Description
Every year around 7,500 riders line up for La Marmotte. A good number of them make mistakes that have nothing to do with fitness. Wrong gearing. Accommodation booked too late. No way down from the Alpe d’Huez finish. A nutrition plan invented at the second feed station.
This guide exists so you don’t become one of them.
It follows your day in the order you’ll live it. Entry and registration. Travel and accommodation. The expo and the day before. Race morning and the start pens in Bourg d’Oisans. Pacing, eating and the Glandon trap. The four cols, broken down one by one. The open roads, the neutralised descent and the time cut. The finish on Alpe d’Huez, and the 48 hours after.
La Marmotte runs the same legendary route almost every year: the Glandon, the Télégraphe, the Galibier, and the climb to Alpe d’Huez. That is the whole point of it, and it works in your favour. You can study the exact climbs you’ll ride, and this guide does precisely that. It is also evergreen. Entry dates and prices change year to year. The mountains do not.
What you get:
A 14-page PDF, designed to read on screen or print at home. A pre-race checklist. A climb-by-climb breakdown of the four cols. The rules most newcomers don’t know they’re breaking. The mistakes I’ve watched riders make on these roads since 2008, and how to avoid every one of them.
Instant download after purchase. Questions about your specific event? 1-to-1 planning calls are available separately.
See the climbs before you ride them
Watch my La Marmotte playlist on YouTube.
