The TdF began on July 4, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain with with 184 riders across 23 teams, and will conclude on 26 July 2026 in Paris, covering a total of 3,333km across 21 stages.
The final week is widely regarded as the race’s defining feature, with five summit finishes overall and back-to-back mountain stages culminating in two ascents of Alpe d’Huez across stages 19 and 20.
Speaking to NutraIngredients from the Tour de France 2026 peloton, James Moran, UK-based registered dietitian and head of nutrition at Uno-X Pro Cycling Team, said the biggest fueling trend this year is the continued move towards personalized, evidence-based nutrition strategies tailored to each rider, stage and race condition.
He noted that while live data is not allowed to be broadcasted or shared from the riders during the race, teams now routinely use AI to forecast expected power output, weather conditions, and stage demands. This allows support teams to deliver personalized nutrition strategies.
“We use the data from the riders—including power, heart rate, weight, and heart rate variability—to adjust the nutrition plans and monitor each rider so we can keep them ‘in balance’ from a health and performance perspective,” Moran said.
Riders rely on dual-source carbohydrates
With temperatures frequently exceeding 30ºC, fueling strategies have centered on easily digestible, dual-source carbohydrate energy gels and drink mixes, Moran noted.
In these conditions, riders favor neutral-tasting products that they can consume easily over long periods, while they typically eat solid foods such as sports bars, homemade rice cakes and cookies earlier in the stage before switching to gels and drinks as race intensity increases.
“We are partnered with Maurten and find that our riders really get on well with their neutral taste, especially in the heat,” Moran added.
Swedish sports nutrition brand Maurten, which recently fuelled Kenyan athlete Sabastian Sawe to become the first person to break the two-hour barrier in an official marathon, formulates using Hydrogel Technology - a delivery system designed to improve the tolerance and absorption of carbohydrates.
Strategic carbohydrate ingestion has been a major part of race strategy for decades, and as Moran explained, race-day carbohydrate intake has increased incrementally over the past 3–5 years.
Carbohydrates serve as the primary fuel source during moderate- to high-intensity exercise. They sustain ATP production, maintain blood glucose concentrations, support high rates of carbohydrate oxidation, and delay fatigue. During the tour, they enable riders to meet the substantial metabolic demands of consecutive race stages.
Moran explained that now, teams will place greater emphasis on optimizing carbohydrate timing, delivery and tailored intake based on stage demands, rider role and physiology, rather than simply pushing higher carbohydrate intakes across the board.
“With increased testing possibilities and understanding of exogenous carb oxidation, things have become much more individualized,” Moran said.
He also noted that optimizing muscle glycogen stores before and after each stage is even more important than on-bike fueling, although he emphasized that fueling during the race remains crucial.
“This way riders are on the start line with a full fuel tank,” he said. “Plus energy balance is also important so that riders are maintaining their body mass over the 21 days of racing.”
Exogenous lactate energy gels spark interest
One talking point in the Tour de France peloton this year has been a new generation of carbohydrate energy gels formulated with exogenous lactate—lactate supplied as an ingredient rather than produced naturally by the body during exercise, Moran explained.
While conventional energy gels deliver carbohydrates such as glucose and fructose to maintain blood glucose levels and replenish working muscles, these products aim to provide lactate as an additional fuel source. During exercise, the body naturally produces lactate, which the heart, brain and skeletal muscles can recycle and use for energy.
“The mechanism is promising; however, there is currently next to no relevant data regarding if exogenous lactate can get through the GI tract, if it meaningfully changes plasma lactate and if it actually influences physiology and performance in elite athletes,” Moran said.
“It has long been established that lactate has many important roles, including as an important energy substrate and cell signaling molecule.
“So we are waiting to see more data before considering using this as an addition to our current fueling strategies.”
