The Digest*No. 01: Cycling, fall 2026
* And when it tastes good, it's good too. Strawberry bars in the bag, electrolytes at the aid station, chocolate recovery slushies at the finish: here's the month we spent on two wheels, what everyone ate along the way, and the stages we're riding next.
September 8 to November 2026, Québec and British Columbia
Who's in this story
Follow them on Instagram, cheer them on, and send them some love.
Enduro
White Rock, BC
Canadian Enduro Champion, two years running
Never trains without: XACT Endurance Bars (Apricot Peach), XACT Energy Bars (Green Apple), XACT Protein Wafer (Coconut). His profile ↗
@elliotjamieson_Follow him and send some love
Enduro
Gravel, road, MTB
Bromont, QC
Our guide to Montréal on two wheels
Never trains without: XACT Energy Bars (Cherry), XACT Energy Fruit Gels (Strawberry), XACT Protein Wafer (Coconut). After every ride: XACT Immediate Recovery (Chocolate). Her profile ↗
@laulouche1Follow her and send some love
Gravel, road, MTB
Downhill
Squamish, BC
Invited to Red Bull Hardline
Never trains without: XACT Endurance Bars (Apricot Peach), XACT Energy Bars (Green Apple), XACT Protein Wafer (Coconut). His profile ↗
@jakobjewettFollow him and send some love
Downhill
Enduro, freeride ski
Whistler, BC
Just back from a bike trip in remote BC
Never trains without: XACT Electrolytes Tabs (Orange), XACT Energy Bars (Green Apple), XACT Protein Wafer (Chocolate). His profile ↗
@weitien_hoFollow him and send some love
Enduro, freeride ski
His big 3: XACT Immediate Recovery (Vanilla-Caramel), XACT Energy Bars (Cherry), XACT Endurance Bars (Mixed Berries)
Rolling with Messorem Club Cycliste, Dynamiks Féminine, Siboire qui roule and the Centre national de cyclisme de Bromont.
Menu du jour*
Every stage below ran on the same three things. Here is what's in them, which flavours you order most, and who swears by what.
4,368 barsleft our warehouse for Worlds week alone. That's 182 boxes of 24.
4.9 out of 5 from 461 reviews
Served: in every XACT bag at the Rando, and free from the XACT Bike all Worlds week.
The athletes' pick: Green Apple is on the must-have list of Elliot Jamieson, Jakob Jewett and WeiTien Ho. Laurie Arseneault goes for Cherry.
Fueled my last race with these. Really enjoyed them!
A rider, on Instagram.
4.3 out of 5 from 212 reviews
Served: at the aid station on the Rando course.
WeiTien Ho never trains without the Orange tabs. Ella from Dynamiks Féminine shows how she stays hydrated ↗
Un ravitaillement de feu pour une journée géniale.
A rider, on Instagram.
4.9 out of 5 from 22 reviews
Served: ice-cold, as slushies, at the Rando.
Laurie Arseneault: her go-to after every ride. Chocolate, by far.
Yum 😋 extra yum en milkshake!
A fan, on Instagram.
What customers say, five stars only
Great fuel for long rides, amazing taste, solid energy. Maple is the one flavour that got me hooked!Charles N. · XACT Energy Bars · verified buyer
The bars are excellent - tasty, gives you the boost right away, and are great on the stomach.Ed J. · XACT Energy Bars · verified buyer
Les meilleurs bonbons de course qui existent!Sean C. · XACT Energy Bars · verified buyer
Love the citrus bang in the morning - hydration with a little caffeine after the morning run. Refreshing and not too sweet.Nicole O. · XACT Electrolytes Tabs · verified buyer
The drinks are delicious - chocolate is my favourite. I feel nourished and replenished!Sarah F. · XACT Immediate Recovery · verified buyer
This is so delicious. Great after a long ride when I can’t get a big meal in right away.Courtney S. · XACT Immediate Recovery · verified buyer
Also in the athletes' bags: XACT Protein Wafer in Coconut (Elliot, Laurie, Jakob) and Chocolate (WeiTien), XACT Endurance Bars in Apricot Peach (Elliot, Jakob) and XACT Energy Fruit Gels in Strawberry (Laurie). On the shelf too: XACT Energy Performance Bars, in Lemon and Blackcurrant. See everything ↗
The route
Road, gravel, enduro and downhill. Four stages are ridden, four are coming, with Red Bull Hardline as the summit. Tap a number to jump ahead, or open the chapter bar at the top of your screen to go anywhere.
1Montréal
Before the big weeks, we rode with the people who make Montréal a cycling city. Dynamiks Féminine took us along on a ride and talked about what brings their team together and the doors opening for women in cycling. Messorem Club Cycliste rolled us into one of their social rides.
And Elliot Jamieson made his first-ever trip to Montréal. Laurie Arseneault showed him around on Bixis, and the tour ran on food:
Taste of victory!!! 🏆🥯
A comment on Elliot's Montréal post, Instagram
Shop stop. XACT is on the shelf in more than 30 Montréal stores, Bicycles Quilicot, Cycle Gervais Rioux and Cycles Néron among them. Find a shop near you ↗ or shop online ↗
Photo: William Blier ↗
2Bromont, enduro MTB
We were the official nutrition partner of the 2026 Canadian Enduro MTB Championships at Bromont, montagne d'expériences, with tasting stations on the mountain all weekend: the whole range, there to try between runs. Elliot Jamieson came to defend his title and left with it: Canadian Enduro Champion in 2025, and again in 2026. The Siboire qui roule enduro crew raced it with us too.
Super tasty!
A comment on the Bromont photos, Instagram
He did it againReel ↗
With Siboire qui roulePhotos by William Blier ↗
Race day in the woodsPhoto: William Blier ↗
Shop stop. Riding Bromont this fall? Pick up your bars at PITTSTOP Vélo-café or Maison de la Course Bromont before the lift. Find a shop near you ↗ or shop online ↗
Between runs, Nick Kleban, who heads product at XACT, rode the lift with Elliot for three short episodes on race-day fueling: what's in his bag, when he takes caffeine, and what he can control. Hop on a chair to watch.
Elliot's season interview ↗The episodes on YouTube ↗The weekend in pictures ↗
3Rando Vélo Beneva, road
The Rando Vélo Beneva opened UCI Road World Championships week, and it sold out: more than 6,000 people riding the Worlds circuit. Laurie took the XACT Bike to the start and served fruit bars on wheels, XACT bags with a fruit bar inside went out along the course, and scratch cards waited at the finish line.
Four routes on the Worlds circuit, to scale
One card hid a prize. Scratch it to see what it was.
Along the course
Along the Rando course, our team handed riders a cotton XACT bag with a fruit bar inside. Grab it, eat, keep rolling.
Ours said it all: grab, go, ride. Miam.
What we served at the Rando
In the bagReal-fruit bars, one in every bag and more from the XACT Bike.
At the aid stationPoured at the aid station to keep 6,000 bottles topped up.
To cool downOur recovery drink, served ice-cold as a slushie.
Miam 😋!
A comment on the Rando photos, Instagram
Taste them yourself. All three are on the menu du jour up top, at your local shop and online. Find a shop near you ↗ or shop online ↗
4Fan Village, Parc Jeanne-Mance
For the rest of Worlds week, our booth sat in the Fan Village at Parc Jeanne-Mance while the world's best raced through Montréal and up Camillien-Houde. The XACT Bike rolled through the crowd every day handing out free bars. Find it, taste it, enjoy it. It also beat Pierre-Luc a few times along the way.
Fueled my last race with these. Really enjoyed them!
A comment on the XACT Bike reel, Instagram
Liked the bar the XACT Bike handed you? The full box is waiting. Find a shop near you ↗ or shop online ↗
5Bromont, CNCBNew partner
XACT Nutrition is now the official sports nutrition partner of the Centre national de cyclisme de Bromont (CNCB): more than 20 acres of bike playground, with the indoor Vélodrome Sylvan Adams, pumptracks, a BMX track, dirt jumps and mountain bike trails.
More to share with the centre later this fall.
Official sports nutrition partner
Fuel for the track. Find a shop near you ↗ or shop online ↗
6Bentonville, ArkansasComing up
Laurie heads south to the Life Time Little Sugar MTB in Bentonville, a mountain bike race on Ozark singletrack. It is round five of six in the Life Time Grand Prix, the off-road series that takes in Sea Otter, Unbound and Leadville, with 25 women and 25 men on the start list and $590,000 in prize money across the season.
Laurie was a wild card in the Grand Prix this year, lining up against some of the best off-road riders in North America.
Follow the race on October 11
Follow Laurie on Instagram, @laulouche1, and send her some love before the start.
Which distance is she racing? Take a guess.
Fuel a long one like Laurie. Find a shop near you ↗ or shop online ↗
7Cypress Mountain, BC, downhillThe summit
Red Bull Hardline, billed as the toughest downhill race in the world, comes to Canada for the first time, at Cypress Mountain just north of Vancouver. Nobody signs up for Hardline. Red Bull invites the riders, 26 of them this year, and Jakob Jewett is on the list.
The 2024 Canadian downhill champion from Squamish arrives in form: on September 27 he finished 5th at the Whistler round of the UCI Downhill World Cup, up the road from home.
Cheer Jakob on and send him some love: @jakobjewett
Watching from BC? XACT is in more than 40 stores across the province, from Squamish to the North Shore. Find a shop near you ↗ or shop online ↗
Oct 17Finals day
8Remote BC, backcountry MTBJust back
Two of our athletes, Elliot Jamieson and WeiTien Ho, just got back from an incredible bike trip deep in remote British Columbia. Two childhood friends, a few days off the grid, and by the look of it a real hoot out in the wild.
For WeiTien the timing was tight: the trip landed just before peak training starts for his Freeride World Tour ski season.
There's more to come on this one, for sure. Watch this space.
Follow @elliotjamieson_ and @weitien_ho to see more from the trip, and send them some love.
Packing for your own big day out? Find a shop near you ↗ or shop online ↗
Shop local
The people who fixed your flat last spring also stock your bars. Pick your province, find your shop, and buy it there. They'll know which flavour is flying off the shelf.
The same list as our store locator, as of October 1, 2026. Bike shops are tagged so you can find one fast.
For our retail partners
When it tastes good. It is good.* That's the line you'll keep hearing from us. Taste comes first in every story, every tasting and every display, and we're sticking with it.
Get the Hardline countdown, Laurie's race in Bentonville and every new video in your inbox as each stage goes live.
This was The Digest* No. 01: one subject, served in courses.
On the course with 6,000 of youPhotos: Montréal 2026 ↗
Fruit bars, served on wheelsReel with Laurie ↗
A day with Laurie, Worlds weekReel ↗
