Description
The hard one. Eight riders. Eight months. One finish line, up the 21 bends of Alpe d’Huez
La Marmotte isn’t a first big challenge. It’s the one you build a whole winter around. The Glandon. The Télégraphe. The Galibier. And then, with everything already in your legs, the 21 bends up to Alpe d’Huez. 174 kilometres. Over 5,000 metres of climbing. Usually in real heat.
You don’t turn up to this one and hope. You prepare for it. And preparing for it alone, from a long way off, across a whole winter, is where most riders come unstuck. Not from lack of fitness. From not knowing what the day actually asks of them until they’re in the middle of it.
This cohort fixes that.
Eight riders, all preparing for La Marmotte together, from November through to the event in July. Not a membership. Not a big group chat. A small, committed group, with me working alongside you the whole way.
I lived at the foot of Alpe d’Huez for 12 years. I named my channel after those 21 bends. I’ve ridden the Glandon, the Télégraphe and the Galibier in every condition they throw at you, and I’ve supported over 1,000 riders on these roads. There is nobody better placed to get you to the start line of this ride knowing exactly what’s coming.
What you get:
- A monthly 1 hour group video call. With 8 of us it’s a proper working session, not a webinar. Your questions, every time.
- A small, high-signal WhatsApp group. Peer support and accountability right through the winter.
- Full route GPX and map packs. All four climbs and the descents.
- Climb-by-climb deep sessions as the event gets closer, from someone who has ridden them since 2008.
- Pacing and fuelling for a 174km, 5,000m day in the heat, built around the medal time you’re chasing.
- The things that catch people out: the Glandon descent, altitude on the Galibier, the cut-offs, and the mental side, which matters more here than on any sportive you’ve done.
What this isn’t:
I’m not a coach. I won’t write you a training plan or talk about your FTP. Plenty of people do that well. What I give you is what they can’t: the road, the day, and how to arrive ready instead of hoping.
The founding offer:
The first cohort is 8 places. Founding members pay €349 for the full eight-month season through to the event. Expires 1st December. Standard price is €449. Founding members keep the founding rate on future cohorts.
Eight places. That’s not a marketing number, it’s the real limit. Over eight months, with everyone getting proper time, a group this size is the only way it works.
Riding it with me?
If you book a supported cycling trip with me, your place in this cohort is included free. And if you join the cohort first, your fee comes off the price of a supported cycling trip when you book one. Either way, the people who want to actually ride these climbs with me get looked after. See the terms below.
Join the founding cohort. 8 places. Founding rate closes when it’s full.
Trip offer terms
- Book a supported holiday and your cohort place is included free. Or join the cohort and have your fee credited against a holiday you book later.
- The holiday must be taken in the same or the following season, between April and September.
- One offer per person.
- Non-transferable.
