Alain at Alpe d'Huez 2025

Event: Triathlon de l’Alpe d’Huez L

Location: Alpe d’Huez, France

Date: July 30, 2025

Quick Q&A

• Why did you pick this race?

  • I was looking for a triathlon with a climbing/mountains bike course

• Is it your 1st ever event or at this distance or in this country?

  •  No, I have done a few full IM , 70.3 and M distances before.

• Travel type/distance, did you go for a weekend to enjoy the region? 

  • Spent the week there, the race being on a Wednesday

• How did each section of the race go for you? 

  • Beautiful swim, memorable cycling, as expected, tough run.

• Did the event format get changed due to weather... 

  • No, perfect weather for the whole week! Colder than one would think for the end of July because of the mountains and altitude, however.

• Did you see teammates on the course? 

  • Yes, a couple, and also got support from the team members racing the M the day after, and friends volunteering!

• Did you meet your goal/have a personal best? 

  • No target since the race profile is so specific, but I could compare with my previous long distance races.

• Did any particular training help you achieve this (training, tri-camp)? 

  • Standard long distance training, tri-camp in Verdon and swimming camps. I missed post-long cycling run, and very long mountain rides.

• How do you rate the quality or organization of the event? 

  • Excellent for seasoned triathletes, very good balance between a family event and a more professional one. Previous triathlon experience is still recommended for the L race.

• Do you recommend to others for next year? Each race is different. 

  • I totally recommend this race, but have to know it is a difficult one, to be considered like a full Ironman race in terms of effort, and climbing the Alpe d’Huez is not the same in reality and on Zwift. The M distance is much more approachable, and an excellent challenge, but the cycling part cannot be improvised.

As I gained more experience in triathlon, and specifically in cycling, I also slowly got to the conclusion that my maximum power output on the bike was never going to reach levels where I would feel comfortable or competitive on most long distance triathlon courses: flat-ish, an occasional climb or hill, then flat again, where aero position and Watts are key. I feel stronger on long, steep climbs, typical of the mountains.

Which is what led me to register to Alpe d’Huez L: to find a race where I would not necessarily feel limited on the cycling segment.

I had already raced the M distance in 2021, and it had been a great event. I highly recommend the shorter race for triathletes looking to spice up their triathlon challenges a bit, but without all the hassle of a long distance. 

Now, the L race is a completely different animal. This “L” denomination is misleading: with 2.2km swim, 120km cycling with 3000+ D+ and 19km run with 300m D+, the level of difficulty on paper is closer to a full Ironman than to a 70.3.

Logistics for Alpe d’Huez are not too complicated, but having some previous experience with the M race helped a lot. In terms of accommodation, I chose to stay in the ski resort, so at the top of the mountain and by the Expo/T2/Finish area. It meant I had to bring my bike myself the day before down the valley, to the Lac du Verney where the T1/Start is located. I had a car, many athletes chose to cycle down there and take the organisers’ shuttle back up to Alpe d’Huez (it is not possible to take a bike on the shuttle). Others prefer to stay in the valley to simplify that part of the logistics, but it means going up and down the Alpe d’Huez climb a few times over the week, and also ride down after the race, which I considered as too risky.

At that time of the year, the ski resort of Alpe d’Huez is actually fairly quiet. Despite being a Tour de France legend, in summer it is neither a big hiking nor mountain biking spot, meaning that, during the triathlon week, the town is entirely devoted to triathletes, creating a great atmosphere. Many shops and restaurants are closed, but the town still feels lively and busy, and I noticed the locals are particularly nice to visitors.

Back to the sport side of things, the organizers manage to maintain a rather family-friendly atmosphere, with an expo that does not feel too much like a tourist triathlete trap, and sponsors not too visible or pushy. Retrieving my bib was no hassle at all, the only confusion was that I had forgotten I had registered for the “Green Eco-Dossard”, meaning I did not get most of the goodies or the race-branded backpack, which is generally OK for me, though generated a bit of frustration, but it was my choice after all, more about that later ;)

The morning before the race, I took part in the free “breakfast run”, an organised recon and leg warmer on the run course. It was quite useful, especially since it allowed me to realize a detail I had forgotten: altitude. Alpe d’Huez is located 1800m above sea, and as I jogged, and having arrived only the day before, I noticed breathing while being active was more difficult than usual. It is not necessarily a huge handicap, running still felt fine, but for example holding a conversation while maintaining a Z1-Z2 pace was an effort. There is not much to do about that, but I better understand why many athletes spend a few days up there before the race.

Driving down to T1 to bring my bike there was also fairly easy, though still took half an hour. But there is a well-managed parking spot by the lac du Verney, and all I had to do there was drop my bike, have a look at the swim start, and drive back to Alpe d’Huez. The lake itself is a beautiful spot for swimming, nested between the mountains, and filled with the clear waters coming straight from the local glaciers. With less than 2000 participants per race, the bike park was busy but not too packed. The individual spot there is organized “old-school”, meaning each triathlete is allowed to leave his/her T1 transition bag next to their bike instead of a separated rack and tent like on many Ironman-label events. It is also possible to bring the bike to T1 on the morning of the race, which starts only at 9:30am, but as mentioned earlier, I preferred not to, although probably a third of the participants made that choice.

I could wait for the morning of the race to drop my T2 bag, since it was in the Alpe d’Huez ski resort where I stayed, and the shuttle buses to the start departed from nearby, I generally found that part of the organization very efficient. As we drove down in the bus from Alpe d’Huez to the lace du Verney, the 45 minutes commute allowed us to enjoy the views on the descent. Pre-race preparation was quite uneventful, the T1 area allocates each athlete plenty of space, and is located in a magnificent spot, between the lake and nestled in between mountains.

When I first raced Alpe d’Huez in 2021, it began with a mass start directly in the lake water. It is now a rolling start from the river banks, more precisely with first the elite/pros, followed by the age groupers like me who decide themselves when to start depending on their self-estimated swimming speed, I chose to start in the last third of the crowd.

The water temperature was at 16°C, so I decided to add a neoprene hat to the organization-supplied one. It allowed me an easier entry in the water, even though after a minute or two of swimming I already felt very comfortable. The lake water is crystal clear, one of the clearest I ever experienced, a real dream to swim in. Navigating is also pretty simple, since the lake is roughly rectangular. The landscape and mountainous background is magnificent, except for the high voltage power lines from the local hydro. I also noticed the rather limited number of canoes, not a big deal, but to be considered. The main mistake I made was forgetting that the swimming distance was 2200m, instead of the usual 1900m of a half IM, so this section did feel abnormally long. I kept a steady and rather quiet pace, in order to manage my energy for the main course of the event: cycling.

Once out of the water, I really took my time in T2, since it was to be a long day on the bike. Quite a few athletes had chosen a standard bike, not a lot of aerobars, and even fewer TT bikes (except for the pros). I really made sure I had taken everything I needed for the cycling, left my T1 bike at my spot for the organisers to take it back to the finish line (quite practical), and off I went for the 120km and +3000m D+ ride! The first surprise comes right at the exit of T1, with a short but punchy 4-5% climb just to join the main road. It was then followed by a very long and flat stretch of 25km along the main local road. This was probably the least enjoyable part of the ride, as the road remained open and was very busy, and I chose to deliberately keep my spin quick, light and thus a much slower speed than I would have normally done, as I wanted to spare energy. Consequently, I got overtaken by quite a few cyclists, and I had to keep telling myself to be patient.

Finally, at km 25 we reached the first climb of the day, to Alpe du Grand-Serre, up the interestingly named Col de la Morte (nothing to do with any actual corpse apparently!), a 15km climb with a 6% average. I felt much more efficient now that the road finally began ascending, and I managed to recover a fair part of the lost time. This first climb was quickly followed by col du Mallisol, much shorter, but also an effort, leading us to almost the first half of the course. It’s actually after that point that began what I consider as the most treacherous climb of the race: Col d’Ornon. A total of 14km, this one is deceptive, with a first section of 9km in a lush and wide valley, giving the illusion of a flat and fast road, but actually with a slight uphill which, after the effort of the first half, can become a real ordeal with the mid-day sun hitting your tired head, as you deal with the final 5km, steeper. I have to say that seeing the water station at the top was a relief.

Talking about refuel stations on the bike ride, I found those well located (before/after every climb), with a good variety of choice. The only little mishap was that the one at the top of col d’Ornon around km80 was out of bottles when I got there, which was annoying (but not necessarily a real issue, since it was still possible to simply stop, queue for a few seconds and refill at a tap). I chose not to stop at the stations, grabbing bottles on the go and relying on my own nutrition, except at the station right before the Alpe d’Huez climb, where I did a mini-stop to get myself ready for THE climb.

It’s probably not necessary to describe Alpe du Zwift, sorry, Alpe d’Huez climb, as it is so iconic and well known. I will mainly go straight to my personal opinion on the 21 turns. It is definitely tough as, from the start, I was on my 30-teeth pinion, small chainring, and basically mashed by pedals at 60-70rpm during the whole climb. I even right away felt the beginning of cramps in my legs, which I luckily managed to calm down quickly by relaxing and drinking. However, I think the climb is a little easier than Mont Ventoux from Bedouin, which I did a year before. Being able to countdown the turns is actually psychologically helpful, and each turn gives a short respite, unlike the Géant the Provence which is a pretty continuous uphill. Another difficulty was that the road was still open to traffic going uphill, so one would frequently have to manage cars, which is not that easy when you’re already exhausted. A pretty nice attention from the organizers was to locate a fanzone in the Huez village, around turn 7, easily reachable by the public using a gondola, creating a wonderful tour de France-like atmosphere as we rode through the town, quite a memory, as striking as Solarerberg in Roth. It’s also where a Swiss cyclist, who had been following me during the whole first half of the climb, literally took off when she saw who I think is her family cheering for her, never to be seen again: the power of motivation! 

As mentioned earlier, the countdown of the 21 turns is a good moral support during the climb, but also a little deceptive, as past the final turn 1, there is still a kilometer of climbing through the town that feels like an eternity! Climbing up the alpine mountains is definitely something to train specifically for, and which is difficult to imitate elsewhere in France, apart from Jura and Pyrenees of course. Home-trainer mimics the effort quite well, but will always be missing the sun, the heat, the altitude.

Reaching T2 transition was a temporary relief, as it meant I had managed the main difficult of the race, and there I also took my time to properly get prepared for the run: 3 laps of 6km. And, as soon as I started to run, I understood I had been missing something crucial in my preparation: transitioning to a run after a very hard bike leg. To summarize, at km1 my legs felt heavy, like at km35 of a marathon making this part pretty painful. And the course was also quite demanding, being almost entirely on light gravel roads, hiking trails and with a few climbs (300m D+ total, not negligible!). It is not as technical as an actual trail race, more like a ParkRun, so a lot of rough surfaces require attention to avoid tripping on a rock or bump, with ups and downs  and very little shadow to hide from the sun. I did not feel too much of the effect of altitude (1800m), but it was probably masked by the overall exhaustion. The overall weather was luckily perfect for the race, with temperatures highs around 25°C, and dry conditions, which I think is not usual in the mountains. Water stations are also quite well located and supplied there, with good fanbase support when in town, much quieter elsewhere. What also made that part of the race morally difficult was the fact that, since I had a relatively fast bike leg, I ended up joining a field of much faster overall triathletes on the run, meaning I was almost constantly passed during that segment, overtaking very few people, which was mentally tough.

In the end, after 2 hours of running, I finally crossed the finish line with a total time of 9 hours, almost sharp! My average time on 70.3 being around 5hours30, and on full IM around 12 hours, it definitely sets this race right in the middle in terms of difficulty! 

After the finish line, I was reminded of my choice of an Eco-dossard as I received neither the medal nor the finisher hat (nice change from the usual t-shirt), which was initially a regret, but actually I am quite OK with it, and it was my choice. The post-race nutrition and logistics are good, rather basic in comparison with the Ironman buffet, but it was not too crowded and retrieving my bike and bags was also rather easy. Alpe d’Huez is also not that big, so that meant the walk back to the hotel was pretty easy, I was glad not to have to commute back down to the valley (which some did).

After-race recovery was pretty quick. Though I was generally tired in the next couple of days, I did not feel sore at all, and could manage to return to light training within a week. Do not make me wrong, I think this was the hardest race I participated in, but I believe the short-ish 19km run allows a much easier recovery in comparison with a full-fledged IM marathon. 

Overall, I loved this event, since it meets a good middle-ground between a local family event, and a very professional, but a little too business-oriented organization. This race is a great challenge which I think should be considered as a main race, to the same level as a full IM, but I also even more recommend the M distance, which is more approachable and climbing the Alpe is always individually rewarding. Finishing it also allowed me to prove myself I can consider such events, and I can now look at La Madeleine Triathlon, or even maybe EmbrunMan thinking “it’s possible!” instead of “this is insane!”. 

But maybe I am actually a little insane.