Next year I want to do both😀 Hope you feel well enough to ride
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Me too but I think my biggest gains are to be found elsewhere pitstops, strategy and especially descending but where in the dutch mountains can I learn to overcome my fear and practice skills
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Yes, Holterberg is not going to cut it, is it? 
You could sign up for Amstel Gold or Luik-Bastenaken-Luik, that will give you loads of fairly short, but steep descents, good practice.
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Yeah maybe I will go to Limburg. Just a short drive compared to Bourge d’Oisans and I think there’s even a crit parcours with a few descents on public ground but due to the lousy weather I never got around to practicing there because I thought all descents where neutralised anyway.
Amstel gold was my first choice but I couldn’t get a ticket.
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Thanks for the links, now I can see better how much I suffered on Alpe.
I couldn’t find still the other that were on Galibier …
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Nope is not gonna happen! Not fit for purpose at all.
If you would ride this one next year make sure your descending skills are up to standard. Beautiful but very very curvy descends.I drove them today by car. All roads are closed for traffic so that helps but you aren’t alone at all…
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Sounds like you guys did it a lot faster than me, because it seems like you had a much more pleasent downhill experience from galibier.
It was the single worst experience of my life. The moment i got out of the tunnel, the visiblity was maybee 2 meters.
Then the rain. So much Rain. Was just pouring down and then the thunder and ligtning together with the wind. Wauw. That was the hardest by far. ( The headwind in the valley and on the ascent was not fun either! )
Did howeer finished, and i am very happy with this
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No never called St Etienne as it is nowhere near St Etienne. It was built for the Grenoble Olympics. The original Grenoble airport is where the Olympic Village is in Grenoble and was totally unsuitable for anything more than light aircraft. The road to the airport has improved in the last years and is now two x two lanes which has improved access but I agree, Lyon is probably a better bet due to better checkin/customs.
Lyon to Bourg d’Oisans is around 1h45. To Grenoble airport around 1h25. The biggest delays occur on the roads around Grenoble.
I have similar ftp as you. What was your finishing time last year and how was the pacing? I would like to use your pacing if it worked for you. Thanks
what force axs derailleur do you have? i might be in the same boat.
My finish time last year was 7,24, I punctured and got sick so that cost me 10/15 mins. Pacing was better than the previous year as I had good legs on Galibier, Duez will always be really hard if you are pushing for a time. Previous year my result was better 280 overall =, but didn’t pace it as well and went too hard on Telegraph, but maybe that what you need to do to get your best time 
Would love to break top 200 but getting too old.
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Ha! That is a great time! What gearing did you use? Does that mean your 2023 year using TR was better than your training plan you used in 2024?
52/36 and 11/32, needed them all. Yes, i was consistent TR for a year prior to 23 (no sickness), reached 300 AIFTP, would alternate between 2 or 3 hard workouts per week and do a weekend long ride (4 - 6 hours).
24 I was doing more endurance via Join with last few weeks at 15 hours, too much volume and my AI FTP was 275. But they changed the day of the event from sunday to saturday which meant a red eye on friday and event sat so started very tired.
Its a fantastic route and challenge, enjoy.
This year I got a spot in Otzhaler.
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Cool! Otztaler is even better event than Marmotte. But spare yourself for the Timmelsjoch. It’s a beast ;-). I did Marmotte 8x, and Otztaler 2x. My fastest Marmotte is 8h (so full race time with downhill included, I don’t use that cut off time or rest on top of the Glandon). Fastest Otztaler is 10h…so…2hours longer ;-).
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Pacing is easy. Reserve, reserve, reserve on the Glandon. Way too many riders go to hard on that one. Even on Telegraphe keep it normal. Marmotte starts at about 5k into the Galibier. From there you can make the difference.
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Thanks. Sounds like my 48/35 and 10/33 is good enough for this race? I reached out to TR on the training since my plan is mostly 70% vo2max and 30% endurance based for a climbing race. After reading the entire thread, seems like most people here do sweetspot/threshold. What do you suggest?
Timmelsjoch looks scary that deep into the event, will be running on fumes at that stage 
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Looking forward to it as the unknown is a great motivator.
The main thing I liked about the marmotte was I started in one of the front groups and it never felt crowded or dangerous sharing the road with others. Climbs are so long its a time trial, hopefully Otzhaler is similar and great they restrict to 4000.
I have done maratona twice and there were some scary moments in the first few hours as roads clogged up.
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Yes that gearing sounds sufficient. Difficult recommend what is best for you as it depends on your training history, available training hours etc.
I loosely follow the TR Gran Fondo plan so had high intensity workouts Tue / Thur (whatever TR allocated).
Personally I would always sacrifice a TR planned weekend intensity ride for a long endurance rider of 4 - 6 hours for an event like the Marmotte if time is not a limiter and the weather allowed. Get the body accustomed to long hours in the saddle, practice climbing / pacing, nutrition and also good for the soul 
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In final weeks I was concentrating on extending tempo intervals each week at the weekend. So started with something like 3 * 30 @ 82-85% and towards the event was up to 3 * 50 @ 82%/85%, that served me well in the event and in hindsight that I should have tried to extend that out further to maybe 4 * 45 or something similar.
Yeah. Maratona after first climb, that downhill is scary. Too much bad descenders on a crowdy road.
Otztaler has a good first 30k downwards so ideal to get warm. You should focus a little because speed can be higher sometimes. The first km’s of the first climb can be busy so as a good climber, you maybe have to pass a lot of people there. Kuhtai has some steep sections so that makes it not that easy…
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