Tadej Pogačar and UAE Confirm Use of Powerful New Fueling Product at the Tour de France

Tadej Pogačar is drinking a powerful new fueling solution at the 2026 Tour de France.

Team UAE Emirates-XRG confirmed Thursday it’s been trialing a lactate and carbohydrate drink made by team partner Enervit since 2024, the year Pogačar won the third of his four yellow jerseys.

The pioneering product has now been finalized and launched and is being drunk by Pogačar as he piledrives toward a fifth Tour title.

The news Thursday comes hot on the back of Velo‘s recent reporting that “ExoLactate” gels are being trialed by one team at this Tour de France.

Velo can confirm that ExoLactate is a rival product to the Enervit lactate fuel used by Pogačar and UAE Emirates-XRG.

ExoLactate founder Aitor Viribay told Velo on Thursday that his From Lab to Field lactate research group did not contribute to the development of Pogačar’s lactate drink.

However, Viribay was not able to comment on whether UAE Emirates-XRG bought exclusive rights to his ExoLactate gels due to confidentiality agreements.

Lactate: A third energy pathway

Why does this all matter?

Because, contrary to popular thinking, lactate is not a burning waste product, but a powerful source of endurance fuel.

It boosts metabolic efficiency and opens a third energy pathway beyond glucose and fructose, the key carbohydrates.

Fueling with lactate expands the pool of energy available to athletes beyond even the highest-carbohydrate feeding strategy.

Crucially, lactate is also a “signaling molecule” that makes carbohydrate metabolism more efficient by controlling fat and sugar burn rates at different exercise intensities.

The science behind lactate as an energy source is founded on decades of research. However, it remains unclear how powerful an impact it can make in the midst of a Tour de France peloton.

Pogačar’s rise to GOAT status since 2024 correlates to the start of his team’s trials of the Enervit lactate drinks, but certainly cannot be attributed to the new fuel.

Lactate fueling breaks out at the 2026 Tour de France

UAE Emirates-XRG and Enervit revealed Thursday that the two companies tapped leading lactate professor George Brooks to lead the two-year lactate project.

The University of California researcher has been pushing forward the understanding of lactate for more than 40 years.

The result of Brooks’ and Enervit’s work is the newly launched “C2:1PRO Lactate Gel Mix” – a powder that mixes with water to provide a whopping 90 grams of carbs and 10 grams of lactate.

UAE team nutritionist Gorka Prieto – the man who works directly with Pogačar –  said the finished product was the result of continual trial, error, and finessing.

Riders and team performance staff provided feedback on prototype batches throughout the two-year development process.

“Our philosophy is to continually evaluate innovations that have a strong scientific foundation and genuine potential to improve rider performance,” Prieto said Thursday.

“This project with Enervit has been developed carefully over a number of years, combining laboratory research with extensive testing in training and racing,” Prieto said.

“Nutrition is one of the key pillars of performance in grand tours, and we’re pleased to have contributed to the development of a product that has been refined through real-world racing conditions.”

Lactate fueling is the hot topic of endurance nutrition right now.

At this early stage, it’s hard to say how impactful it will be. It could be as important as “the carbohydrate revolution,” or it might prove to be nothing.

But whoever has access to lactate products now – including Pogačar – has a first-mover advantage.

Velo will follow up this breaking news with a deeper explainer on lactate fueling in due course. Stay tuned.