People are WAYYY more similar than the ads think for rides/races under 4 hours.

Taste preferences are one thing, but it's nowhere near as variable as commercials would like you to believe. Other than taste preference, there is no reason why someone should not be able to utilize maltodextrin as a good calorie source on the bike.

The salt issue is similar and has been studied a lot (by Dr. Noakes.) Also not as variable as you might believe. Even after he salt-deprives groups of 50 testers (has done this several times) under extreme heat (like 105-115F with humidity) and gives them no salt but adequate hydration, their plasma sodium levels don't go out of whack even after 6 hours of exercise in those conditions.

Everyone likes to believe they're special and has special needs. The reality is that very, very healthy individuals do for exercise nutrition. (Diabetics, and folks with other diseases do have significant restrictions and should follow their doctors' guidelines for those.) There is no possible way that thousands of riders NEED an electyrolyte supplment for a mere 2 hours of racing/riding.