The Cycling Underdogs Using CurraNZ to Win on the Grand Tour

There’s a team at the Tour de France right now that shouldn’t be there.

Not because they aren’t good enough - because by every financial measure, they don’t belong at the same table. While the sport’s elite squads operate on budgets of €45–55 million a year, Team Uno-X Mobility from Norway runs on roughly €18–20 million. In a sport where power metres, altitude camps, wind tunnels, and talent acquisition all cost money, they have less than half the resources of their rivals.

And yet, they keep winning.

Their secret isn’t a bigger budget. It’s smarter science. And CurraNZ is part of that picture.

From ProTeam to WorldTour - The Hard Way

Uno-X didn’t buy their way into professional cycling’s top tier. They earned it.

Promoted to the WorldTour for 2026 on sporting merit alone — after outscoring Cofidis in UCI points at the Tour de France alone by more than their rival managed across three Grand Tours combined — they are a team built on a simple philosophy: make every resource count. Ranked 4th in cost-per-victory efficiency across the entire WorldTour at approximately €817,000 per win, they are proof that intelligence beats expenditure.

As their Team Performance Nutritionist James Moran (pictured left) puts it simply:

"During the Tour de France, our riders are under a huge amount of physical stress undertaking 3492km of racing across 21 days with additional challenges from the heat and altitude.

"Nutrition plays a fundamental role in supporting the performance and recovery of our riders. We have been using CurraNZ for a number of years, as a 'cherry' (or blackcurrant) on top to optimise the health and recovery of our riders in these critical periods. 

“We have used CurraNZ for a number of years for intense racing phases and training camps. The use of nutritional supplements such as fruit-derived polyphenols can help support our riders as we look to maximise their recovery each day with less than 24h between finishing one stage and starting the next.” 

When your rivals can outspend you on everything else, you find an edge where the science is undeniable.

2025: History Made in Toulouse

The 2025 Tour de France, Stage 11. Toulouse. 156 kilometres.

Jonas Abrahamsen attacked from kilometre zero — an audacious move — and never looked back. Through five categorised climbs and the rolling hills of the Lauragais, he stayed at the front all day before outsprinting Mauro Schmid in a photo finish, with Mathieu van der Poel arriving seven seconds too late.

It was Uno-X Mobility’s first ever Tour de France stage win. Their 53rd attempt. And Abrahamsen had broken his collarbone just four weeks earlier at the Baloise Belgium Tour. 

That same Tour, Tobias H. Johannessen finished 6th overall — the best result ever recorded by a Norwegian rider at the Tour de France. A team operating on a fraction of their rivals’ budget, finishing above squads with double the resources.

2026: The Giro Comes to Milan

Their first Tour de France stage win was the breakthrough. The Giro d’Italia 2026 confirmed it wasn’t a fluke.

On Stage 15 — Voghera to Milan — Fredrik Dversnes survived from the breakaway to deliver Uno-X Mobility their first ever stage win in their first ever appearance at the Giro d’Italia. In a sprint that unfolded after a neutralised final lap in Milan, Dversnes outpaced the remaining breakaway companions to claim the biggest win of his career. First Grand Tour appearance. Stage winner.

Before that, 2026 had already delivered: Magnus Bugge won the Tour Down Under overall. Tobias Johannessen took 2nd overall at Tirreno-Adriatico with a stage win, 3rd overall at the Tour of the Basque Country. Anders Johannessen won the Tour of Slovenia overall.

This is not a team on a lucky streak. This is a team that has built something real.

Why CurraNZ? The Science That Fits Stage Racing

Stage racing is one of the most physiologically brutal environments in sport. Not because of one explosive effort — but because of what happens when you have to do it again the next day. And the day after that. For three weeks. 

The demands are specific: repeated multi-hour efforts at moderate intensity, the need to burn fat efficiently to spare glycogen for decisive climbs, and legs that have to perform on day 18 the way they performed on day 2.

CurraNZ addresses all three of those demands directly — and the science behind it is not marketing copy. It is over 60 peer-reviewed studies conducted specifically on CurraNZ, not generic blackcurrant material.

The performance evidence:

In a randomised double-blind crossover trial, 14 trained male cyclists completed a 16.1km time trial after 7 days of CurraNZ supplementation.

11 of 14 went faster.

Average improvement: 2.4%.

Fat oxidation at race-pace intensity (65% VO2max) was 27% higher - meaning riders were burning more fat and preserving their carbohydrate stores for the critical moments.

Crucially, CurraNZ riders produced their strongest relative power in the final quartile of the time trial - the phase when most riders fade. The fuel tank lasted longer.

The blood flow evidence:

CurraNZ anthocyanins drive nitric oxide bioavailability, promoting vasodilation - widening the blood vessels that supply the legs.

Seven days of supplementation produced measurable femoral artery dilation confirmed by ultrasound: +0.046cm by day 4, +0.078cm by day 7, translating to 25-45% increases in leg blood flow during muscle contraction. One day isn’t enough - the benefit builds. Which means loading CurraNZ before major racing blocks, exactly as Uno-X does, is the right protocol.

The fuel efficiency evidence:

Across 15 studies and 226 participants, a 2026 meta-analysis confirmed a statistically significant shift toward fat oxidation (+0.042g/min, p<0.001) and away from carbohydrate burning (-0.099g/min, p=0.012). A 2025 muscle biopsy study found that CurraNZ riders arrived at exercise with significantly higher pre-exercise muscle glycogen — 493 vs 355 mmol/kg dry weight (p<0.01). More fuel in the tank before you even start.

For a team competing at Grand Tour level on a fraction of their rivals’ budget, these are not marginal gains. They are meaningful, measurable, and repeatable.

What Uno-X Proves

The cycling world runs on money. Talent costs money. Technology costs money. Recovery costs money. And when you can’t outspend the teams above you, you find every legitimate advantage the science can offer.

Uno-X Mobility uses CurraNZ because it works. Because the evidence is specific, peer-reviewed, and directly applicable to the demands of stage racing. And because, in a sport where the difference between winning and losing a stage can be a handful of seconds after five hours in the saddle, you cannot afford to leave anything on the table.

Jonas Abrahamsen attacked from kilometre zero in Toulouse with a broken collarbone still healing, and held off the entire peloton. Fredrik Dversnes rode into Milan and delivered his team’s first ever Giro stage win.

This is what it looks like when every resource is used to its maximum.

CurraNZ is the most clinically researched New Zealand blackcurrant extract on the global market. Informed Sport batch-tested. Vegan and Halal certified. Available at curranz.com.