Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) has referenced using sodium bicarbonate - also called sodium bicarb - for this TT effort at Giro d'Italia yesterday, where he placed 2nd but lost the race lead. He said he did not feel he had the same "grunt" during the TT because he was using the supplement.
It is legal and has been used in cycling for years, though anecdotally it appears to have grown in popularity in recent years. It is intended to control or reduce lactate, which builds up in the muscles and slows them, during short hard efforts or TTs.
While most people will know the substance as a household baking ingredient, it is said to buffer the impact of lactate build-up, helping overcome the impact of that build-up for short periods. The theory goes it is absorbed into your blood when you consume it, thus increasing the amount of blood bicarbonate and lowering blood acidity, allowing high intensity exercise for longer.
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Thomas went into yesterday's 18.6km mountain TT on Monte Lussari leading the race by 26 seconds from Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma). However, while the Welshman looked good for most of his effort, he appeared to struggle in the final 2km or so. On the other hand, while Roglič suffered a mechanical after his chain came off, forcing him to stop, he looked very solid the whole way to the line.
In the end the Slovenian won the TT from Thomas by 40 seconds and that margin would have been much closer to a minute but for the mechanical issue. The result meant Roglič took the leader's jersey and starts today's final stage into Rome with a 14-second advantage over Thomas and is now destined to win the race overall barring disaster.
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Thomas said he was not blaming his use of bicarbonate soda for his loss yesterday, but he felt it undermined his "grunt" - a cycling slang word for the ability to get stuck in, really suffer and be determined.
"I'm pretty gutted," Thomas said after losing the stage and GC battle. "I said earlier if I had been told this back in February or March I probably would have bitten your hand off, but now I'm devastated. But I think once it sinks in I can be proud of what we did. It is what it is."
Asked by Daniel Friebe of The Cycling Podcast how his TT effort felt, he said: "I felt okay. With about a (kilometre) and a half to go I could feel my legs going a bit. Also with the bi-carb it's a bit of a different feel. I felt I didn't really have the grunt. That's not the reason I lost though. Primož just did an incredible ride
"And it's better to lose by that much (rather) than just a couple of seconds because then you'd pick it apart and maybe say 'I could have done this or that'. But at the end of the day, I couldn't have gone 14 seconds quicker, and he had a mechanical, so he deserves it.
"I have to be happy with 2nd. With the season I've had... I only really started racing in Catalunya in March and I stayed strong mentally and I put the work in and tried to do what I had to do. And I still managed to get here and good shape. To come 2nd, I can still be proud of that but at the moment it just hurts."
