By Lode T Kindt, founder of Eagle Nutrition. Last updated on 1 October 2026. All sources checked on 1 October 2026.

How many carbs per hour you need for cycling depends on two things: how long you ride and how hard. Below you will find the number for your ride, what to carry to reach it and where the limit sits. If you want to know which bar fits, read my complete guide to energy bars for cycling.

Jump to: table per ride length | what to carry | is 90 grams too much for me | when to eat | frequently asked questions

How many carbs per hour do you need per ride length?

The guideline runs from 0 to 90 grams of carbs per hour and rises with the length of your ride. These are the numbers from the joint position statement of the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada (2016), translated into what you carry on the bike.

If you ride easy, you are at the low end of the range. If you ride a race, a gran fondo or a hard group ride, you are at the high end.

Don't feel like doing the maths? My free fuel planner calculates your carbs per hour based on ride length, intensity, weight and weather. You get an hour by hour schedule that you can print or stick on your handlebars. Calculate your fuel plan

Why is the limit 60 grams without fructose?

Your gut absorbs glucose through one transport channel, and that channel is full at around 60 grams per hour. Any glucose you take in above that stays behind in your gut and draws in fluid. You feel that as cramps and bloating.

Fructose uses a second, separate channel. If you combine glucose and fructose, both channels work at the same time and you can process more carbs per hour. According to sports scientist Asker Jeukendrup (Sports Medicine, 2014), your body processes a single type of sugar up to about 60 grams per hour, and the recommendation for very long efforts is about 90 grams per hour with a mix.

The 2:1 ratio is two parts glucose to one part fructose. At 90 grams per hour that is 60 grams of glucose and 30 grams of fructose. More detail is in why the 2:1 ratio makes the difference.

How do you reach 60 to 90 grams of carbs per hour in practice?

You never get your carbs from a single source. Sports drink is the base, bars top it up. A sports drink with 6 to 8 grams of carbs per 100 ml delivers 30 to 40 grams per 500 ml bottle and 45 to 60 grams per 750 ml bottle. One 25 gram Eagle fruit performance bar delivers 20 grams of carbs in 2:1.

I never plan more than 2 bars per hour. You can't chew through that at pace and your stomach gains nothing from it. The bar is the solid component next to your bottle, not a replacement for it. How much to drink with it and how much salt you need is covered in hydration and salt during endurance sport.

What goes in your jersey pocket?

Calculated with sports drink at 7 to 8 grams of carbs per 100 ml and bars with 20 grams of carbs.

The Eagle test pack with 6 Pear Lime bars covers two 3 hour rides. Fill your bottle with isotonic sports drink. For the finale, one of your bars can be a BOOST bar. Contains caffeine (50 mg). Not recommended for children, pregnant women and people sensitive to caffeine.

Is 90g carbs per hour too much for an amateur?

90 grams per hour is an upper limit for long, hard rides. It is not a requirement for every ride. The guidelines were written for well trained athletes. Jeukendrup writes in his 2014 review that the recommendation can come down when the absolute intensity is low, because you then burn fewer carbs as well.

In practice: if you ride 3 hours at an easy pace, 40 to 60 grams per hour is enough. If you ride 3 hours with climbing or in a fast group, aim for 60 to 90 grams. Your body weight plays no role in that guideline. What you burn depends on the power you put out. What you can absorb depends on your gut.

Start at 60 grams per hour and build up in training. Your gut adapts to higher intakes, but not in a single ride. The step by step plan is in my 6 week protocol to train your gut to 90 grams per hour. Never test anything new on race day.

Do you need to eat on a zone 2 ride too?

Yes, from about an hour and a half, but less. On an easy endurance ride of 2 to 3 hours, 30 to 60 grams of carbs per hour is enough. That is 1 bottle of sports drink, with 1 bar if needed.

That you can finish a ride without eating says little. You notice the difference in the last hour, in your recovery and in your training the day after. If you come home and raid the kitchen, you ate too little on the road. How that mechanism works is explained in how to prevent the bonk.

Is more than 90g carbs per hour better?

For most riders, no. In a study by King and colleagues (European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019), 11 trained cyclists rode for 3 hours, followed by a 30 minute time trial. With 90 grams per hour in 2:1 they averaged 228 watts. With 80 grams that was 219 watts, with 100 grams 212 watts. The researchers call the difference likely, not conclusive. At 100 grams per hour the riders did use more of their own muscle stores.

Pros now take 100 to 120 grams per hour. Podlogar and Wallis (Sports Medicine, 2022) find that the body burns more carbs from food at 120 grams than at 90 grams, but that an extra performance gain has not yet been shown. At those amounts the ratio also shifts towards 1:0.8. When that makes sense is covered in 2:1 or 1:0.8, which ratio to choose and when.

My advice: 60 to 90 grams per hour in 2:1 is the range where the evidence is strong. Above that, you pay with your stomach for a gain that is not established.

When do you start eating on the bike?

Within the first 30 minutes, and then every 20 to 30 minutes. Waiting until you feel hungry is too late. Then you have to catch up, and catching up means too much at once.

• From the start: a sip of sports drink every 10 to 15 minutes.
• Minute 20 to 30: first bar.
• After that: a bar every 30 to 45 minutes, depending on your target per hour.
• Chew on the flat sections. On climbs and in technical sections, take drink.

My bars are soft and chewable. Not a brick you have to wash down. They fit in your jersey pocket and you eat them while you ride.

Why do lots of carbs upset your stomach?

Stomach trouble usually comes from too much of one type of sugar, too much at once or too little fluid with it. Sugar that your gut does not absorb draws in water. That causes cramps and, in the worst case, diarrhoea on the bike.

Three things help: a mix of glucose and fructose, spreading your intake instead of catching up, and food that is low in fat, fibre and protein. Those three slow down your stomach during exercise. All causes and solutions are in stomach problems during exercise.

Bar, gel, sports drink or banana: does the form matter?

For your performance the form matters little, as long as the product is low in fat, fibre and protein. The choice is practical. Drink delivers carbs and fluid at the same time. A bar gives you something to chew on during long rides. A gel is handy in the finale, when chewing no longer works.

My bars are about half fruit and contain 80 grams of carbs per 100 grams. Vegan, gluten free, lactose free, nothing artificial. When to choose which form is covered in energy bar or energy gel, which one when.

Carbs per hour for cycling, in short

Under 45 minutes, nothing. From 1 to 2.5 hours, 30 to 60 grams per hour. Beyond 2.5 hours, 60 to 90 grams per hour, in 2:1, from sports drink plus 1 to 2 bars. Start within the first half hour. The rest is execution.

Not a gel. Not a brick. Fuel during effort. Fuel your flight.

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