugar that is mainly found in fruit. It is tolerated differently in the intestine and is absorbed more slowly than glucose.
Glucose
Glucose is also a simple sugar and is used as an indicator for blood sugar. In nature, glucose occurs as D-glucose (dextrose).
Maltodextrin
A mixture (multiple sugars) that draws little water. The energy is also released evenly.
Vitargo
A special carbohydrate that binds less fluid and can therefore provide more energy.
Isomaltose
disaccharides, which are digested more slowly and thus enter the bloodstream more slowly - energy is available for longer.
You can find these energy gels for endurance athletes in the test:
- AM Sport Energy Competition Gel
- Born Final
- Dextro Liquid Gel
- Energysystem Perform
- Hammer Gel
- High5 IsoGel
- Mulebar Natural Energy Gel
- Nutrixxion Energy Gel
- Powerbar Powergel Hydro
- St. Bernhard Liquid pure
- Sponser Liquid Energy
- Squeezy Dring Gel
- Ultrasport Ultra Gel
- Vitargo Gel
- Xenofit Gel
The results and ratings of these 16 energy gels can be found below in the free PDF download.
