The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic games in 2020 will be held in hot and humid conditions with daily wet bulb globe temperatures expected to be in excess of 28°C (1). The performance impairment associated with exercising in the heat can in part be mitigated by carbohydrate ingestion (2). Elite athletes have begun to use carbohydrate beverages encapsulated in pectin-alginate hydrogel, however at present little experimental evidence exists to support their use over traditional glucose-fructose drinks (3). Here we compare whole body substrate oxidation, plasma metabolites, and cycling time trial performance in hot and humid conditions while ingesting an encapsulated glucose-fructose drink or a nutrient matched non-encapsulated glucose-fructose drink. Eight endurance trained cyclists (6 men, age 27 ± 8 years, height 176 ± 10 cm, mass 74 ± 11 kg, VO2max: 55.2 ± 9.5 ml.kg-1.min-1) cycled (45% VO2max) for 90 minutes and completed a 15-minute time trial in hot humid conditions (32°C, 70%) on 3 occasions (water, glucose-fructose, glucose-fructose-hydrogel). Before exercise, participants drank an initial 250 mL bolus of either water, glucose-fructose (90 g carbohydrate per hour), or glucose-fructose hydrogel (90 g carbohydrate per hour). Thereafter they were provided with 145 mL of the trial drink every 15 minutes. Whole body fat and carbohydrate oxidation was determined every 10 minutes via indirect calorimetry, and capillary blood samples were obtained at 15 minute intervals to determine plasma metabolites. Data are presented as the mean values obtained throughout the 90-minute exercise period. Fat oxidation was lower during glucose-fructose (0.17 ± 0.14 g.min-1) and hydrogel (0.17 ± 0.06 g.min-1) trials vs. water (0.34 ± 0.14 g.min-1, both p < 0.0001). Carbohydrate oxidation was higher during the glucose-fructose (1.72 ± 0.72 g.min-1) and hydrogel (1.68 ± 0.62 g.min-1) trials compared to water (1.32 0.52 g.min-1; both p > 0.0001). There was no difference in either fat or carbohydrate oxidation between the glucose-fructose and hydrogel trials. Plasma glucose was higher throughout the glucose-fructose (5.54 ±0.34 mmol/L) and hydrogel (5.6 ± 0.43 mmol/L) trials compared to water (4.61 ± 0.34 mmol/L; trial x time interaction, F = 3.469, p = 0.012). Time trial performance was greater in the glucose-fructose (164 ± 32 kJ) and hydrogel trials (161± 31 kJ) compared to water alone (139 ± 32 kJ; both p < 0.01). The consumption of encapsulated carbohydrates does not increase blood glucose availability, alter whole body substrate oxidation, or improve time trial performance when compared to a nutrient matched glucose-fructose beverage consumed during prolonged cycling in hot and humid conditions.