Michael Woods was eating bicarbonate when they recorded him with a Tupperware

One of the most curious images that sparked a lot of discussion on social media during the Zurich 2024 World Championships was that of Michael Woods eating from a tupperware while racing. An image that generated many jokes and comments. Now we know that the content of that container was none other than sodium bicarbonate, a substance that, in addition to reducing stomach acidity, also seems to have the same effect on muscle tissue, making it possible to withstand more intense efforts.

Michael Woods eating from a tupperware becomes one of the images of the Zurich 2024 World Championships

The first hours of a race as long as a Cycling World Championships usually provide many dead moments where the pace decreases, space is given to a breakaway, and not much happens in general. These are moments that cyclists take advantage of to go down to their cars to receive instructions and, in passing, a more substantial supply beyond the gels and bars they constantly receive from the assistants along with the water bottles, which can become heavy after so many hours.

That's why, when the television images showed Michael Woods eating, spoon in hand, the contents of a tupperware he had received from the car, although curious, many of us were not surprised, thinking that it would probably be rice, mashed potatoes, or something similar, easy to digest and more substantial than the gels and bars that, in the end, become heavy after so many hours.

 

 

 

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However, some experts and cyclists on social media soon began to comment that it was not pasta or rice but a bicarbonate preparation that is usually taken before most races, but, of course, the World Championships, with its 274 tough kilometers, lasts almost twice as long as most races that cyclists face during the season.

This preparation is not like the bicarbonate we usually find in the supermarket to relieve stomach acidity or use in baking, but it is a preparation made by the well-known nutrition products company Maurten. A kind of very watery gel that combines bicarbonate with carbohydrates to allow it to pass through the stomach as quickly as possible, ensuring maximum absorption in the intestine so that it fulfills its muscle tissue deacidifying function.