{"id":619373,"date":"2026-04-20T14:59:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T14:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/619373\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T14:59:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T14:59:19","slug":"why-pidcock-and-q36-5-is-researching-nomio-broccoli-drink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/619373\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Pidcock and Q36.5 is Researching Nomio Broccoli Drink"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated April 20, 2026 08:04AM<\/p>\n

If Nomio<\/a> broccoli shots are the new ketones, cherry juice, or sodium bicarbonate, then Tom Pidcock<\/a> and Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling want to know about it.<\/p>\n

Pidcock and Co. are guzzling the green \u201csuperfuel\u201d as part of a research partnership that could shift the landscape of performance enhancement.<\/p>\n

The \u201cBig 5\u201d of legal sport supplements<\/a> could become \u201c6\u201d if Nomio can back up its own bold claims.<\/p>\n

WorldTour nutritionists will be adding new lines to their menus. Weekend warriors will be filling their storecupboards.<\/p>\n

Nomio \u2013 a concentrated broccoli drink \u2013 sprouted into the most hyped ergogenic aid of elite sport within months of its 2024 launch.<\/p>\n

The brand\u2019s own research found that a few slurps of Nomio a day can reduce exercise lactate by 12 percent and press fast forward on post-workout recovery.<\/p>\n

Superstar athletes like Mads Pedersen<\/a>, U.S. running phenom Cole Hocker<\/a>, Ironman champion Casper Stornes, and masses of the elite marathon community have been enticed by the viscous green goop.<\/p>\n

And Nomio believes the current wave of hype is only the start.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is that all athletes going to the Olympics in LA 2028 will be users of Nomio,\u201d they told us.<\/p>\n

Nomio: Lots of hype, little science
\n\"\"Pidcock and his Pinarello Q36.5 teammates are being made test guinea pigs for Nomio. (Photo: Marco BERTORELLO \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

But the broccoli supplement skeptics<\/a> have almost outnumbered the green believers.<\/p>\n

Trainers through the WorldTour laughed off Nomio as marketing style over performance substance when Velo contacted them about it.<\/p>\n

And they have good reason to doubt what could just be a sporting AG1.<\/p>\n

The science isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n

At this point, the only studies supporting Nomio come from one of the founder\u2019s own labs. The test subjects were enthusiastic amateurs with a huge headroom for performance growth.<\/p>\n

The credibility was so cloudy that many independent experts brushed off the findings and moved on.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Nomio has enlisted Pinarello-Q36.5 as a partner for what\u2019s already been a long-running research collaboration.<\/p>\n

For the Swedish brand, partnering the cycling elite offers a chance at scientific credibility in a world of bogus science and snake oil.<\/p>\n

For the upstart Swiss team, there\u2019s the chance to get some first-mover advantage on what might be the peloton\u2019s next genuine performance gain.<\/p>\n

Kilos of broccoli and less lactate in every bottle
\n\"Nomio\"Will these drinks be in the fridges of the entire WorldTour in a few years? (Photo: Nomio)<\/p>\n

As a quick recap of this deep dive<\/a> we wrote last year, Nomio sells itself on the power of ITCs.<\/p>\n

ITCs, or isothiocyanates, are antioxidant compounds found in high concentrations in broccoli.<\/p>\n

ITCs can help regulate physical strain and stimulate pathways that promote mitochondrial development.<\/p>\n

Mitochondria are the so-called \u201cpowerhouses\u201d of metabolism. These cellular structures create energy and make winners.<\/p>\n

Nomio concentrates a unique strain of broccoli sprout that\u2019s renowned for packing a potent percentage of ITCs. One 60ml Nomio shot is \u2013 apparently \u2013 equivalent to eating 2.5kg of raw greens.<\/p>\n

The brand recommends two or three shots around heavy workouts to boost performance, enhance recovery, and put athletic progression into an upward spiral.<\/p>\n

Nomio\u2019s sprout plantations will be worth as much as the most fertile \u201cgreen\u201d fields of Thailand if its Pidcock project pays off.<\/p>\n

What is Nomio testing with Pidcock and Q36.5?
\n\"PedersenPedersen has concocted a foul pre-race drink of Nomio and Monster energy drink. (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/p>\n

Exact details of the Nomio x Pinarello-Q36.5 collaboration are sparse.<\/p>\n

Their co-funded project has been kept under wraps for close to a year and was only low-key revealed earlier this month.<\/p>\n

The two parties appear to have come together through a shared contact, Bent R\u00f8nnestad. This leading physiologist works with team Q36.5 and acts as scientific advisor to Nomio.<\/p>\n

Velo has been in close contact with both Nomio and staff at Q36.5, but neither will reveal much about the testing protocol, data set, or anticipated findings.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood that the impact of Nomio on altitude training has been a key focus of a study that\u2019s entailed all 30 riders on the ProTeam squad.<\/p>\n

So that explains all the crates of Nomio that were shipped to Chile<\/a> this winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been testing Nomio under different settings with their top riders since last summer,\u201d Nomio co-founder Emil Sj\u00f6lander told Velo.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019ve seen very strong data from those tests. The tests have extended to everything around impacts on training and altitude adaptations, as well as direct power output and time to exhaustion tests,\u201d Sj\u00f6lander said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiders have seen improvements across many metrics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither Sj\u00f6lander nor the team\u2019s lead nutritionist Adam Plucinski would reveal which metrics were being tested beyond power.<\/p>\n

Blood lactate, heart rate, and RPE (rate of perceived exertion) are our best-guesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have already tested Nomio in several scenarios,\u201d Plucinski said. \u201cWe\u2019re interested in understanding how other biomarkers could impact recovery. Nomio is a great partner to support us with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, we hope to find new ways to push the limit in pro cycling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nomio: The next mainstream performance supplement?
\n\"\"Pidcock got off to a hot start before he was held back by a crash in Catalunya. (Photo: DAVID PINTENS \/ BELGA MAG \/ Belga via AFP))<\/p>\n

Why does this partnership matter?<\/p>\n

Does it matter at all?<\/p>\n

Sure, nobody believes broccoli shots could have the same impact on elite performance as altitude training or high-carb fueling.<\/p>\n

But if Nomio\u2019s own claims are true, these drinks could become another \u201cthing\u201d that orbits pro performance.<\/p>\n

Remember how we smirked at the idea that cherry juice helps recovery? We\u2019re not laughing now<\/a> as we watch 90 percent of the peloton pound it down before they\u2019ve even unclipped from a bike race.<\/p>\n

Nomio is, of course, confident that there\u2019s a lot to prove. They\u2019re certain that broccoli shots are the next big thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are plenty of questions we can answer with the help of testing on top-tier cyclists,\u201d brand founder Sj\u00f6lander said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously, our research has been done on very fit amateurs, but we\u2019ve had a hypothesis that the effects of ITCs are stronger the fitter the individual is. This will allow us to verify that at the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pidcock started slugging broccoli shots last summer and went on to finish third at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n

The all-terrain Brit recently dominated Milan-Torino and took Tadej Poga\u010dar to the line at Milan-San Remo.<\/p>\n

And now he\u2019s racing the Tour of the Alps, just weeks after smashing his knee in a horror crash while racing in Catalunya.<\/p>\n

Nomio would like to claim that broccoli drinks were behind Pidcock\u2019s recent rise to the very top of pro cycling.<\/p>\n

The ongoing study will show if there\u2019s substance behind the broccoli hype.<\/p>\n