Please tell us what an “essential carb” is.
Also, can you point to people who were hurt by an Atkins diet?
There is no substitutes for “carbs” when you are competing in long distance bicycle racing. You still need fat and protein but you cannot digest or process them fast enough to provide the amount of energy you need during competition. And after you have depleted your glycogen stores they are replenished most efficiently with carbohydrates consumed as soon as possible after your effort.
I have never used the term “essential carbs” that I recall. What I would remind people of again is that a healthy gut biome is made up of a wide variety of bacteria. If you essentially cut out an entire food group it will have a negative effect on the diversity of these healthy bacteria. People have survived on meager diets made up of foods that have not provided a good variety of nutrients. Many go on for years eating what most would consider to be lacking in nutrients. But it still probably is not very good for them.
As far as the Atkins diet goes... I have had friends who have lost their health and died while refusing to give it up against their physician's advice. They all presumed that the self help diet books they read made them more qualified than the medical professionals who were trying to restore their health. I saw the same situation on many medical calls that we responded to.
There is nothing more stupid than putting your health at risk by falling for the nonsense from diet charlatans. And the biggest diet charlatan of the past three or so decades was Robert Atkins whose nonsense has likely compromised the health of millions.