ANDREA aka THE GLUTEN FREE CYCLIST 🇺🇸
The Gluten-Free Cyclist with a Lab Coat Brain 🧠🚴‍♂️
If you’ve ever wandered into the nutrition corner of the SISU Discord and left feeling simultaneously smarter and slightly questioned about your life choices, chances are you’ve crossed paths with Andrea.
Andrea is the team’s resident biology nerd, glucose apologist, and proud Gluten-Free Cyclist. He’s usually lurking quietly, connecting molecular biology to watts, translating intimidating physiology into practical fuel plans that actually work when the banner drops. Today though, he’s stepped out of the shadows—not with complex metabolic flowcharts, but with something far more powerful: truth, science, and salt.
With the SISU Championships looming, Andrea knows exactly what’s at stake. This isn’t a gentle endurance spin. It’s a brutal mix of clock-watching suffering, crit-induced chaos, and punchy climbs that chew through glycogen like a woodchipper. In his words, fuel is often the only thing standing between a podium and a bonk—and biology backs him up.
Andrea has a knack for reframing things the wellness world loves to demonize. Take glucose. Off the bike, it’s painted as the villain. On the bike? It’s the hero your muscles are begging for once intensity rises past Sweet Spot and into LT2 territory. As effort increases, the crossover effect kicks in and carbohydrate oxidation dominates. The glucose you ingest doesn’t hang around causing trouble—it’s oxidized almost immediately, whisked into muscle cells via GLUT4 transporters, no insulin drama required. Nerdy? Yes. Useful? Extremely.
One of Andrea’s favourite reminders is that your gut, like your FTP, is trainable. You don’t just wake up one day able to absorb 100 grams of carbs per hour any more than you wake up pushing 400 watts. Push it too far without preparation and your brain’s hypothalamus will hit the emergency brake, down-regulating power output to protect you. The body always chooses survival over Strava glory.
That’s why Andrea teaches fueling in levels, not dogma.
Level 1: Safe & Steady
For riders with sensitive stomachs or those new to high-carb fueling, Andrea points to maltodextrin—boring, cheap, effective, and absorbed cleanly via the SGLT1 transporter. Up to 60g per hour, paired with water and sodium, keeps energy flowing without gastrointestinal fireworks.
Level 2: Aggressive & Race-Ready
Once you’re chasing 90–100g per hour, things get spicy. Enter sucrose, a glucose-fructose combo that taps into both SGLT1 and GLUT5 transporters. This is advanced fueling: hypertonic mixes, smart hydration alongside, and disciplined sipping. No panicked bottle-chugging at minute 40. Transporters are turnstiles, not floodgates.
What really sets Andrea apart isn’t just the science—it’s how he frames it. Fuel early. Sip often. Keep a steady stream of carbohydrates hitting the bloodstream so your insular cortex never feels the need to throw your body into “safe mode.” Eat before the race. Respect digestion timing. Understand the why, not just the what.
Andrea is also quick to draw clear lines: if you have glucose-related medical conditions, performance hacks always take a back seat to clinical needs. Science without responsibility isn’t SISU.
And when the racing turns violent—as Zwift racing inevitably does—Andrea is blunt. These aren’t steady efforts. They’re repeated one-to-five-minute matches that torch glycogen reserves. Fueling properly isn’t marginal gains; it’s survival equipment.
Even after the finish banner fades, Andrea reminds us the race isn’t over. The body enters rebuild mode, and that 90-minute recovery window matters. Carbohydrates to replenish. Protein to repair. Simple ratios, big payoff.
Strip away the jargon and Andrea’s philosophy is refreshingly grounded: you don’t need overpriced products or influencer marketing. Master glucose, fructose, and sodium. Understand the mechanics. Respect your gut. The rest is just execution.
So if you see Andrea online—probably quietly typing in Discord with a shaker bottle nearby—know this: behind the calm delivery is a deeply nerdy engine that wants nothing more than to see SISU riders fueled, informed, and flying.
Fuel smart. Ride hard. And trust the biology.
THE CYCLIST'S SCIENCE - 2 BOOK SERIES FREE FOR SISU RACING MEMBERS
Complete the online form and Andrea will email you a PDF version of the two books.