4 13.9 20.0 13.0 9.4 14.2 14.5 15.6 14.3 ± 2.9    Total Energy Expenditure 46.0 44.0 54.3 35.1 49.5 39.7 36.0 38.4 42.9 ± 6.8* Energy Deficit (MJ) -28.2 -24.7 -38.2 -18.3 -6.9 -16.6 -7.9 -20.2 -20.1 ± 10.4 EI:EE b 0.39 0.44 0.30 0.48 0.86 0.58 0.76 0.47 0.54 ± 0.19 a Energy intake b Ratio between energy intake and energy expenditure. * Statistical difference GSI-IX (P < 0.05) between total energy intake and energy expenditure during the event. Corselleck products relation between nutritional data and performance during the event The main performance variables such as distance covered and speed did not correlate to the main nutritional variables such as calories, carbohydrates, fluids and caffeine (P <

0.05). In addition, other dietary variables such as intake of proteins, fats and sodium were also not related to performance variables. The strongest correlation was found between cycling speed and total fluid intake (r = 0.71; P = 0.074). When we compared data between the first and the second half of the event, the strongest correlations were

found between the total fluid intake in mL/h (r = -0.66; P = 0.073) and mL of racing time eFT-508 nmr (r = -0.66; P = 0.077) with % of speed decrease during the last 12 hours (0700 – 1900 h). Discussion In contrast to our first hypothesis, this study shows that athletes were able to consume amounts of carbohydrates which were in accordance with the current recommendations for longer events [6, 7]. However, despite of this fact, these athletes did not meet their energy requirements during the event resulting in a higher energy deficit. The huge workload performed by athletes (TRIMP > 800), 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase which was significantly above to data reported in elite cyclists during high mountain stages of the Tour de France (~ 600 TRIMP) [25], induced a higher energy expenditure. Thus, these results confirmed partially our preliminary hypotheses and were in agreement with two previous investigations showing

that, like solo events, a high energy deficit is common in a team relay format events despite that athletes have considerable time to recover between bouts of exercise [4, 26]. One explanation for this effect has been related with appetite suppression since it is known that longer exercise induces a suppression of acylated ghrelin in humans [27]. Ghrelin is an amino acid peptide hormone secreted primarily from cells within the stomach and it has been suggested to have an orexigenic function (i.e. appetite stimulating) [27]. Macronutrients intake The recommended amount of carbohydrate intake during longer exercise to optimize oxidation rates have been reported as between 1.0 to 1.5 g/min [15]. This recommendation could be also useful to improve glycogen replenishment during the first 4 hours after exercise [28]. In the current study, the mean carbohydrate intake in relation to total racing time (2.61 ± 0.62 g/min) was substantially above these values. Moreover, the relative amount of carbohydrate intake by cyclists was equivalent to 13.1 ± 4.