Bicarbonate is for everyone: if the pros are willing to buy it, you should be too

La Primavera has a reputation as a sprinter's race, and statistically that is often true. But the sprinters who win MSR are not the ones who saved the most energy. They are the ones who survived the Poggio in the front group, absorbed its repeated accelerations, recovered on the descent, and still had something to give on the Via Roma. 

That process, compressed into the final hour of a six-hour race, is one of the most demanding sequences in the calendar.

The Cipressa and the Poggio are not long climbs. They do not grind riders down over twenty minutes. They are short and aggressive, and the efforts they demand are explosive and repeated. The pace surges before the climbs as teams fight for position, then attacks go, riders close gaps, and then the pace surges again. 

The rhythm of the final 60km of the race is far more staccato than the parcours alone would lead you to believe. Each of those efforts generates a rapid build-up of lactate in the working muscles. When that build-up exceeds the body's buffering capacity, power drops and the ability to respond to the next move disappears. In a race decided by margins of seconds after 300 kilometres, that is the difference.

So those are the facts of the race. But what do elite riders actually do to fuel for these efforts? The answer, until recently, was largely to accept the problem: spend the winter building VO2 max capacity through five and ten-minute intervals, and trust the legs to hold when the race explodes. 

The science has pointed towards a better solution for years. Applying it reliably on a road racing start line has, until now, been the part that defeated most athletes.

That solution is bicarbonate supplementation alongside training specificity, which supports the body's ability to buffer lactate during repeated high-intensity efforts. The mechanism is well established, with proven applications in track cycling and rowing going back decades. 

The principle is straightforward: by raising buffering capacity before and during competition, athletes can sustain high power output for longer and recover more quickly between explosive efforts.

The research points to 0.2 to 0.3 grams of bicarbonate per kilogram of bodyweight. For a 70 kilogram classics rider, that is approximately 14 grams. Historically, reaching that dose meant dissolving powders or swallowing large quantities of tablets, both of which carried a significant risk of gastric discomfort. 

For a rider preparing for a six-hour Monument that defines seasons and whole careers, that was a trade-off few were willing to make.

MNSTRY's BICARB GEL 40, launched in June 2025, reframed bicarbonate as part of a race-day system rather than a single pre-race supplement. Each gel delivers 5 grams of bicarbonate alongside 40 grams of carbohydrate in a 1:0.8 ratio. The first production run sold out within 24 hours. Demand has not eased since.

The gel is designed to work in combination with MNSTRY's 1 gram bicarbonate capsules, which allow the baseline dose to be built before the start in a staged, digestible format. Used together, the system allows a rider to arrive at the Cipressa with buffering capacity already established, and to reinforce it on the Poggio at precisely the moment when the race is being decided.

The products have been attracting attention beyond MNSTRY's official team roster. They have been spotted in use during training rides and reconnaissance outings among riders whose kit carries no MNSTRY branding. Asked about this directly, the brand offered a careful response: they are not in a position to discuss the purchasing habits of their customers.

In a sport where riders do not spend their own money on nutrition unless they believe it is working, that answer carries considerable weight.

For a rider of 70 kilograms, the staged approach looks like this.

Stage 1: Three hours before the start:
Take approximately 60 percent of the target dose with a meal. Around eight to nine capsules.

Stage 2: One hour before the start:
Take the remaining 40 percent. Around five to six capsules.

Stage 3: During the race:
Use the BICARB GEL 40 ahead of the decisive sections. For Sanremo, that means the approach to the Cipressa and, most critically, the foot of the Poggio. The gel reinforces buffering capacity at the exact point where the race demands it.

Spreading the dose across the day reduces gastric risk and ensures the buffering effect peaks when it is needed most, rather than fading before the race reaches its decisive phase.

Milan-Sanremo is the most visible version of a physiological problem that every competitive cyclist encounters. Local climbs, hard group rides, criteriums and Gran Fondos all contain moments where repeated explosive efforts determine the outcome. The lactate accumulation is the same. The benefit of supporting the body's ability to manage it is the same.

Any new nutritional strategy should be tested in training before being introduced in competition, but the science is clear, and in this instance the silent endorsements ring as loud as those paid sponsorships. 

Because demand for the BICARB range has remained consistently high since launch, MNSTRY does not routinely offer discounts on the individual products.

Riders building a complete race-day nutrition setup can currently receive 15 percent off the MNSTRY Cycling Bundle until 30 April 2026. Discount code: DOMESTIQUE15.

The pros doing their own shopping have already made their assessment. The Poggio waits for no one.