Living in NL doesn’t make it easy…You need some practice and understand some of the techniques in the bends (where to look, how to distribute your weight, aiming for just after the apex of a bend…etc) Lots of you tubes. Good practice is to descent with a training mate who is quicker and follow his line and try to just keep up on the straight parts by just letting go and building confidence that that’s ok! By the way you don’t loose that much time by a bit slower descent. Someone being 1km/hr faster uphill makes a bigger gap than someone who descents 5km/hr faster! I agree though its more fun when you are confident in a fast descent. Good luck.
By the way, I believe the KNWU organises a practical course about descending…
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I checked the first neutralised time (descent of Glandon) of others vs mine (around 46 mins) and I saw some people were up to 20 minutes faster than me, the descent from Galibier to Alpe d’Huez was much much longer and much of that time I was braking, so I probably lost even more time
And then of course there are the people bombinh down getting angry at me because I want their line…
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looks that you are indeed slow…around 18km/hr slower than the fastest guys on that one! Must be a potentially “easy” win…
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I told you 
. Another area where I did really poorly and cost me way much more time was just getting the stuff out of my backpockets especially the sis beta fuel sachets kept snatching and I had a hard time finding my electrolyte (and creatine/taurine) packets, as well as opening the beta fuel sachets or just putting it in my bottle without the bottle tipping over. The pump and car keys in my backpocket made things even harder. The pump should have been uncooly attached to the frame and the car key left behind
Even more analysis, I wasted so much unnecessary energy on the flats between Glandon & Telegraphe
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So a bit more about how it went for me. Started on the back of the Blue group, was fine hang onto some guys that moved up and was able to move up a lot without putting in much effort. Then on the Glandon I had to force myself to not go to hard but overall thought did a good job, NP of 245 so under the 250 i set (but that counts the descents), but first sign that it wouldn’t be the greatest day was that the HR went to 160 which was a bit high for that effort level. Glandon Downhill was fine I think I saw @ArHu74 on the first part. Into the town I lost one of my Waterbottles (was able to retrieve it but it was broken) luckely it wasn’t the hottest day and had a 950ml bottle on the bike. The valley was horrible with the strong Head Crosswind, the groups didn’t really work which was not that surprising, since you couldn’t take proper shelter so everyone was suffering a bit, and all the surges didn’t sit well with me.
I may should have done the telegraph a bit slower but it felt good and not hard, startet raining toward the top. but was fine from the temp. made it to Valloire filled up and then into the headwind up the Galibier, still just rode my tempo and didn’t try to stay with people. with about 5km to go I started to have some trouble and couldn’t push much beyond 200W. Also started to feel my intestines acting up and had to stop taking 8 gels for some time. Then the rain really hit and the gusts nearly made me standstill at times. Still averaged around 220 for the Galibier. The downhill was fine just the parts where it blew sand and stones around wasn’t fun and some of the gusts. Made up a lot of places, it is amazing how much difference the thin air makes to the speed you get.
Filled up on the bottom of the Alp and downed 2 cups of coke. Felt good for the first 20min went to hard at 255… Started to crack and laboured to the water station on the church… Refilled bottle and another coke. Started to get chest pain as soon as I pushed into mid Z2. Had to stop at bend 6 or 5… Since I’m currently have some checks done because of anemia I got s bit scared. Just rode the rest r easy below 200w and made it… Looking back it could also have bin from the 200g of caffeine I took at the bottom of the alp plus the coke…
I really need the downhills I can make up lot of time there… My 80kg need to be good for something.
@arthurdaly wow strong performance considering the circumstances and conditions.
@ArHu74 for the downhills you need to get comfortable with the speed on the straights and the light bends. Try looking far ahead it makes the speed feel slower and obstacles coming up don’t just pop up. And try to relax and not lock up the joints to absorb the bumps. Don’t need to take the turns super fast that doesn’t loose much time. But if you don’t have much in the way of hills near you that can be hard. I grew up on bikes in a hilly area no big mountains but lots of shorter steep stuff so that comes pretty naturally to me.
Don’t know if I do it next year again, have some other events I like to do. But i would like to do it again and at least get a sub 8.30 time.
Did the alp again yesterday to enjoy it it is a really tough climb but the hairpins make it easier mentally you can break it up into smaller sections.
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Great ride you all! Nice performances. Just finishing this ride is an achievement, no matter what time!
So…my story? Well…I did not plan on doing it. I was registered for L’Alsacienne cyclo in the Vosges, yesterday. But on my way with the car (from Belgium) on friday, I was checking the weather (all the week) and it was dramatic for Sunday. So…just out of curiosity, i checked the weather in the Alps…much better. I suddenly got the idea of just driving towards the Alps :-). I parked my car. Found an hotel in Bourg d’Oisans, registered for the race online and I skipped the Vosges.
So I arrived at 20h30 at my hotel. Got a late diner. Checked my bike. All set. I did the race already 6times so it has no suprises for me. Breakfast at 5AM. Getting my number at 6AM. I normally start in the first wave because it is much faster but now I just took the blue number. I had planned not the focus on a time and wanted to do the first part more relaxed an easier.
The start was easy. This groups start much slower then the first wave. But…Differences will not be made on this part. I took the Glandon on a relaxed pace. Refill my bottles and go on. I don’t use the neutralized downhill to calculate my finish time. I always take my time from start to finish (fastest is 8h07 in 2018). I am a good descender, but without risks. And this year for the first on disc brakes, that is even better…Certainly with the rain on the Galibier.
That stormwind in the Valley, wow, what was that. Never happened before in the past. There is always wind in that section and a good group is crucial here but this time…If I compare to other rides in the past, more then 10min slower. Then Telegraphe, good pace, nothing crazy, just relax.
Then the rain started and first part Galibier the headwind made it not easy but my plan was to start riding harder from Plan Lachat, and this worked well. Legs stayed good and I began to catch more and more riders. I kept some reserver for the last km but we did not do it (due to snow?). So that hard part was skipped ;-). Downhill in the rain was a bit cold but do-able.
At the bottom of the Alpe, no idea what my legs still have left but they still feel pretty good. The first 3km are the hardest and that went pretty ok. And for the moral it is also very nice if you keep on passing riders. Never had that much left on the Alpe climb in the Marmotte ;-). Did it in 1.11 and had a race time of 8:30 (8:15 official). So 23minutes slower then my best time but I was faster on Galibier and Alpe d’huez this year. And was not destroyed at all…So…very nice expierence to be able to ride it with another mindset…
Will I come back. Going for 10 editions? Who knows 
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Thinking about doing it in 2025 from the states. Any recommendations in terms of logistics / tour operators to use / etc? Anything for a first timer would be helpful! Flying from US so figured would fly to Geneva?
Congrats everyone who did it this year!
I would fly to Grenoble (Bourge d’Oisans is just a short drive from there) . I chucked my bike into my car (even though I have a bike carrier but for security reasons I prefer inside) , so you could rent one. Camping is pretty easy in France but perhaps you want more luxury. If you come to Europe all the way from the states you might want to do the Marathona dles Dolomites as well which is a week later. If you want to go all arranged I have no idea.
That sounds like a hassle! Another “uncool” thing to do is wearing a pair of bibs with pockets. Much easier to get your (minimal) stuff sorted! And I make some small snitches (using some scissors) in any packet so it opens as easy as possible…
A shame you put so much energy in the flats. As I stated above in our group all the ones that tried to escape the frustrating slow pace returned within 1km to the group…having burned unnecessary Calories/Carbs…good lessons! Sounds though you really enjoy the competitive elements!
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Rode @gino3004 route suggestion today, all I can say is incredible route in good weather, Motre and D"rnon climbs, beautiful.
Here tomorrow also so will get Galibier for tour stage and deux Alpes climbs in before flying home wed.
Maybe I will do marmotte next year and do a longer stay to ride more of these class roads 
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Sounds like a good time, have fun at the Tour, sadly I can’t really make a vacation out of it, because the Kid and wife have school and summer vacations only beginn a week later. Will need to check how all the other events that are on my bucket list are falling next year to see if I can squeeze it in and the 5-6h drive is close to the limit I want to do for just going there and back without a few days stay.
Haha checked the Photos from the event, you can really see how I started to suffer on the Galbier and then on the Alp, but man 50 Euros for the pictures is just to much…
I was looking also at the photos… I was to other events and usually cost was around 30€ for more photos.
Here I saw that they were other photographs, not just from Photo Breton…but I cannot remember the names…maybe they have more discounts. Do someone remember the sites? were 3 other at least
Photonomades.com (usually in turn 6)
Vue 21 Virages | Griffe Photos. Photos vélo, Moto, l'Alpe d'Huez, Le Galibier, La Croix de Fer, L'izoard, Le Mont Ventoux, Tourmalet, Iseran, Aravis, Colombière, Tee shirts vélos motos, mugs (usually around turn 4, but sometimes lower)
Grenoble has a very limited amount of flights.
It’s about 20 min closer than Lyon airport, and 50 min closer than Geneva, which will likely have the most flights from the US.
Lyon airport is around 2.5 h from Bourge d’Oisans and Grenoble airport around 1.25. (I just drove past Lyon airport today from Bourge)
I drive a few times a year Lyon → AH (both renting a car, and passing by down from the UK - I have a flat in AH), and tend to count just 2h.
Grenoble airport is a way off the highway (I think it even used to be called St. Etienne airport), and on the Lyon side of the town.
Unless you fly private, It can be awfully busy in the winter, on the few days they have flights (used to be Saturdays only), with queues to security snaking outside in the cold.
I really do like my assos mille gt gto c2 bibs though…
I am not nor never will be good enough to complete against anyone but myself 
but I do enjoy that.
It was my first Marmotte and truly enjoyed it. The views are amazing. The downhill from Galibier was pretty scary though due to the gusty sidewind. That valley bit with the strong headwind and rather industrial surroundings was mentally the hardest bit to get through.
I was hoping to have something left on the last climb, but could only do 5% more power than the other climbs, which I thought was a bit disappointing. Perhaps more base-miles next time ( I only started riding after running a Marathon at the end of April) and definitely a larger cassette to avoid me grinding at 60rpm up those climbs.
Very tempted to do it again next year and aim for better times on the climbs.
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hey all, I am 2 days now in the Dolomites. Blown away by the beauty, the parcours (talking about views) and the ambiance of the Maratona di Dolimites. Totally different vibe than La Marmotte and I would everyone recommend to look into this one, instead of repeating La Marmotte. However what totally sucks is that I caught COVID!!! I guess during La Marmotte. So won’t ride it despite me having an entry! (only 8.000 of 32.000 interested riders are allowed). Live sucks sometimes! 
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