Race Nutrition Product Comparison (2026): Gels, Drinks & Chews by the Numbers

Pick fuels that deliver the carbohydrate you can absorb, decide whether sodium is built in or added separately, avoid your allergens, and match cost and format to your race length and gut. Then rehearse them in training — never trial a new product on race day.

The table below lists published per-serving numbers for popular products so you can compare like with like. It's a research-based comparison of labels, not a taste or performance test, and it deliberately gives no universal grams-per-hour target — that's individual. For planning your own ranges, use the Race Nutrition Calculator or, for long course, the Ironman Fueling Planner.

Five columns decide most choices:

1. Carbs per serving — the headline number. A 25 g gel and a 40 g gel are not interchangeable; higher-carb products mean carrying fewer items on long course.
2. Sodium per serving — some brands (Maurten, Precision Fuel, SiS Beta) put little or no sodium in their carbs and sell electrolytes separately, so you plan sodium independently. Others bundle it.
3. Caffeine — useful late in a race, but dose it deliberately and know your tolerance.
4. Allergens — a summary only; always read the current label if you have an allergy.
5. Cost per serving — matters most when you need many servings for a long race.

For the science of how much your gut can take, see gut training; for gels specifically, energy gels; for electrolytes, electrolytes explained.

Carbohydrate delivery is the primary job of race fuel, and products vary widely:

- ~20–25 g (GU, Gatorade Endurance gel, Maurten Gel 100): easy to dose in small increments; you carry more of them.
- ~30–40 g (Precision PF 30, SiS Beta Fuel gel): fewer items for the same carbs — handy on long course.
- ~79–90 g (Maurten Drink Mix 320, PF 90 flask): concentrated systems that deliver a big share of your hourly carbs from one bottle or flask.

Higher isn't automatically better — it depends on how much your gut absorbs, which you build with training. The point of the comparison is to plan the *number of items* you need, not to hit a universal target.

Sodium is where labels surprise people. Several premium gels are carbs-only by design (0 mg sodium), because the brand sells sodium as a separate electrolyte product. That's not a flaw — it just means you must plan sodium independently (tablets, drink mix or capsules) rather than assuming your gel covers it. Other products (Gatorade Endurance, Tailwind, GU) include meaningful sodium.

Caffeine appears in some flavours/versions and not others. It can help perception of effort late in a race, but it's easy to over-caffeinate across a long day — decide a total in advance and choose caffeinated vs non-caffeinated versions deliberately. There is no one-size dose here; individual sensitivity varies a lot.

For hot or long races, a dedicated electrolyte like a high-sodium tablet lets you separate hydration/sodium from carbs entirely.

Different races reward different fuel:

- Sprint (under ~1.5 h): you can largely race on your pre-race meal plus water or a sports drink; a single gel is often plenty.
- Olympic (2–3 h): a drink mix plus a gel or two; simple and light.
- 70.3 (4–6 h): a repeatable hourly plan of gels/chews plus fluid and planned sodium; higher-carb gels reduce what you carry.
- Ironman (8–15 h): a concentrated carb system plus separate sodium, and often some real food for variety — see real food vs gels and Ironman nutrition.

One more practical filter: what's on your course. Many Ironman races serve a specific brand (often Gatorade Endurance), so training with it — or planning to carry your own — avoids surprises.

This is a comparison of published specifications, and it has honest limits:

- It is not an intake prescription. How many grams of carbohydrate or sodium *you* need per hour is individual and depends on body size, sweat rate, intensity, heat and gut tolerance. Build that with gut training and, for medical conditions, get professional advice.
- Labels and prices change. Nutrition numbers come from manufacturer labels and cost figures were checked in August 2026; verify the current label, especially for allergens.
- It's not a taste or performance test. Products that look similar on paper can feel very different in your stomach — rehearse them in training.

Used this way — to compare numbers and plan quantities — the table is a buying and planning aid, not a substitute for your own rehearsal.