Researchers now know lactate is not a poison but a super fuel. It is an energy source preferred by your heart, brain, and slow-twitch muscle fibres, functioning as a vital messenger throughout the human body during high-intensity exercise.
This dramatic shift in scientific understanding has triggered an inevitable question in the professional peloton: if lactate is so beneficial, can swallowing more of it make you faster? Could gels and drinks with exogenous lactate be cycling’s newest frontier?
The search for a secondary fuel tank
The theory driving the current interest in lactate supplements is rooted in human physiology. During long stages or intense efforts, performance drops when athletes run low on usable energy or when fatigue signals overwhelm the central nervous system.
For years, nutrition strategies focused on maximising carbohydrate intake. Today’s Tour de France pros consume upwards of 120 g of carbs per hour to keep their engines running. However, the human gut has a ceiling for how many carbohydrates it can absorb at once.
Because ingested lactate utilises a completely different absorption pathway in the digestive tract, proponents argue it functions like a secondary fuel line. By layering lactate on top of a rider’s maximum carbohydrate limit, athletes could theoretically burn more total energy per hour. Additionally, because the brain and central nervous system thrive on lactate, keeping blood levels elevated might delay the mental exhaustion that causes a rider’s power output to fade late in a race.
The gastrointestinal barrier
While the physiological theory is fascinating, practical application has historically hit a major wall: stomach distress.
For decades, attempts to supplement with basic sodium lactate failed for a simple reason. Ingesting the required volume caused severe gastrointestinal distress, frequently resulting in nausea, cramping and vomiting before an athlete even reached the start line. The concentration of salt and high osmotic pressure in traditional formulas simply proved too harsh for the human stomach.
To overcome this, modern product developers are experimenting with novel delivery mechanisms. By using specialised formulations, lower-dose calcium lactate salts or polymerising molecules into larger compounds, newer gels attempt to pass through the gut smoothly without triggering digestive disaster.
Despite these advances, real-world endurance tests remain mixed. A recent independent study on calcium lactate found that it could slightly alter blood chemistry during intense efforts. But stomach discomfort, flatulence, and urgency still steadily accumulated over a 2-hour ride, all while providing no measurable improvement in cycling performance.
Miracle gains vs lab reality
Much of the current excitement in the cycling community stems from bold claims made by commercial developers and internal team testing. Reports have surfaced of “high responders” seeing up to a 4% jump in power output over a 20-30-minute test, which means an extra 20 watts for a rider pushing 450 watts. Furthermore, rumours suggest select WorldTour teams are already quietly using these new formulations in Grand Tours.
However, independent sports scientists urge significant caution.
A 4% increase in threshold power would be a monumental leap forward, far exceeding the established gains of heavily researched supplements like caffeine or sodium bicarbonate, which typically offer modest 1-3% improvements after decades of testing. Critics point out that internal commercial claims often highlight the best outlier cases rather than average results, and independent peer-reviewed trials validating these dramatic performance jumps have yet to be published.
Moreover, where lactate does show genuine promise in clinical studies, such as high-dose calcium lactate aiding short, extreme anaerobic efforts by acting as an acid buffer, the protocols involve brief, repeated sprints to total exhaustion. This metabolic environment is vastly different from a four-hour road race or a long alpine climb.
The verdict for everyday cyclists
Is exogenous lactate the next revolution in cycling nutrition? Right now, the science suggests a classic sports nutrition dilemma: the biology is fascinating, but the practical real-world benefits remain unproven.
For elite teams with massive budgets, even a fractional percentage gain in late-stage durability makes testing experimental supplements worthwhile. But for everyday riders looking to get faster, lactate supplements currently represent a high-cost, high-risk gamble with your stomach.
As always, mastering basic carbohydrate intake, staying properly hydrated, and sticking to consistent, structured training is what almost all ambitious amateur cyclists should focus on.