Should Cyclists Supplement with Creatine to Improve Training & Race Day Performance?

This week, we explore whether road, gravel or cross-country riders should supplement with creatine to improve performance and increase their chances of winning.

Many cyclists avoid using creatine for fear of gaining weight, which may have performance implications during ‘weight sensitive’ parts of a race – i.e. when they are going against gravity (hill climbs).⁣

With many cyclists, the power-weight ratio is a frequent topic of conversation.⁣

Last week, we covered the best strategy for cyclists to improve their watts per kilo. In this article, we raised the point that many cyclists focus on the weight aspect of the equation and often overlook the power output (PO) component….and, more times than not, compromise PO at the expense of being lighter.⁣

Creatine supplementation promotes an increase in intracellular water storage and the ability to promote muscle glycogen levels - In return causing body mass to increase.⁣

Endurance athletes will acknowledge the benefits of creatine during higher intensity phases of a race but raise the question of whether this improved PO outweighs the associated gains in body mass.⁣

Tomcik et al. (2018) recruited highly trained cyclists to complete a performance test (PT) under three different conditions to answer this question.⁣

The performance test involved a 120km indoor ride with 1km and 4km intervals interspersed, followed by a ride to exhaustion at 90% VO2 max on an incline treadmill (the weight-sensitive bit).⁣

In PT1, they followed a moderate carb diet (6g/kg) with no supplementation to establish baseline results.⁣

in PT2, they supplemented with creatine (20g x 5 days + 3g maintenance) or placebo and followed either a moderate carb diet (6g/kg) or carb-load diet (12g/kg) 2 days prior.⁣

In PT3, they repeated the same performance test but changed how much carbohydrates were consumed. Therefore, they could detect whether performance gains were derived from creatine or the carbohydrate content of the diet.⁣

Upon completing the three tested conditions, they found that PO was significantly higher with creatine during the high-intensity phases and the simulated hill climb, independent of the carbohydrate consumed.

This is likely because high-intensity phases rely more on creatine to rephosphorylate ATP and support work capacity. Creatine supplementation is also associated with lower lactate levels, which could suggest a reduction in muscle glycogen breakdown and offer ‘glycogen-sparing’ properties.
Even with the increased body mass from supplementation, there was no disadvantage during the lower intensity cycle but a significant advantage during sprinting conditions.

This has essential ‘real-world’ implications as it mimics a sprint finish or being able to stay with the lead pack during breakaways.

The bottom line is that it’s not always about weight; it’s about performance (and winning), and creatine is a supplement that supports this outcome.

Remember: cycling is a PERFORMANCE sport, not a weight loss sport.

- Coach Chris