Chris Leiferman’s Detailed Bike Set Up & Fueling Strategy for Nice 

American Chris Leiferman, who was fourth at the St George World Championships in 2022, has come back for his second attempt in Nice. In 2023, Leiferman was “feeling good” and riding strong, but disaster struck when he crashed out and was forced to end his day early. The father of two is back in France, ready for round two, and shares his strategy and fueling plans right down to the gram. 

How has your training for the world championship been going? 

I feel my prep has been going pretty smoothly. I had a slow start to the season but the back half has been going well. I have been doing a lot of steep climbing in Boulder, and most of my quality riding has been on those steeps. It’s quite impossible to get the style of descents in the US, but I hope the recon I’ve done while here in France has been enough. 

It’s your second time racing in Nice at the world championships. Last time you crashed on the bike. Are you ready to get revenge?

I am ready for revenge! I overcooked a turn and ran into an embankment and then Ironman left me up there for 5.5hrs even though they knew I was up there and I had requested to get a ride down only to be rejected. So I was quite bitter about that. So this time I just won’t rely on their lack of care and stay rubber side down. 

How have you grown and changed as an athlete in the last year?

I’ve come to better understand my role in this sport that considers my age, my upbringing, my late start to the sport, my day to day life with a family, and the talent that is now in triathlon. It has given me a sense of relief and has allowed me to just simply be me and not anyone else. 

Take us through your race set up. 

I will be in the Sailfish swimskin that is slippery yet not constricting. I will be racing in the Nopinz Hypersonic Tri Suit which has been a noticeably fast suit and extremely comfortable. Everything about it has been optimized for long course racing. It’s like putting on a slipper but is dialed for a fast aero position.

I will be riding on an ENVE prototype disc and 6.7 front and it is impressively smooth and fast. My helmet is the Rudy Project Wing Dream aero helmet which is fast and cooling. I love how much air flow it allows while still cutting through the wind.

• Frame: BMC Speedmachine
• Cockpit/TT bars: Drag2Zero
• Wheels: ENVE disc and 6.7 front
• Crank length: 165mm
• Group set: SRAM Red
• Saddle: ISM PS1.0
• Pedals: Shimano Dura Ace

What is your race strategy and what do you think are the crucial points of the race?

I have my eye on holding steady but strong on the climbs, and smooth on the descents. There is plenty of flatish riding while on top, or at least mild grades, that require power on the pedals all day. So not blowing up, staying on the pedals and making sure fueling is dialed at all points of the race. The run will be hot so taking advantage of fueling on the bike is key. 

What is your fueling strategy?

Before the race:

15 g Sodium bicarb 120-90 mins before 

~4 g sodium

30 g gel before race with water

30 g CHO

200 mg Na

Bike:

20 scoops of Raw Fuel: 25 g CHO and 300 mg Na per scoop

650 g CHO

6.4 g Na

125 g/hr CHO and 6 g Na over 4 hrs. The bike will be longer than that so I will take two gels along the bike course which will be an additional 50 g CHO and 400 mg Na. Depending on where I am in the course, I will take a caffeine gel. 

I will put about 12 scoops into a 750 ml bottle that will rest in-between my aero bars and then the remaining 8 into about 300 ml of water into a bottle off the saddle. 

I will then have 500 ml plain water in my aero bottle that I will refill with plain water along the course at aid stations. 

Run:

300 g CHO

3.2 g Na

There are 4 pro bottle stations and I will have 4 x 500 ml bottles with 50 g CHO and 600 g Na from Raw Fuel in each. I will also grab a caffeine gel with 25 g CHO along the route 4 times so that’s 300 g CHO over the period off the run and 3.2 g sodium.

Total start to finish sodium content is 13.8 g. That should be plenty, but depends on sweat rate and fluid intake on the bike. I plan to drink a lot so maybe I’ll put an extra salt tab on the third or fourth pro bottle that I can have if necessary.

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