DSM ramps up personalized sports nutrition with professional cycling sponsorship

07 Dec 2020 --- Royal DSM is bringing personalized nutrition to professional road cycling in a strategic partnership with Team Sunweb. The highly ranked German-licensed global team will be known as Team DSM from the 2021 season onward, when it will compete in races such as the Tour de France. 

“DSM will gain direct insights and feedback from some of the most demanding customers in the world – pro athletes – to better develop solutions that can help others remain strong, healthy and performing safely for longer,” Gareth Mead, DSM’s director of external communications, tells NutritionInsight.

The financial terms of the partnership are undisclosed, but it is expected to last for multiple years. Mead says the partnership’s value is the exchange of expertise and the potential to trigger more widespread public action that benefits the planetary and human health.

The partnership will also help DSM hone its personalized nutrition offerings in light of its new strategy focusing on the area.

“One benefit of working with Team DSM is that we will be able to co-develop and further improve the approach to the eventual benefit of the wider population. Elite sports offers a great innovation opportunity in this space as a highly scientific and structured platform,” says James Bauly, DSM’s global head of personalized nutrition.Team Sunweb – soon to be known as Team DSM – is one of the top-ranking teams in professional road cycling. 

Unlocking personalization
DSM will provide personalized sports nutrition for each rider in the women’s, men’s and development teams. It will take into account the latest scientific knowledge, data insights and ingredients, in cooperation with sports nutrition partner Sanas. 

The personalization will be based on a range of factors, which can include DNA and nutritional assessment via a blood test. 

“We also have other innovation partnerships that are addressing emerging new measurement and monitoring technologies in an effort to gather the cyclists’ nutrition and health data in the easiest and least disruptive manner possible,” says Bauly. 

Some of the personalized nutrition concepts that will be used are already commercially available. 

Building on a tailored approach
Bauly continues that personalized nutrition is increasingly the focus of elite sports. Professional cyclists already have very closely supervised dietary programs, tracked with their daily performance during the season. 

Different types of riders – for example sprinters versus climbers – have very different physiques and different needs.

“Personalized nutrition takes this into account by offering a fully tailored approach to understanding each individual’s specific nutrient status and their performance needs, and then customizing a nutrition plan accordingly. This includes continuous monitoring of the nutritional status, overall health and performance on the bike,” adds Bauly. 

This feedback also provides the means to adjust the dietary and training program accordingly.

The personalized nutrition offerings will also be sustainable for people and the planet. For example, DSM will emphasize the use of particular protein sources. 

Personalization is increasingly at the heart of sports nutrition, including within cycling. Medical technology company Abbott recently reimagined glucose monitoring – traditionally reserved for the diabetic sector – as a sports nutrition “lab on the arm” device.

Meanwhile, Jumbo released a free app touted as a personal nutrition coach for cyclists. A member of its Jumbo-Visma cycling team also recently went on the record as using ketone esters, which is a controversial topic in the sporting world. DSM will provide personalized sports nutrition for each rider in the women’s, men’s and development teams.

The culmination of a five-year partnership
DSM has been the innovation partner of Team Sunweb for the past five years. This year, the team won multiple stages of the Tour de France and secured a place on the Giro d’Italia podium.

Throughout this time, DSM provided the team with a wide range of nutritional support, including:

• Life’s Omega: Plant-based omega 3s more potent than fish oil.
• PeptoPro: Dairy protein for improved hydration and muscle growth.
• Fruitflow: Tomato extracts that support better muscle synthesis.
• BioCare Copenhagen: Probiotics for optimal gut health and immunity.
• FloraGlo and Optisharp: Lutein and zeaxanthin to protect the eyes from bright daylight.

In the new partnership, DSM will also develop and produce the team’s race apparel, in cooperation with technology partner Bioracer. This protective racewear will utilize peak performance materials.

Additionally, DSM will provide additional investment to increase the intensity of fully independent anti-doping testing in the team, executed by the National Anti-Doping Organization of the Netherlands, according to standards laid out by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

By Katherine Durrell