# A rider refused — how Winforce became the official nutrition partner of Groupama-FDJ

> A Groupama-FDJ rider refused to use other sports nutrition. The rest is WorldTour history: Winforce becomes official nutrition partner of the French team.

- Published: 2024-01-15

It didn't start with a tender or a contract offer. A Groupama-FDJ rider simply refused to switch to other sports nutrition. What looked like a minor logistical problem for the team became the starting point for a [**partnership at WorldTour level**](https://www.winforce.com/en/winforce-people/groupama-fdj/).

## The refusal that started it all

The rider already knew Winforce — and wanted nothing else. His insistence aroused curiosity in the team instead of resentment. The individual opinion became a team trial, the team trial became a contract. For Winforce, a sports nutrition brand from Baar (central Switzerland), this meant a step into the biggest circle in cycling: the UCI WorldTour.

[Groupama-FDJ](https://www.equipecycliste-groupama-fdj.fr/en/sponsors/) is the flagship of French professional cycling. The team has been riding at WorldTour level for years and has won classics and Grand Tour stages with riders such as Thibaut Pinot and David Gaudu. Engaging an official nutrition partner from Switzerland — a boutique manufacturer, not a corporation — is not a matter of course.

## CHO MAXX and the science behind it

In training and racing, the team relies primarily on **CHO MAXX**, Winforce's primary energy product. The basis is a proprietary carbohydrate blend of long-chain starch and isomaltulose instead of the industry-standard maltodextrin — developed to make the energy supply more even and more stomach-friendly.

The collaboration goes beyond delivery and logo. Winforce communicates directly with the team's medical unit — an exchange that, according to Winforce, feeds into product development. For a company that develops and manufactures all its products in Switzerland and positions itself as a “sports nutrition boutique”, this access to WorldTour athlete data and feedback is a tangible development advantage.

## A long-standing wish

“A long-standing dream come true” — this is how Winforce itself describes what the partnership means. Remo Gugolz founded the company in 2006 after three cruciate ligament ruptures forced him out of competitive sport. Since then, Winforce has supplied teams from RadioShack Leopard Trek to IAM Cycling. Groupama-FDJ is the biggest name in this story so far.

The fact that it came about because a rider said no fits the brand: no marketing budget, no campaign — just a product that someone didn't want to give up.

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Source: https://kilometro.ch/en/articles/a-rider-refused-how-winforce-became-the-official-nutrition-partner-of-groupama-fdj