# Energy Drinks in the Pro Peleton?



## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

I was wondering why I never see any energy drinks or ads for them at the TdF (and other races)? Are the ingredients banned? Do they actually have this stuff in their bottles? It's never been mentioned. The only brand of drink I've seen or heard used is Coke.

I would have though it would be a perfect advertising place for RedBull, Monster, etc. So I'd have to guess that Taurine and other similar ingredients are banned. ????

I know I've been saved from a few really bad days by some of this stuff.


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## jswilson64 (May 20, 2008)

I can't speak for a pro rider but I know from experience that energy drinks give me heart palpitations. Probably not the best way to ride up the Alps...


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## gamara (May 20, 2002)

The reason that you don't see energy drinks advertised at the tour could simply be because of money. It costs a lot of money & a long term agreement to be a major sponsor of the tour. Companies usually sign on to be a sponsor for at least 3 yrs. 

Also like you said, it could be image as well. The tour is very selective in who they want to associate with.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

gamara said:


> The reason that you don't see energy drinks advertised at the tour could simply be because of money. It costs a lot of money & a long term agreement to be a major sponsor of the tour. Companies usually sign on to be a sponsor for at least 3 yrs.


I doubt it's money. Companies like RoadID and Clean Bottle advertise a lot. And their advertising budgets would pale in comparisson to Monster and RedBull. 
A total of 4.631 billion cans of Red Bull were sold worldwide in 2011
"Red bull racing, Red Bull has an aggressive international marketing campaign. The Red Bull Racing numerous sponsored activities range from extreme sports like mountain biking, BMX, motocross, windsurfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, kayaking, wakeboarding, cliff-diving, surfing, skating, freestyle motocross, rally, Formula 1 racing, and breakdancing to art shows, music, and video games."


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## pulser955 (Apr 18, 2009)

tlg said:


> I doubt it's money. Companies like RoadID and Clean Bottle advertise a lot. And their advertising budgets would pale in comparisson to Monster and RedBull.
> A total of 4.631 billion cans of Red Bull were sold worldwide in 2011


I think you don't see RedBull advertising in the tour because its not what there in to. RedBull Is incredibly picky with what they put there name on. And road cycling is not the image they want to be associated with. They market extreme sports.


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## Buzzard (Sep 7, 2004)

They don't care about the road cycling demographic. Minimal or no return on marketing investment capital.


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## pulser955 (Apr 18, 2009)

Buzzard said:


> They don't care about the road cycling demographic. Minimal or no return on marketing investment capital.


Its kind of funny but your right. And I bet there is tuns of it being used by the crazy fans on the side of the mountain roads.


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## roddjbrown (Jan 19, 2012)

Well Gatorade definitely sponsor Sky and Sky use their water bottles on their bikes


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## qatarbhoy (Aug 17, 2009)

For Red Bull to be able to own and run not one, but two Formula One teams from selling fizzy sugar in solution is fricking _amazing_, not least given those awful cartoon ads. 

Their extreme sports-oriented marketing is easier to understand. I remember their little Minis with giant Red Bull cans turning up at the Spa F1 race in 96 and hot wimminz emerging to distribute the drink. That was my first Red Bull and for years afterwards no Grand Prix weekend was complete without a Red Bull.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

The part about advertising was secondary to the main question (I could have worded it better). Do the riders in the Pro Peleton use these energy drinks? Are they legal (by UCI rules)?

I know I've seen RedBull and Monster sponsoring MTB events, so yeah, I get the part about roadies being the wrong demographic.


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## Mordy (Aug 30, 2006)

I'm not an expert, but i would not use them. What is in their bottles i think is mostly team secrets  They probably have their favorites out of the various performance drinks mixes from folks like Hammer, Accellerade, etc.


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

When I went to the US Pro Cycling Championships in Greenville, there was 5-hour Energy stuff everywhere.


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## Sylint (Jul 27, 2009)

thechriswebb said:


> When I went to the US Pro Cycling Championships in Greenville, there was 5-hour Energy stuff everywhere.


I'd imagine due to them sponsoring a us domestic team. Still cool that they do though.



I'd imagine the teams realize that crap is pretty much poison for your body and don't use it.


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## old_fuji (Mar 16, 2009)

pulser955 said:


> I think you don't see RedBull advertising in the tour because its not what there in to. RedBull Is incredibly picky with what they put there name on. And road cycling is not the image they want to be associated with. They market extreme sports.


RedBull could throw some ramps into the descents. Call it "Freestyle Downhill Road Biking" or something.


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## danl1 (Jul 23, 2005)

The marketing benefit for "energy drinks" would match the use by the athletes. 

None.

Endurance athletes recognize that these products vary between useless and dangerous.

Now, sports drinks, e.g. Gatorade: There is marketing associated with those, that varies over time. Still a targeted demographic though, so more likely to be marketed to runners, footballers, etc - knowing that we're relatively bright and can pick up on the cross-sport usefulness. They don't give the runners and footballers as much credit - which is probably a wise decision.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

On the NBC coverage I saw a brief bit with Chris Horner, he was really shilling hard for whatever brand of magic powder is sponsoring RS this year.

Garmin uses the Allen Lim / secret drink mix, dunno if there's a sponsorship there or not.


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## Rundfahrt (Jul 16, 2012)

Most of the teams have a nutrition sponsor. A few years back the Slipstream jerseys (that's what they were at the time) actually had Clif products sublimated into the jersey to look like they were sticking up out of the pocket. When Chipotle came on board it turned into a wrapped burrito.

Many pros do use things like Red Bull, but just as a pick me up, not as an all race day drink.


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## Rundfahrt (Jul 16, 2012)

One more thing, as recently as two years ago Red Bull provided nothing to it's sponsored athletes beyond product and team kit. If you raced cars for them, you had race suits and a hat. Cyclists and triathletes would have to get their own t-shirts, collared shirts, etc. screened if they wanted to wear stuff like that.


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## freezin_is_the_reason (Feb 5, 2004)

"Energy Drinks" are mis-named. They are actually stimulant drinks. A drink like 5 hr energy has very few calories which actually provide energy. What it does have are lots of stimulants like taurine. Monster has the stimulants plus lots of sugar. Sugar is a great source of short term energy but it doesn't last very long. It also has zero electrolites which you need to replace what you lose when sweating on for hrs on end.

Sports drinks like Hammer and Cytomax and others offer a mix of complex and simple carbohydrates that provide longer lasting energy. They also have electrolites. All in all a much better mix for endurance athletes.


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## mcsqueak (Apr 22, 2010)

Creakyknees said:


> On the NBC coverage I saw a brief bit with Chris Horner, he was really shilling hard for whatever brand of magic powder is sponsoring RS this year.
> 
> Garmin uses the Allen Lim / secret drink mix, dunno if there's a sponsorship there or not.


Yeah, a lot of pro peloton supposedly use this stuff, though I don't know if that is just more clever marketing, and the pros use mixes that are not sold to the general public.


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

mcsqueak said:


> Yeah, a lot of pro peloton supposedly use this stuff, though I don't know if that is just more clever marketing, and the pros use mixes that are not sold to the general public.


Huh.....neat stuff. I'll have to look into it. Thanks!


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## Kodi Crescent (Aug 3, 2011)

88 rex said:


> Huh.....neat stuff. I'll have to look into it. Thanks!


Raspberry tastes good!


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## Special Eyes (Feb 2, 2011)

tlg said:


> I doubt it's money. Companies like RoadID and Clean Bottle advertise a lot. And their advertising budgets would pale in comparisson to Monster and RedBull.
> A total of 4.631 billion cans of Red Bull were sold worldwide in 2011.


RebBull and Monster are not energy drinks. They are chemical stimulants. I would think that the Cytomax, Hammer, etc. type of carbo-electro that actually give you fuel, or the gel products might be more applicable. I've never seen anyone I ride with do a RBull type of drink while riding. Yecchhh!


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## wesb321 (Oct 1, 2011)

The local stage race here provides red Gatorade to the Pros and Cat racers. I know this because I helped fill and carry the coolers haha! After the 108 mile day many of them had deli sandwiches and soda. Whatever some of the teams 'secret ingredient' is they can buy it at Walmart. It looked like just healthy grocery shopping more than anything. These guys were enjoying take out and sodas while telling some interesting stories about running out of water in races. I remember seeing on youtube LA slugging a Sprite after TDF a stage race.


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## Rundfahrt (Jul 16, 2012)

What stage race is that? I see XXX was there. They are local to me.


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## wesb321 (Oct 1, 2011)

The Joe Martin.


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## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

Is EPO considerednan energy drink?

Lol


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## pulser955 (Apr 18, 2009)

old_fuji said:


> RedBull could throw some ramps into the descents. Call it "Freestyle Downhill Road Biking" or something.


Well they use to put on a down hill road race. It was the RedBull road rage. It was kind of cool. You would see pro down hill mountain bike guys show up with all there body armor and full face helmets. And the pro roadies would just show up in a team kit. I think they killed at after some really bad crashes.


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## roddjbrown (Jan 19, 2012)

freezin_is_the_reason said:


> "Energy Drinks" are mis-named. They are actually stimulant drinks. A drink like 5 hr energy has very few calories which actually provide energy. What it does have are lots of stimulants like taurine. Monster has the stimulants plus lots of sugar. Sugar is a great source of short term energy but it doesn't last very long. It also has zero electrolites which you need to replace what you lose when sweating on for hrs on end.
> 
> Sports drinks like Hammer and Cytomax and others offer a mix of complex and simple carbohydrates that provide longer lasting energy. They also have electrolites. All in all a much better mix for endurance athletes.


^this. Monster/Red Bull etc. are not really sports drinks at all. It's a lot of stimulants to get you buzzing, probably useful if you're into extreme sports but for the majority of sports it's not a great solution. Same reason I suppose that you don't see runners, footballers etc. using them


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

mcsqueak said:


> Yeah, a lot of pro peloton supposedly use this stuff, though I don't know if that is just more clever marketing, and the pros use mixes that are not sold to the general public.


:lol:



> Perfect as a hangover remedy


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## FlandersFields (Jul 16, 2010)

AA Drink (Lotto Belisol), Gatorade, Powerbar (they sponsor the neutral drink motors), Isostar...Sports drinks, no energy drinks. I'd never drink Red Bull while racing


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## Natedogz (Aug 25, 2010)

jswilson64 said:


> I can't speak for a pro rider but I know from experience that energy drinks give me heart palpitations. Probably not the best way to ride up the Alps...


Me too, just like more than a couple sips of coffee before a ride. They make me spend half my ride feeling like my heartrate is out of synch with my breathing and my cadence!!! Not good. The only energy drink that doesn't give me headaches and/or upset stomach is RedBull, which I drink occasionally, but never when riding.



roddjbrown said:


> Well Gatorade definitely sponsor Sky and Sky use their water bottles on their bikes


Too much sugar for me.


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## Sylint (Jul 27, 2009)

wesb321 said:


> The Joe Martin.


Was about to ask if that was Joe Martin. Thought I remembered you being in Fayette-nam.


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