'Pure marketing' - Jumbo-Visma's bicarb use a storm in a teacup

With Jumbo-Visma dominating the Classics, one word on lots of lips in Belgium this week is 'bicarb'. Could the secret behind the Dutch team's staggering spring success lie in a small heap of humble baking soda?

Probably not, as a host of riders and team bosses have poured cold water on any notion that a new marginal gain is having a revolutionary impact out on the road. 

"Pure marketing" is how one WorldTour manager put it to Cyclingnews at Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday. 

There have been several recent reports on the launch of the 'Bicarb System' from Swedish company Maurten, nutrition partner of Jumbo-Visma, which is said to be "an advanced sports fuel designed to help athletes push the boundaries of effort and power during high-intensity exercise". 

Bicarbonate of soda – commonly used in baking and cleaning – supposedly counteracts the production of lactic acid in the muscles, which in theory reduces fatigue, particularly during explosive efforts. Maurten, which also sponsors Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, claims its new system eradicates any potential stomach-related side effects. 

Three-time Vuelta a España champion Primož Roglič first used the new system two years ago, but it recently became commercially available and that has been followed by links to a number of Jumbo-Visma riders, as well as athletes from other sports in recent weeks. 

But bicarb as panacea is a narrative not easily digested by all. 

"It's already in use in the peloton for many many many years, across all the teams" said one team boss we spoke to.

"Lots of companies are trying to push it through the media at the moment. It's an extremely small piece of the whole performance puzzle. For me it's nothing special."

Another team boss, Soudal-QuickStep's Patrick Lefevere, echoed that view, suggesting that this kind of hysteria naturally follows a period of dominance from one team. 

"I think it’s marketing, a kind of bluff," Lefevere told Cyclingnews. "I know how it feels to be a winning team. Before, the blue guys [QuickStep] came on the front and everybody was shaking. Now it will be the opposite."

Within the peloton, it would appear that bicarb is not much of a talking point, either. 

"Ah no, the riders are not really worried about this," Matteo Trentin told Cyclingnews, confirming that he'd never used bicarbonate of soda.  

"It is nothing new I don't think. People have been using this for many years - they used to use it a lot in time trials."

Indeed, reports of pro cyclists using bicarb for performance gains go back decades. Earlier this week, Jumbo-Visma's Tiesj Benoot confirmed he'd been using it since 2015, back when he was riding for Lotto-Dstny, whose current leader Florian Vermeersch said he's used it himself since the U21 category. 

The novelty would appear to be Maurten's 'Bicarb System', which claims to address the common issue of stomach upsets, and so allows riders to use more of it. 

It remains to be examined what this new bicarb science can really do to performance, and whether there's more to it than mere marketing. Still, it can hardly be said to be the 'secret' behind Jumbo-Visma's success; Jonas Vingegaard doesn't use it and won the Tour de France last year soda-free. 

Right now, within the sport, it seems to be being met with amusement rather than genuine intrigue. 

"My grandmother used to cook with it, so it's nothing special", Benoot joked at the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen.

As for Lefevere, he took a sardonic tone after another humbling from Jumbo-Visma at Dwars door Vlaanderen. 

"I went looking for that baker, but I didn't find him."