Table 1. Blood gas parameters during constant load tests.

	BICA (n = 21)	Placebo (n = 21)	p-value
pH
Post drink	7.48±0.02	7.42±0.02	<0.001
30 min	7.45±0.03	7.38±0.03	<0.001
2 min post-exercise	7.39±0.05	7.32±0.07	<0.001
Bicarbonate [mmol*l−1]
Post drink	31.3±1.4	24.9±1.5	<0.001
30 min	27.6±1.7	21.4±2.0	<0.001
2 min post-exercise	20.2±4.0	16.4±2.9	<0.001
Base Excess [mmol*l−1]
Post drink	7.4±1.2	0.7±1.5	<0.001
30 min	3.1±1.6	−2.6±1.7	<0.001
2 min post-exercise	−3.2±3.7	−8.6±3.8	<0.001
pCO2 [mmHg]
Post drink	42.2±2.3	39.2±2.4	<0.001
30 min	38.8±3.2	36.5±3.9	<0.001
2 min post-exercise	33.8±4.9	32.5±3.4	0.33
pO2 [mmHg]
Post drink	81.8±8.1	89.0±7.6	<0.01
30 min	71.2±6.1	75.7±6.9	<0.01
2 min post-exercise	83.4±6.5	88.0±6.2	<0.01
Oxygen saturation [%]
Post drink	96.4±1.3	96.7±0.8	0.30
30 min	94.5±1.1	94.6±1.5	0.72
2 min post-exercise	96.0±1.4	95.7±1.4	0.35

pH, bicarbonate concentration, base excess, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂), partial pressure of oxygen (pO₂) and oxygen saturation were determined at rest (post drink), after 30 minutes cycling and 2 minutes post-exercise. Values are means ± SD.

Significance testing: one-factorial repeated measures analysis of variance (factor: condition; post-hoc: Scheffé test).