The Tour de France has always been a testing ground for innovations in sports science. From power metres to altitude tents and carbohydrate intake. What is tested in the peloton today often finds its way into the amateur scene a few years later. Now, a new development is attracting attention: exogenous lactate, marketed under names such as ExoLactate Gel. According to reports, several WorldTour teams are already testing the technology in races. Rumours have even been circulating that Tadej Pogačar and other top riders are using such products. However, the UAE Team’s nutrition partner pointed out that Pogačar had taken prototypes of their own gels on Stage 6. These looked very similar to the new lactate gels. There has been no official confirmation from the teams regarding this novel development as yet.
From enemy to fuel
Just a few decades ago, lactate was regarded as the arch-enemy of endurance athletes. It was blamed for muscle soreness, fatigue and drops in performance. Today we know that this view was incorrect.
Lactate is not a waste product, but a key source of energy. During intense exercise, the body continuously produces lactate whilst simultaneously reusing it. The heart, brain and oxidative muscle fibres can utilise lactate directly to generate energy. These findings are based, amongst other things, on the work of the US physiologist George Brooks and his ‘lactate shuttle’ concept.
The key question is therefore: if the body utilises its own lactate so efficiently, could additional lactate supplied during a race – or even during the Tour de France – further improve performance? ExoLactate is based precisely on this idea.
What is ExoLactate all about?
The product was developed by the Spanish physiologist Aitor Viribay in collaboration with researchers and nutritionists specialising in elite sport. The aim was to solve a long-standing problem: making lactate available in a form that athletes can actually consume during a race. Previous attempts were considered to have a problematic taste and were practically unusable.
According to the developers, a gel contains approximately:
- around 40 g of carbohydrates
- plus about 5 g of lactate
The idea behind this is not to replace carbohydrates, but to expand on the existing nutritional strategy. The additional lactate is intended to serve as a further energy source and may help to conserve glycogen stores.
Why is this of particular interest to cyclists?
Modern professional cycling is increasingly decided by the ability to sustain enormous levels of performance over many hours. Riders today, particularly during the Tour de France, consume enormous amounts of carbohydrates per hour. Nevertheless, glycogen availability remains a limiting factor. In theory, exogenous lactate could offer several advantages:
- an additional source of energy alongside glucose and fructose
- less reliance on muscle glycogen
- more efficient supply to the system
- possibly a lower subjective perception of stress
These mechanisms are physiologically plausible and are consistent with our current understanding of lactate metabolism. The crucial question, however, is whether this actually results in a measurable performance benefit.
What does the science say?
The situation here is actually far less dramatic than many media reports would suggest. Much of the research published to date has been based on animal studies. For professional cycling, however, human studies are crucial.
The human studies available to date paint a mixed picture. In one pilot study, no improvements were observed in VO₂max, lactate threshold or ventilatory threshold. Only performance in a 20-minute time trial increased slightly. Other studies involving trained cyclists found no significant performance benefit at all. In other words: the theory is strong, but the performance data are still weak.
Revolution or marketing?
From today’s perspective, ExoLactate is reminiscent of the introduction of ketones a few years ago. At the time, the physiological theory was convincing: an additional energy source, improved metabolic efficiency, and potential performance gains. The actual performance gains in competition later turned out to be significantly smaller than originally hoped for.
Exogenous lactate could indeed be beneficial. The underlying physiology seems plausible, and lactate’s role as an energy source is well established scientifically. What is still lacking, however, are independent, high-quality studies involving professional cyclists under real competition conditions.
Conclusion
Exogenous lactate is currently one of the most exciting topics in sports nutrition. There is no doubt that lactate is an important source of energy. However, it has not yet been scientifically proven whether a lactate gel actually measurably improves the performance of a Tour de France rider. Evidence from the professional peloton suggests that several teams are taking the concept seriously and are apparently testing it. Yet until reliable studies are available, exo-lactate remains, above all, one thing: a fascinating hypothesis with great potential, but not yet a proven game-changer.
Leon Weidner
Editor