Enervit unveils new fuelling innovation at the Tour de France.

Enervit C2:1PRO Lactate Gel Mix.

 

 

 

Enervit has collaborated with Professor George A. Brooks and Dr. Iñigo San Millan on the development of an innovative nutrition product officially unveiled at the 2026 Tour de France.

Developed over two seasons of testing with the riders and performance staff of UAE Team Emirates XRG, the new Enervit C2:1PRO Lactate Gel Mix is the latest step in the team’s commitment to performance innovation and evidence-based sports nutrition. The product is now being used exclusively by the Team and will be available for sale after La Vuelta España 2026.

The project is built on decades of scientific research led by Professor George A. Brooks of the University of California, Berkeley, whose pioneering work transformed the understanding of lactate in exercise physiology. Once regarded simply as a by-product of fatigue, Brooks’ research demonstrated that lactate is in fact one of the body’s natural energy sources, continuously produced and used by the muscles, heart and brain during exercise.

“I am thrilled to join with Enervit and UAE Team Emirates XRG in bringing new science and technology to the field of sports nutrition. This new product, the new Enervit C2:1PRO Lactate Gel Mix, is a breakthrough that initiates a new era in sports nutrition.” - Professor George A. Brooks, University of California, Berkeley

 

 

Working alongside Professor Brooks, has been Dr. Iñigo San Millan, who over the last 30 years has been a pioneer in the field of sports performance. Along with Dr’s Brooks and San Millan , Enervit has translated the new science into a practical product designed specifically for elite endurance competition.

Enervit has co-developed, together with the research team, a new product that combines 90 g of carbohydrate, using Enervit’s proven 2:1 glucose-to-fructose ratio, with 10 g of sodium lactate and vitamin B1. Mixed with water, it is designed for use during the final and most demanding phases of long races, providing riders with an additional energy source alongside their established carbohydrate fuelling strategy.

Following extensive testing throughout the 2024 and 2025 seasons, UAE Team Emirates XRG will use the product exclusively during this year’s Tour de France.

“Our philosophy is to continually evaluate innovations that have a strong scientific foundation and genuine potential to improve rider performance. This project with Enervit has been developed carefully over a number of years, combining laboratory research with extensive testing in training and racing. 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.” - Gorka Prieto, Head of Nutrition, UAE Team Emirates XRG

The collaboration highlights the close relationship between UAE Team Emirates XRG and Enervit, with the team providing valuable feedback throughout the development process to help shape the final formulation before its introduction at cycling’s biggest race.

How lactate works as an energy substrate
The following explanation reflects Enervit R&D’s interpretation, based on Professor Brooks’ work.
In high-level endurance, an athlete inevitably uses more energy than can be taken in. The demand for fuel is almost unlimited, but the body’s capacity to absorb and use it is not. The development of modern sports nutrition can be described as the progressive opening of successive absorption pathways.

1. The first pathway: glucose, and the limit at 60 g/h. For years, athletes relied on glucose and its derivatives. The benefit increases up to about 60 grams per hour and then levels off. Beyond that point, additional intake provides no further benefit, because the intestine has a single transporter that allows only a limited amount of glucose into the bloodstream.

2. The second pathway: fructose, and the increase to 90 g/h and beyond. Fructose uses a separate intestinal transporter, which remains available when the first is saturated. By combining the two in a 2:1 glucose-to-fructose ratio, absorption can reach up to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and beyond depending on the individual. This is the principle behind Enervit’s C2:1PRO range.

3. The third pathway: lactate. Only in the last few years have some elite athletes begun to use this route. The key insight, from Brooks’ work, is that lactate is not the cause of acute fatigue, as was long believed. The body uses it as a high-quality fuel, oxidised quickly and preferentially not only in the muscles but also in the heart and brain, and transported between organs. It can also be taken in from an external source. Lactate is absorbed through its own transporter, independent of the two carbohydrate pathways, so it does not compete with them. Around 10 grams of sodium lactate provides additional energy from a higher-grade fuel.

There is a further effect. Metabolising sodium lactate consumes acidity rather than producing it. Used as a fuel, it increases the blood’s alkaline reserve, the opposite of what was long attributed to lactate. Researchers are also investigating whether lactate, which can cross the blood-brain barrier, may act centrally to reduce the perception of fatigue.
In summary, the aim is to provide the body with more of the fuels it already uses efficiently, including one that was long, and mistakenly, regarded as harmful.

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