Confirmed: Pogacar is taking lactate products in the Tour de France

UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Enervit have confirmed that Tadej Pogačar is using lactate products during the 2026 Tour de France, a nutritional strategy that the team has been working on since 2024 and has just officially debuted in competition with its final formulation.

Lactate has arrived at the Tour: Enervit confirms that Pogacar uses it in competition

However, the confirmation also clarifies one of the main questions that arose after the images from Tourmalet: the product that Pogačar uses is not ExoLactate, but a proprietary development by Enervit made in collaboration with UAE Team Emirates-XRG and based on a different formulation.

Two different paths to the same revolution

When ExoLactate was publicly presented in Barcelona a few weeks ago, its representatives explained that the first lactate products would arrive at the Tour de France, although they avoided revealing which teams or riders would use them.

The images of Pogačar during the descent of Tourmalet led to speculation that the world champion might be using precisely that product. However, the information now published by Enervit clarifies that UAE has been developing its own solution for two seasons.

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What is clear is that lactate has definitely arrived in the professional peloton, albeit through different paths.

According to Enervit, the new C2:1PRO Lactate Gel Mix is the result of two complete seasons of development alongside the riders and the performance department of UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

The project has also involved collaboration with Professor George A. Brooks, a researcher at the University of California and considered one of the world's leading authorities on the study of lactate after more than four decades researching its role in metabolism during exercise.

The product combines 90 grams of carbohydrates, using Enervit's well-known 2:1 ratio of glucose and fructose, along with 10 grams of sodium lactate. It comes in powder form to be mixed with water and is designed to be consumed during the most demanding moments of a race, when energy demands reach their peak.

For now, Enervit has announced that it is only being used by UAE Team Emirates-XRG during the Tour de France and will not be available to other athletes until after the 2026 Vuelta a España.

Why is lactate generating so much interest?

For decades, lactate was considered little more than a byproduct associated with muscle fatigue. However, scientific research has completely changed that view.

Today it is known that lactate acts as an important fuel for various tissues in the body and plays a fundamental role in regulating energy metabolism during exercise.

Precisely this new perspective has driven the development of these products. The idea is to provide lactate directly from the outside to complement the energy obtained from traditional carbohydrates.

As researchers explain, lactate uses different transport mechanisms than glucose and fructose, thus opening an additional energy pathway without directly competing with the intestinal absorption capacity of carbohydrates.

In addition to serving as fuel, lactate also acts as a signaling molecule capable of regulating how the body uses fats and carbohydrates depending on the intensity of the effort, potentially improving metabolic efficiency during endurance competitions.

Still, the researchers themselves urge caution. Although the scientific basis supporting the use of lactate has been developed over decades, it will still be necessary to verify its real impact on performance in competition.

What seems evident is that sports nutrition could be entering a new stage. In recent years, the evolution has been marked by the continuous increase in carbohydrate intake; now, lactate emerges as a new tool that could further expand the energy availability of cyclists.