For now, that is.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s still hope that a revolutionary wearable lactate monitor will arrive to democratize this gold standard metric and forever change the way endurance athletes train.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, the pros won\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n
The allure of lactate is strong.<\/p>\n
Why lactate matters
\n![\"Zakarin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-631620730-2.jpg\"\/)
Pro cyclists have been testing lactate values for decades. Here\u2019s the long-retired Russian Ilnur Zakarin suffering through a lactate step-test in 2017. (Photo: im De Waele\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Mid-workout lactate testing can be considered alongside structured zone 2 workouts<\/a>, heat training<\/a>, and hyper-fueling<\/a> as a driving force behind today\u2019s high-performance era.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not to say that lactate testing is something new.<\/p>\n Laboratory-based lactate tests have been a staple of pro endurance for decades.<\/p>\n Lactate measurements taken during a torturous treadmill or trainer \u201cstep test\u201d reveal the power or paces at which an athlete hits LT1 and LT2 \u2013 the two most important tipping points of endurance.<\/p>\n An athlete who knows their power at LT1 and LT2 is just a few sweaty calculations away from the workout zones that dictate every training session to come.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n As a reminder, lactate is the byproduct of carbohydrate metabolism. Its curving rise in concentration is like a gauge of how hard your system is pumping.<\/p>\n As world-leading lactate researcher I\u00f1igo San Mill\u00e1n said<\/a>, if VO2 Max is the size of the engine, lactate \u201creflects how efficiently that engine runs.\u201d And yes, that I\u00f1igo is the former UAE Emirates staffer who mentored Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n Efforts below lactate threshold 1 [LT1] are aerobic, steady state, and largely fueled by fat.<\/p>\n As exercise intensity increases beyond LT1, so does blood lactate. The body is increasingly tapping into its precious, limited carbohydrate stores.<\/p>\n LT2 approximates a rider\u2019s functional threshold power [FTP].<\/p>\n Efforts above LT2 are the glycogen-guzzling preserve of winning attacks, finishing sprints, and in some cases, race-ending blowups. They\u2019re the \u201cbullets\u201d that a rider has to spend wisely.<\/p>\n An athlete who knows when they\u2019re close to LT1 and LT2 should be able to dial their training \u2013 and their metabolic engine \u2013 to the nth degree.<\/p>\n Taking lactate testing from the lab to the tarmac Lactate profiles drawn up at a January training camp are no longer enough for the data-driven, 7 watts-per-kilo WorldTour.<\/p>\n The results are outdated before a hard-training rider even contemplates selection for the Opening Weekend. These artificial sufferfests on indoor trainers don\u2019t reflect the physiological response of the open road.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why pro cycling has taken a leaf out of elite running and triathlon\u2019s book by taking lactate along for a workout.<\/p>\n Multiple WorldTour teams confirmed to Velo that they regularly take readings on the road. Lactate enlightenment simply requires\u00a0a drop of blood drawn from a fingertip or earlobe, a sample strip, and a handheld analyzer device.<\/p>\n A bit of blood is a small price to pay for training utopia.<\/p>\n Why bother testing lactate IRL? Real-time blood lactate testing can serve multiple purposes.<\/p>\n Early in the season, it can verify results gathered while riders were bolted to trainers during their baseline tests. When repeated throughout the season, mid-workout lactate measures can track progress. A rider who\u2019s training effectively will tune a metabolic engine that pumps more watts at the same concentration of lactate.<\/p>\n And more simply, mid-session testing ensures a rider is training in the correct zone. It\u2019s a control against the way heart rate response and power output is influenced by fatigue, altitude, dehydration, and multiple other complicating factors.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem with power is that the related training zones differ based on environment and daily variability,\u201d Tim Podlogar told Velo.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving lactate values, you get a better idea of what zone you actually are in on that given day,\u201d he said. \u201cThey represent the true effort in a better way than power or heart rate.\u201d<\/p>\n Podlogar is a physiology and nutrition guru who worked with Bora-Hansgrohe and now consults for Tudor Pro Cycling.<\/p>\n He explained how real-time lactate can be a third pillar of performance data that\u2019s powerful on its own and potentially transformational when triangulated with its counterparts.<\/p>\n \u201cThe heart rate to power relationship can be helpful to overcome the limitation of just using power or heart rate on their own, but if you can easily get another accurate metric, then why not?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If watts are output and heart rate is strain, lactate is effort. An athlete who knows all those numbers in real-time can become a training Jedi.<\/p>\n For proof, look at the wild success of Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden. These Norse God triathletes crushed the world courtesy of a lactate-guided workout model applied by their brainiac trainer Olav Bu.<\/p>\n The visionary trainer is so convinced by his methodology that he\u2019s turning riders into lactate lancet pincushions<\/a> in his new role at Uno-X Mobility.<\/p>\n Is lactate testing for you? Mid-workout lactate testing can be a tempting proposition for us data-obsessed wannabe pros.<\/p>\n A lactate analyzer can be purchased for less than a GPS headunit and only a little more than a pair of primo bib shorts [don\u2019t get us started on that \u2026]. Online platforms offer advanced lactate analysis to the layman for the price of a daily flat white.<\/p>\n But those in the know urge caution to overzealous amateurs.<\/p>\n Peter Leo, a trainer at Jayco-AlUla, outlined to Velo concerns with hygiene, cross-contamination, and practicality. And more significantly, there\u2019s likely to be a sizeable knowledge gap.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything the pros do is popular to amateurs in a certain way, and I get that,\u201d Leo told Velo. \u201cIt\u2019s \u2018fancy\u2019 and appealing.<\/p>\n \u201cBut lactate testing isn\u2019t as simple as looking at a number on a screen. Interpreting lactate values can be more about trends and relative changes rather than absolute values,\u201d Leo said. \u201cThey also need to be assessed within an athlete\u2019s wider training context.\u201d<\/p>\n By contrast, pros are trained to safely conduct their own pinprick tests and taught what to look for in the results. If they\u2019re on a team camp, a staffer in the follow car does the honors.<\/p>\n As Leo said, lactate testing might seem sexy and exciting to a cycling John Doe.<\/p>\n But is there really a point for us amateurs who are already misinterpreting training stress scores and heart rate variabilities?<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAthletes need to know what to do with the data they get,\u201d Podlogar told Velo. \u201cToo often in cycling, we just measure things for the sake of measuring them without having an actual knowledge base on what to do with the numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s even more the case for weekend warriors who are prone to over-training, under-recovering, and obsessing over whatever\u2019s shiny and new.<\/p>\n The need for a new solution Using pinprick tests to track lactate is fiddly and finicky. It\u2019s easy to botch the sampling, and results are difficult to interpret for anybody without a PhD.<\/p>\n Even in the WorldTour, the practice is applied relatively sparingly beyond key workouts or benchmarking sessions.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why there\u2019s eternal hope that a \u201ccontinuous lactate monitor\u201d (CLM) will arrive to bring blood lactate to the masses.<\/p>\n Wearables that measure and display blood lactate in real time would revolutionize endurance training. Beyond our somewhat pointless world of sport, the arrival of continuous lactate monitors would be a crucial breakthrough for medical science.<\/p>\n CLM would, however, be prohibited from UCI-mandated bike racing. The governing body\u2019s clampdown on gadgets that measure metabolic values would pull the reins on lactate monitors in the same way it gobbled their glucose cousins.<\/a><\/p>\n Continuous lactate monitors: On the horizon and slowly getting closer There\u2019s long been chatter that a world-first CLM is just around the corner. We covered the early evolution of the tech<\/a> more than two years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cIf continuous lactate measurement is possible, it would be huge,\u201d Astana-XDS head of performance Vasilis Anastopoulos said at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing now is essentially estimating the power that it takes to push a certain amount of lactate,\u201d Anastopoulos told Velo. \u201cWhen we\u2019re doing the testing, the rider has to do the effort and then stop so we can take the sample, so it\u2019s not a fully accurate result.\u201d<\/p>\n However, as our colleagues at Outside Online first discovered last year<\/a>, many of the early pioneers seem to have stalled. Brands like IDRO and Pk Vitality have been quiet for months and did not respond to our recent flurry of emails.<\/p>\n More recently, the burden of lactate hope is shouldered by new movers like Grace Imaging, Cori, and Biolinq. San Mill\u00e1n of UAE and Pogi fame is helping develop the latter.<\/p>\n But there are still fears that this new school of CLM might not offer the perfect solution.<\/p>\n Many first-gen manufacturers relied on lactate in sweat as a proxy for blood lactate concentration, a method many considered a poor man\u2019s alternative, at best. The margin for error is massive, and the correlation between blood and sweat lactate is loose.<\/p>\n However, the emerging U.S. brand Cori<\/a> told Velo it\u2019s developing a solution that doesn\u2019t use needles and doesn\u2019t rely solely on sweat readings. Beta-testing is underway, so watch this space.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/72d9198c-f616-4cea-b5db-904d7d37a8ac-1.jpg\"\/)
Lactate analysers like this wildly popular Lactate Pro 2 unit are cheap, accessible, and easy to carry in a jersey pocket. (Photo: Courtesy Perform Better \/ Lactate Pro)<\/p>\n
\n![\"Lactate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Z8B_6622-1200x645.jpg\"\/)
Lactate readings indicate a rider\u2019s fuel-burning efficiency and can provide a gold standard training metric. (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Z8B_7459-1200x750.jpg\"\/)
For now, mid-workout lactate testing might be best left for the pros. (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"Olav](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ehVcHPpIyh4e-f0SbxJvK2Xt9bIaEBsfApAucvOuY9s-2048x1536-1-720x540-1.jpg\"\/)
Olav Bu pioneered a lactate-guided method of training when he worked with leading triathletes. The visionary trainer now applies similar methods to his work with Uno-X Mobility. (Photo: Courtesy Jonas Abrahamsen )<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Z8A_0411-1200x750.jpg\"\/)
The sporting and medical world is waiting for a continuous lactate monitor that provides real-time readings (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Z8A_8509-3-1200x786.jpg\"\/)
Will Poga\u010dar use a continuous lactate monitor before he retires? We can only wait for the science to develop. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n