{"id":699758,"date":"2026-07-19T10:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T10:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/699758\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T10:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T10:05:09","slug":"uae-team-emirates-xrg-use-new-lactate-gel-mix-for-a-second-stage-at-2026-tour-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/699758\/","title":{"rendered":"UAE Team Emirates-XRG use new lactate gel mix for a second stage at 2026 Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"

With lactate proving an attention-grabbing new theme in the sports nutrition sphere, UAE Team Emirates have confirmed they are using a new exogenous lactate product at the Tour de France<\/a>, and explained how they are doing so.<\/p>\n

Lactate has become a nutritional talking point in recent weeks with a number of products supposedly able to channel what was once seen as a waste product of the body into a new fuel source.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some come in the form of gel sachets, like the ones common among cyclists seeking a sugary carbohydrate hit, but UAE Team Emirates-XRG<\/a> are using a slightly different product that has just been unveiled by their nutrition supplier, Enervit.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos From<\/p>\n

Named the C2:1PRO Lactate Gel Mix, Enervit\u2019s product is a drink mix, meaning it\u2019s mixed with water and consumed from a bottle. It contains 10g of sodium lactate, mixed with 90g of carbohydrate in a 2:1 glucose-to-fructose ratio, and some vitamin B1.<\/p>\n

Amid confusion over who is actually using lactate products, Enervit made their revelation on Friday morning, and on Saturday morning the UAE Team Emirates-XRG nutritionist Gorka Prieto-Bellver spoke to Cyclingnews about their use of the new gel mix.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been working with Enervit for two or three years now, just to try to develop the best product possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lactate you can use like an extra fuel, because it\u2019s absorbed in a different way in the gut, it\u2019s absorbed faster than glucose, so that\u2019s why it\u2019s an interesting fuel to give the riders extra energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

Prieto-Bellver explained that the team are not using it as a routine part of their nutritional regime, but instead saving it for selected days. After using it on the opening day\u2019s team time trial, they used it again for the first time since then on Saturday\u2019s mountainous stage 14<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re using it when it\u2019s needed, not always,\u201d Prieto-Bellver said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not for all the stages but for stages where the energy expenditure is quite high.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

It is somewhat unusual that the team are only using the product selectively. There have been other mountainous energy-intensive stages where they haven\u2019t used it, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not something new, but we still need to do more research, to know how is the impact on performance<\/a>,\u201d Prieto-Bellver said.<\/p>\n

That would indicate the team are still testing the waters, and the biggest bike race in the world might seem like a risky place to do that. The team underline the fact they\u2019ve been helping to develop the product for years now and are familiar with it, but it\u2019s clearly still in something of a trial phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something we have to try otherwise we do not know, so that\u2019s why we are using it,\u201d said Prieto-Bellver.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s biggest bike race deserves world-class coverage. Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our unrivalled reporting of the 2026 Tour de France. From Barcelona through to Paris, our experienced team will bring you breaking news, expert insight, and in-depth coverage from every stage as the battle for the yellow jersey plays out. Plus, access the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! <\/a>Find out more<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With lactate proving an attention-grabbing new theme in the sports nutrition sphere, UAE Team Emirates have confirmed they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-699758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}