\u2018We were one of the first groups to focus on the benefits of athletes consuming 120g of carbohydrate per hour,\u2019 says Viribay. \u2018During our work, I started to understand lactate and how consuming more carbohydrates promoted higher lactate availability in the body. So, I thought, \u201cWhy don\u2019t we just bypass that and go straight for the lactate?\u201d What would the result be?\u2019<\/p>\n
After many years of research, development and refinement, the result is the ExoLactate Gel by From Lab to Field<\/a>, claimed to be the \u2018world\u2019s first lactate gel\u2019. That\u2019s right, a gel swimming with a substance that for years was demonised for causing muscle burn and plummeting power output is now at the heart of cycling\u2019s latest nutritional super-booster. It begs the question: what does the science actually say? But let\u2019s start with the question on every (OK, a few) cyclists\u2019 slightly dehydrated and cracked lips: who\u2019s using them at the Tour de France?<\/p>\n WorldTour guessing game<\/p>\n \u2018They are being used at the Tour de France but commercial sensitivities mean I can\u2019t say who with,\u2019 Viribay says of lactate gels. \u2018I can say that we\u2019re working with many elite athletes and have already won races in trail running, road running and triathlon.\u2019 Viribay combines his research with his role as performance director of Salomon, and Salomon-backed ultrarunner and former pro cyclist Christian Meier<\/a> has certainly been involved \u2013\u00a0he co-hosts From Lab to Field\u2019s podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n Secrecy fuels rumours, including that one Tour team has invested heavily for exclusive access to the ExoLactate Gel. It’s been mooted by some that the team in question are UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who reportedly tested it at the Tour de Suisse. There\u2019s also grainy footage doing the rounds of Tadej Poga\u010dar consuming a gel with similar packaging on the 2026 Tour’s Stage 6 descent of the Col du Tourmalet earlier this week, though that turned out to be an Enervit prototype.<\/p>\n UAE do have form in this area according to Spanish newspaper El Pais: ‘Tadej Poga\u010dar’s UAE Team Emirates have tried using [Dr George] Brooks\u2019\u00a0“Polylactate”\u00a0mixed with 120g doses of carbohydrates and have the bottles stored away, gathering dust,’ wrote journalist Carlos Aribas<\/a>. ‘They stopped using it because it\u2019s awful, very unpleasant to drink and, above all, because they didn\u2019t notice any positive effects on performance.’<\/p>\n We\u2019ll come back to the importance of Brooks shortly, but adding further lactate fuel to the mitochondrial fire is that UAE Team Emirates\u2019 former performance director and Viribay’s fellow Basque doctor I\u00f1igo San Mill\u00e1n is also a world-leading expert on lactate, both in the realms of performance and health. So, the evidence is persuasive.\u00a0<\/p>\n But are Lidl-Trek involved too? On British rider Tao Geoghegan Hart\u2019s LinkedIn page, he\u2019s down as a founding partner of From Lab to Field, which explains a recent post<\/a> saying, ‘What will the next frontier of elite fuelling be? Perhaps my friend Aitor Viribay holds the answer?’ Cyclist contacted Lidl-Trek but, at time of writing, haven’t received a reply.<\/p>\n And what about Netcompany Ineos, where Geoghegan Hart and Viribay worked together when Viribay was head of science between 2021 and 2024?<\/p>\n There are more questions than answers at this point.<\/p>\n The Lactate Shuttle Theory<\/p>\n More importantly, what are the facts about the changing view on lactate?<\/p>\n ‘I\u2019m 32 years old and my generation are indebted to Brooks, who\u2019s the Godfather of Lactate,’ says Viribay. ‘He brought so many insights and a new understanding of lactate.’<\/p>\n Brooks\u2019 \u2018Lactate Shuttle Theory<\/a>\u2019, first articulated in 1984, explains that lactate isn\u2019t merely a waste product of exercise, but an important energy source. When you cycle hard, fast-twitch muscle fibres produce lactate through glycolysis \u2013 the breakdown of carbohydrate. Brooks discovered that lactate doesn\u2019t just build up and fatigue, but it\u2019s actually transported (or \u2018shuttled\u2019) to other tissues such as slow-twitch muscle fibres, the heart and the brain, where it\u2019s converted back into a substance called pyruvate and used to generate energy through aerobic metabolism.<\/p>\n Lactate also moves to the liver, where it\u2019s converted into glucose via the Cori cycle. This newly formed glucose can then be released into the bloodstream to help replenish energy supplies for working muscles or, when demand is lower, stored as glycogen.<\/p>\n For all athletes, lactate does build up when working hard and, at some point, the body can\u2019t clear or reuse it, but it\u2019s the associated rise of hydrogen ions that sees your power output plummet in that situation, not the lactate.<\/p>\n How lactate gels work: raising the energy ceiling<\/p>\n Ultimately, Brooks\u2019s theory altered the traditional view of lactate from a harmful by-product to a valuable metabolic fuel and provides the physiological foundation for Viribay\u2019s ExoLactate Gel, which contains 40g of carbohydrates with a 1:1 ratio of glucose to fructose as well as 5g of lactate.<\/p>\n Essentially, the gel is sidestepping several metabolic steps. In theory, that means users not only enjoy an extra energy boost, but at a quicker rate because it bypasses the glucose and fructose intestinal transporters that are at the heart of those original 120g studies \u2013 instead, lactate is absorbed through a different transporter called \u2018monocarboxylate\u2019, or MCT1.<\/p>\n ‘That\u2019s why if an athlete has reached their carbohydrate ceiling, there\u2019s the potential of adding a complementary lactate energy boost without the two substrates fighting each other at the gut wall,’ Viribay says. In essence, that means raising riders’ energy ceiling, so a faster, stronger peloton.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not all though, says Viribay. He suggests its exact role depends on the race situation: ‘At low intensities like below lactate threshold, it promotes higher fat oxidation and so spares precious glycogen stores for race-defining moments. At higher intensity and above lactate threshold, via pH regulation, it promotes higher carbohydrate oxidation. My analogy is the use of AdBlue to make your diesel car more efficient and last longer. It\u2019s the same with exogenous lactate.’<\/p>\n There\u2019s more still. One of lactate\u2019s known roles is as a \u2018lactormone\u2019. This means it\u2019s a signalling molecule, which kickstarts a variety of physiological processes to help the body adapts and grow back stronger. In this case, high lactate cranks up mitochondrial biogenesis (aka growth).<\/p>\n As we all remember from school science lessons, mitochondria are the cells\u2019 energy powerhouses, so stimulating new mitochondria is the Holy Grail for cyclists. More mitochondria means improved stamina, reduced fatigue and improved performance. It also means better cardiovascular function, insulin sensitivity and overall metabolic efficiency. ‘Essentially, we have many working hypotheses,’ Viribay says, ‘but we\u2019re validating this idea of “buying training hours” for free.’<\/p>\n Well, not quite for free, for the cost of the gels, which is still to be confirmed, but Viribay says it’ll be the same as other premium gels \u2013 eg, Maurten gels are priced around \u00a33 per gel. That said, ExoLactate does have a rival in the form of Spanish brand Santa Madre’s Lactate 60, which costs \u20ac5 per gel and was used by Yomif Kejelcha in his sub-two hour marathon debut in London earlier this year. Lactate 60 has a similar formulation to ExoLactate, and Viribay voiced his own patent-related concerns over the product, Cyclist contacted Santa Madre to ask about the product but the brand is yet to respond.<\/p>\n Anyway, it’s a compelling sell and one that seems scientifically sound according to respected sports scientist and sports nutritionist Dan Healey, who used to work with Alberto Contador at Tinkoff Saxo: ‘The physiology certainly adds up,’ he says. ‘The Cori cycle is the back door for lactate to exit your cells but then return as fuel. It makes scientific sense because the bottom line is that lactate creates energy.’<\/p>\n The breakthrough<\/p>\n Is there evidence behind ExoLactate\u2019s performance-boosting potential? Viribay says the field remains in its infancy, but points out that an ongoing clinical trial and two further pilot studies are in progress. That’s on top of unpublished field work with athletes.<\/p>\n There\u2019s little empirical evidence of the ergogenic effects of exogenous lactate elsewhere, though two studies from 2024 revealed a lower perceived effort at the same power output and a 4% increase in average watts.<\/p>\n But why the paucity of evidence that exogenous lactate works if its foundations were laid 40 years ago with Brooks\u2019 shuttle theory? According to Viribay, it\u2019s down to three walls.<\/p>\n ‘The first wall is dose,’ he says. Studies suggest that to deliver a meaningful physiological benefit, you\u2019re looking at 10-25g of lactate an hour. During an event over three hours, that means a total of 30-75g of lactate. Earlier studies dipped as low as 500mg\/hr in terms of delivery. Hence, they saw no effect.<\/p>\n The reason for the low dose was arguably down to the second wall: delivery. ‘To deliver lactate orally we\u2019ve traditionally used salts \u2013 sodium lactate, calcium lactate,’ explains Viribay. ‘But reaching 10-25g\/hr of lactate using salts forces the athlete to swallow an\u00a0excessive load of sodium or calcium, with a direct risk of gastrointestinal distress and electrolyte imbalance. Anyone who has worked in the field knows that the gut is often the true limiting organ in endurance performance. A fuel that destroys the gut is not a fuel.<\/p>\n The third wall is palatability. Lactate salts are unpleasant. They taste salty, metallic and are hard to drink hour after hour, especially when exercising hard. ‘There\u2019s something almost poetic in this detail,’ Viribay says. ‘The same fermentation that humans have loved for millennia in cheese, in sourdough, in wine, gives us here a sour note that the athlete\u2019s palate simply rejects in the middle of a race. We can design the most elegant metabolic strategy in the world, but if the athlete cannot tolerate it \u2013 physically and also sensorially \u2013 then\u00a0it simply doesn\u2019t exist as a practical tool.’<\/p>\n The taste of ExoLactate is neutral, but it\u2019s the patent-pending delivery system that\u2019s mooted as the gamechanger, knocking down all three walls.<\/p>\n ‘Our patent-pending system delivers lactate exogenously in a safe, palatable way,’ says Viribay. The importance of a delivery breakthrough echoes the work of Swedish brand Maurten, which cracked the congested sports-nutrition market via its stomach-friendly hydrogel technology<\/a>, which is at the heart of both its high-carbohydrate energy products and its sodium-bicarbonate formulation.<\/p>\n ‘Brooks himself has many patents on the exogenous delivery of lactate as a metabolic fuel, but nothing has come to market yet,’ Viribay says. The delivery difficulty is highlighted by Brooks\u2019s first patent stretching back over 30 years to 1995, which described ‘administering lactate salts and\/or lactate polymers orally as an energy supplement during exercise and recovery’.<\/p>\n More recently, there\u2019s a 2024 patent entitled \u2018Molecules, formulations and methods for nutritional support of athletes, patients and others<\/a>‘. It\u2019s co-invented with Michael Horning and San Mill\u00e1n.<\/p>\n Who’s behind it?<\/p>\n As of the 2026 Tour de France, it seems that Viribay and his team \u2013\u00a0which had funding from the Basque government \u2013 won the lactate race, and Viribay is quick to highlight the importance of the team.<\/p>\n ‘Three of us created From Lab to Field,’ he says. ‘It\u2019s a small company in the Basque country. One of my co-founders has a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of East Anglia. The other is a culinary expert.’<\/p>\n The former is Juan-Carlos Arboleya. When Cyclist searched online to find clues about ExoLactate’s delivery system the only clue came from his LinkedIn profile: ‘The aim of this [previous] work was to study the fundamental mechanisms that control and determine the stability and microstructure of different whipping creams recipes.’ Lactate in a Mr Whippy? Probably not.<\/p>\n The latter expert is Daniel Lasa Echegoyen, who was head chef of R&D at one of the world\u2019s most influential avant-garde restaurants, the two-Michelin-star Mugaritz<\/a>, located in the hills outside of San Sebasti\u00e1n. For 20 years, Lasa Echegoyen worked in one of the primary laboratories of modern gastronomy. A keen amateur cyclist himself \u2013 his uncles were professional riders in the 70s \u2013 one of his career highlights saw five-time Tour winer Miguel Indur\u00e1in<\/a> eat at Mugaritz.<\/p>\n The trio have form, working together during Viribay\u2019s time at Ineos to transform traditional rice cakes into ‘enzyme-treated, haute-cuisine sports fuel by breaking resistant starches into rapidly absorbable carbohydrates’. The result was reportedly a highly digestible, flavourful rice-based food with improved texture, faster energy availability and greater gastrointestinal comfort for elite cyclists during racing.<\/p>\n A notable lactate sceptic<\/p>\n Viribay says the gels will be available to buy soon after the Tour de France, which briefly brings us back to who\u2019s using them at the Tour. After a mental deep-dive, Cyclist considered Uno-X Mobility, whose rider Torstein Tr\u00e6en wore yellow for two stages before crashing on the Tourmalet. Their head of performance is Olav Bu, pioneer of the ‘Norwegian method’, whose obsession with using lactate monitors and training by lactate helped Norwegian triathletes Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden to multiple Ironman titles.<\/p>\n It’s not them, however. Bu, it turns out, is sceptical.<\/p>\n ‘We discussed exogenous lactate in our research group pre-Tokyo [2021 Olympics],’ Bu tells Cyclist. ‘However, when you approach it from first principles, we don\u2019t feel it adds up.’<\/p>\n Bu says that lactate appears to be less \u2018oxygen-efficient\u2019 than glucose, which produces more energy for the same oxygen cost. In essence, if lactate replaces glucose oxidation, the body need to process slightly more fuel and oxygen to maintain the same power output, with more energy lost as heat. In theory, this could contribute to a higher body temperature during hard efforts.<\/p>\n He adds that glucose is a simpler fuel for the body to absorb. Lactate requires additional transport and charge-balancing mechanisms, which may increase the complexity of absorption in the gut. Rather than offering a clear physiological advantage, this could create an extra \u2018absorption tax\u2019 and make formulation more challenging.<\/p>\n ‘That\u2019s why the argument for exogenous lactate only works if it provides genuinely additional fuel oxidation beyond an optimised glucose-fructose strategy,’ Bu says. ‘In our applied work, we haven\u2019t yet identified a practically relevant hard ceiling to exogenous carbohydrate oxidation. Turning to a more taxing fuel would only make sense once athletes had fully exploited their carbohydrate absorption and oxidation capacity and still required an alternative pathway to go faster.<\/p>\n ‘Until that is demonstrated, lactate remains a less oxygen-efficient and potentially higher-risk fuel source. For us, it would need to pass our own internal validation before being considered for racing.’<\/p>\n To be fair, that echoes Viribay, who says that the gels will be more advantageous to elites and amateurs who\u2019ve already reached their carbohydrate limits. How do you calculate that? Well, keeping topping up how much glucose-fructose you can tolerate until gastro-distress kicks in is one way, or you could go more high-tech and tap into relatively new bespoke carb testing from the likes of Fuelsync<\/a> and ExoAnalytics<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mimicking good health<\/p>\n For Viribay, his work reaches beyond performance. He says that the potential bigger wins are lactate\u2019s potential to improve health.<\/p>\n ‘The possibilities are huge. We started with the gel because that\u2019s an environment I know, but there are many potential clinical benefits,’ he says. ‘An increasing amount of research links lactate to health status and diseases.’ In fact, lactate is already used in hospitals. One of the most well-known hydration solutions is called Ringer’s lactate. It’s electrolytes plus lactate.<\/p>\n ‘For instance, there\u2019s evidence that gut microbiota that\u2019s more\u00a0exposed to lactate \u2013 as it would be from exercise \u2013 are healthier. And that lactate has a massive role in not only accelerating the growth of cancer cells but also treating it. Creating a product that can mimic an exercise dose for someone who can\u2019t move could have huge health potential.’<\/p>\n This is known as \u2018exercise mimetics\u2019. It\u2019s when a drug mimics the biological effects of exercising without working out. The idea\u2019s been around for years, for good and bad. Back in 2008, San Diego\u2019s Salk Institute presented a drug called \u2018GW501516\u2019, which signalled key genes to burn fat instead of sugar.<\/p>\n In subsequent experiments, two rodents \u2013 dubbed ‘Couch Potato Mouse’ and ‘Lance Armstrong Mouse’ \u2013 were fed the same high-fat, high-sugar diet and engaged in identical levels of daily physical activity. However, ‘Lance’ received the compound, which dramatically boosted its endurance while allowing it to remain significantly leaner than its untreated counterpart. Subsequently though, GW501516 \u2013 known by many names including Cardarine and Endurobol \u2013 was pulled from clinical trials as it was found to cause cancer.<\/p>\n A modified version soon appeared on the black market as a performance-enhancing drug, despite its health risks and being banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.<\/p>\n Mimetics isn\u2019t all bad. Berberine, often described as mimicking some metabolic effects of endurance exercise, may improve glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity and mitochondrial function. Resveratrol activates pathways linked to mitochondrial biogenesis, so may support cardiovascular function. And metformin, a prescription medicine, reduces liver glucose production and is used to treat type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n Lactate and ketones team up<\/p>\n![\"science_training_edge_1\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/science_training_edge_1-970x627.webp\")
Bill McConkey \/ Cyclist<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Tour-de-France-Stage-5-Cyclist-08-juillet-2026-62-970x647.webp\")
Olav Bu, head of performance at Uno-X Mobility, whose rider Torstein Tr\u00e6en pictured spent a couple of days in the yellow jersey at the current Tour de France, isn’t sold on the use of exogenous lactate just yet. Xavier Pereyron<\/p>\n![\"Exciting](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cyclist_issue_127_ketones-01-970x724.webp\")
Eliot Wyatt \/ Cyclist<\/p>\n