So im doing a 160km race in a few days, its sort of been labelled as a sportif but sort of not. To date its always been a 110k race, which was definitely a sportif, so there were 'feed stations' (stop, off bike, get food and drink) but never 'feed zones' (helpers holding musettes and bottles to hand out as you fly past).

So the new 'extreme' 160km edition says 'no feeding via support' - and clearly at the pointy end of the race, 35-40kph+ riders, no one is going to stop for more food/drink at a 'feed station'. I've just found out that at the 90k mark there is a feed zone but only for the elite team riders?! And this hasn't been announced at all, all very hush hush.

My question is: having not raced 160km before, with 2x800ml bottles on the bike and a half bottle in my middle jersey pocket + loads of gels/bars in my pockets, should I be able to get it done without bonking heavily? Or is that utter madness, and I should try get someone to sneakily hold a musette for me?

I realise some of that depends on if i sit in the bunch for most of it vs. getting in a break etc. Also I should add the course is fairly flat, one climb thats about 5k at 5%.

The biggest factor is temperature. However it doesn't seem like enough liquid.

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Sorry I should have mentioned temperature, looks like its going to be between 14-20c degrees for the race.

And yeah I'm worried about the water situation.

Ridiculous for a race situation IMHO.


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Will be very hard imo. I recently did 110km at 30 kph (not racing) on 2x bottles and I ended up getting very thirsty for the last 40km.
Might be doable if you sip on the water big time beforehand (2l/hr for two hours before the race), but then you'll have to pee while you're in the group...

Bring 3 large bottles with you. Also try to use gels that are very viscous so they contain some water.


But seriously, 160km Sportif with no feeding is a little crazy. Maybe bring a Camelbak. Let the haters hate, you've got water.

I've done a 160km TT on a pretty flat course in temps up to 25 degrees celcius. I used a 2 litre Camelbak filled with Gatorade (under the jersey, more aero!) and two 600ml bidons with water. Still ended up dehydrated. Doing a similar distance albeit cooler on 2-3 bottles is highly unadvisable. 600-800mls per hour (depending on heat and individual losses) would be closer to needs.

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Considering that you should be drinking ~12-16oz per hour then there is no way.

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??? Hydrate thoroughly before you leave and have it all consumed at about the 120km mark.....you'll be a bit dry but at that temp, you'll survive on 2X800 and a 500 in your pockets. Consume the 500 first, obviously, and throw the bottle to a spectator....game on! I had a G.I. issue and did 130km on 2 mouthfuls last weekend. ABSOLUTELY NOT RECOMMENDED but you'll get by just fine....temp range was similar to yours.

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Used to race....got too wrinkly and old Updated: Racing again! Thought this was unlikely! Eventually, I may even have a decent race!

oh...btw re viscous gels....nope....put about 2 scoops Horleys replace or similar in each 800ml bottle and use moist whole food that contains a little bit of fat is potentially best*. Thick Gels actually dehydrate you and are often advised to be washed down with up to 300 (?)mL of water on the ones I've used in the past.
(* though I personally just use weight watchers bars as that's what I train on....apple, or apple and custard....YUM!)

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Used to race....got too wrinkly and old Updated: Racing again! Thought this was unlikely! Eventually, I may even have a decent race!

Thanks for all the feedback guys. And yeah pretty much everyone confirmed, this is a crazy idea.

If i can't get anyone to hold musette for me (if its even allowed, dont get me started on this races organisation), I'll either quickly stop to fill up, or embarrassingly, put on a friends double biddon cage thingy that goes on the seatpost, Tri style Don't know whats worse, that or a camelbak under the jersey!

On gels - I found the SiS gels very "drinkable" being far more liquid than some gels which have the consistency of a ball of snot. IIRC SiS made them to be consumed without additional fluids (isotonic).

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"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

maybe a camelbak? strap one in front and in back

Try reaching out for bottles from your "domestique" bottle cages. I mean riders beside you.

I would either have some friends hand me water bottles along the course. Or stash bottles somewhere before the ride or worst case I would wear a Camelbak since I know that I would need about 6 water bottles to be properly hydrated and finish strong at that distance.

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