• Amateur rider, Danielle Shorsbree (representing team CAMS-Basso), pushed herself to the limits over the six stage multi-day Tour of Britain, where she performed extremely well against tough professional competitors to finish 62nd overall
• Danni had an excellent and unusual first stage, breaking away and leading the pack by over a minute before a serious traffic accident stopped the race for over an hour. Once the race resumed, Danni got back on her bike and finished strongly, but was unfortunately caught by the chasing pack 15km from the end
• Her efforts were recognised however, and Danni was named the most ‘combative rider’ on day one, finishing in just over 4 hours and in 37th position
• Riding for six consecutive days from Colchester to Oxford (734km/456miles in total), Danni was proactive with her fueling and hydration strategy during and following each stage to ensure she was optimising her performance and recovery (this case study outlines her stage one strategy)

Hydration

• Before starting each stage, Danni preloaded with a PH 1500 (Tablet) to increase her blood plasma volume and make sure she started each stage optimally hydrated
• During multi-day events, it’s essential for athletes to stay on top of their fluid and sodium losses to avoid a large deficit accumulating over the course of the event which can hinder performance. To replenish her sweat losses, Danni concluded each day by drinking ~500ml/16oz of water mixed with PH 1500 (Tablet) to aid effective recovery
• During stage one, Danni drank only PF 30 Energy Drink Mix, totalling ~1.5L/51oz of fluid, which averaged ~375ml/12oz per hour. As a result of the mild and wet conditions, Danni’s sweat losses were low during the stage, and therefore this low intake was as to be expected and likely to have been enough to keep her well hydrated over the 4-hour period
• Danni continued to drink relatively little during the course of the whole race, reporting that “no days were too hot”. That being said, she did take on slightly more on days five and six (450-600ml/15-20oz per hour) to account for the slightly milder conditions and longer stage durations
• Using PF 30 Drink Mix meant that the relative sodium concentration of Danni’s intake was around ~1,000mg/L during the stage. Although we won’t know Danni’s sweat sodium concentration until she’s had a Sweat Test, this moderate-high concentration will likely have replaced a good proportion of her low sweat sodium losses given the cold conditions
• As the event progressed, the relative sodium concentration of Danni’s intake dropped slightly during stages where she drank more of a carb drink mix provided by her team, which contained few electrolytes
• Despite this, she continued to take on solid quantities of sodium and fluid before, during and after stages allowing her to avoid any hydration-related issues, including cramping, and reflected positively on her hydration strategy over the race

Fueling

Conclusions

• Against a tough field containing professional riders, Danni performed well over each of the six stages of the Tour of Britain, achieving her best result on the second day (31st). Reflecting on the race, Danni was happy with her efforts and was already looking forward to getting back in the saddle to race again
• Danni implemented a well planned hydration and fueling strategy to maintain a high level of performance over the six days, which included effective rehydrating and re-fueling between stages
• In future, Danni should look to increase her carb intake due to the positive trend between carb consumption and performance, especially over multi-day races, to keep her energy levels high throughout