This is a chart I created a while back to understand impact of different dosing strategies on caffeine concentration in the body for a long race. It assumes a 4 hr half life.
3 mg/kg of bodyweight has been shown to be the minimum dose need to get a performance benefit.
So the big cup of coffee at the start of the race may not be the best approach.
The scenario I didn’t show on this, but is probably the best approach, is to start taking caffeine half way through, so you get the boost at the end where it is most needed.
Strategy #1: 400mg of caffeine all at once e.g. four 100mg caffeine tablets at the beginning of the race.
Strategy #2: 200mg of caffeine up front, and three more 100mg tablets at 2, 4 and 6 hours.
Strategy #3: 250mg of caffeine up front, and another 30mg every hour thereafter.
70kg rider assumed.
