Christian Meier is an ultra runner and ExoLactate® pilot who has built a career around testing the limits of human endurance. Transitioning from the brutal repetition of competitive cycling to the unpredictable terrain of ultramarathons has placed him on the front-line of sports performance and culture. His latest challenge was the mammoth Tor de Géants ultra in the Aosta Valley. We sat down with him post-race.
When Meier arrived in the Aosta Valley for Tor de Géants 2026, he had made a deliberate choice not to recon the course. He wanted exploration rather than optimisation, a philosophy that would be tested almost immediately when cramps struck unusually early in the race.
"Everyone has some kind of plan until you get punched in the face, of course. And this time around that proverbial knuckle-sandwich was cramps."
— Christian MeierHe pushed through with consistent hydration and nutrition, but once the cramps subsided, his muscles simply wouldn't respond. A couple of hours of sleep provided no relief. "I walked for the next seven hours but eventually was moving so slowly I realised it was only a downward trend."
Through the forest on the early stages of the race. Photo: @nickcusseneers
"In running, I've DNF'd a lot. But that keeps it interesting and motivating, constantly searching for that recipe of consistency. Sometimes it's frustrating, but it drives you forward. That's where the satisfaction comes from: seeing progression."
— Christian MeierWhat distinguishes running from his cycling background is the sport's unforgiving honesty. "With running, there's nowhere to hide. If you aren't running, you're walking. There's no coasting, no sitting in. It's on or it's off."
Yet despite the DNF, Tor de Géants offered Meier something he was searching for: moments of genuine joy.
"Even though I found quite quickly that things were not going as expected I still found moments of joy and bliss in the mountains: climbing a big col as the sun set on the first night. Moving through darkness enveloped by the cone of my headlamp, feeling the wind, seeing the stars."
— Christian Meier"The windows of focus in the technical descents at your feet, then zooming out when you look back at all the headlamps stretching down the mountain, each person on their own journey. It was special."
High above the valley — the stone refuges of the Aosta route. Photo: @nickcusseneers
Meier approaches Tor as a multi-year project. "There is so much to learn, improve and just those 30 hours was an incredible experience, the way you have to manage your own journey and how many ways there are that you could approach the challenge."
For anyone attempting ultras, the foundation is clarity of purpose. "For ultras you need to have your reason, your why? for taking on the challenge, especially the longer it gets, being ready to ride the waves. The ups and downs, the moments of doubts and the moments of euphoria."
Meier sees these oscillations as a compressed version of life itself, but played out over hours instead of years. "It brings a confidence that you can handle life, every time you challenge yourself, you are never the same person on the other side."
"The only failure is not trying in the first place. Sport is life and that will never change."
Already, Meier is consumed by the idea of returning to Aosta Valley next September. A hunger born from knowing the mountains always offers something new. No matter how many times you visit.
In the Vest: ExoLactate®
Beyond the mental and emotional aspects of ultra running lies the practical challenge of sustaining performance. Meier's partnership with FLF and ExoLactate® emerged from a conversation with co-founder Aitor Viribay about nutrition strategy ahead of UTMB 2023. The two bonded over a mutual fascination in performance sports and culture.
What attracted Meier to the project was its credibility. "I found it intriguing. What appealed to me was there was no marketing hocus pocus, just an unmarked gel." Over more than a year as a guinea pig, Meier has experienced the iterative refinement process firsthand — the team creating new prototypes in the lab within days, gathering feedback on texture and gut-friendliness.
ExoLactate® gels — always within reach. Photo: @nickcusseneers
The success of ExoLactate®, Meier argues, is measured by what you don't notice. "When you don't notice something, it means they've done a good job. My stomach doesn't hurt. I don't get palate fatigue." This absence of negative side effects is precisely the point.
During very long efforts, the benefits emerge in cognitive function and perceived exertion. "Even at lower intensities on really long days, everything feels a bit easier. Time passes quicker. You feel more confident, it's like: 'one more mountain. Let's go.'" When fatigue deepens, Meier experiences sharper awareness in technical terrain — a clarity and agility that normally dissolves into clouded clumsiness with the onset of fatigue.
"ExoLactate® doesn't make you zero to hero, but when conditions are right and you're prepared, it takes you a step up."
— Christian MeierExoLactate® amplifies readiness, it doesn't create it. The key is consistency. Once an athlete commits to using it regularly, they discover the moment where everything aligns — fitness, nutrition, mental resilience, and chemistry all clicking together.
For Meier, that alignment is what sport demands. Not perfection, but the relentless pursuit of it.
Photo: @nickcusseneers