Carbohydrates are the primary energy source for athletes who perform in high energy burning sports such as cycling. Carbohydrates are in some ways just another word for energy.

Whether you do cycling sports or not, then you need energy and that means carbohydrates. As with all forms of energy, some of the energy you supply the body with will place itself on your body as fat, if you do not burn off the energy.

This means if you do not do sports and get a carbohydrate rich diet, then you can gain in weight in fat. By minimizing your carbohydrate consumption you can also regulate your weight. BUT, it is not advisable to completely dump carbohydrates, as the body regardless of its activity level needs carbohydrates in relation to its burning processes.

So-called simple and complex carbohydrates exist. The simple carbohydrates are the ones, which easily and quickly are transformed into energy. Examples of these are sugar, honey, raisins and the like.

The complex carbohydrates are as the word suggests complex in such a way that they take longer to absorb in your body and consequently are not useful, if it is an instant effect that is desired. Complex carbohydrates often have a high fibre rich content and examples of this could be organic brown rice and fibre rich pasta. This means, it is not the regular pasta, which is made of wheat flour.

The complex carbohydrates take longer to turn into energy, but are on the other hand also beneficial as energy in your body. The simple carbohydrates are absorbed and burn quickly in your body and the complex carbohydrates are absorbed and burnt slowly by your body.

If you want to know more about how you ought to eat before, during and after training and competition, then you can read further about it in these headings below:  

• Before training and competition
• During training and competition
• After training and competition