Every cyclist wants to improve, and with so much sport science research available, its tempting to apply every new finding to your training. But are pro-level insights always relevant to amateur riders? Understanding how to interpret scientific studiesand knowing what actually applies to youcan make a huge difference in your performance. In this article, well break down how to sift through the data and train smarter, not just harder.Who is driving sport science? Should elite pros be adopting the latest scientific findings? And should we as everyday athletes be trying to emulate what the pros are doing?Every month, it seems another major innovation in training science or nutrition is upon us. Weve seen big bold claims about nitrate supplementation, polarized training, fasted/low carb training, heat training, hydration, etc.Now one of the biggest trends in pro cycling is extremely high levels of carbohydrate intake during training and racing. Whereas scientific guidelines have previously suggested a maximum range of about 60 g of carbohydrates per hour, elite professional endurance athletes are now hitting 120 g per hour or more.These ideas and pro practices of course trickle down to us as everyday athletes, to the point that many of us are experimenting with very high carbohydrate intake rates, or adopting it as standard practice for our everyday training.Burke et al. 2025 – The ViewpointSuch trends really expose systemic challenges in both the practice of sport science research and also its application, and thats a topic I want to explore today. Its important for…
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