Thank you @HLaB , appreciate it. Mildly concerning that LBL was easier for you… But also a good reminder not to take Marmotte lightly. I am looking forward to the long climbs though.
Note the comment re jacket - I will take a foldable rain jacket along, that should keep me warm on the way down. Probably better than a gilet.
I did Marmotte 6x. Best is to arrive on Tuesday. Then you have Wednesday and Thursday to get the climbing legs in shape. If you prepared well and rested a few days, when you go at tempo on some climbs, that won’t hurt you for Sunday and it will give your legs the- climbing feeling. Friday you can do a recovery spin, Saturday rest.
I also did LBL 4 times. They are different, but in duration LBL is longer so, it can still hurt, it all depends how you ride LBL. Mostly you go easier there then in Marmotte. Difference is just you have that Alpe to finish ;-). That’s the killer, certainly after Telegraph/Galibier duo. People always think there are 4 climbs. But let’s say there are 3 and the middle as just a slight downhill. 
Watch out for the heat on the Alpe, it can be brutal. When you can descend the alpe at morning without extra clothing you know you gonna suffer later on the day with that warm glow on the flanks of the Alpe.
@Kbonde The coming weeks for me are partly travel (coming from New Zealand) to Europe, so kind of “rest” week after weeks of app 15-20hrs of long rides Z2/Z3. So week of June 3rd tavel + app 10-15 hrs of jet leg recovery, Week of June 10th 15 hrs of Z2/Z3. No VO2 max or what so ever, just longer Tempo rides. Week of June `17th 10 hours. Travel Monday the 24th. During the week in France want to do some nice rides like the loop of Col de La Morte and Col d’Ornon (95km 2k elevation) and Col de Sarenne (67 km and 2,5k elevation). I have done quite some elevation (100.000mtrs in 5 months) so won’t go crazy just enjoy the surroundings. Tapering for me is just bit less volume but want the legs to keep spinning. Rest for the last 2 days should be enough…and then hoping for great weather, no mechanicals, no crashes and just some strong feeling to ride it “easy” and arrive relatively fit! A week later the Marathona dles Dolomiti is waiting for me 
. Enjoy all and travel safe!
Enjoy. Years back we had an apartment overlooking the start / finish. Great atmosphere.
Sounds wonderful. What a trip 
I am only there for one week, and i have the family with two small kids with me, so it would be just the most important climbs i can do.
I think i would drive to climb the madeleine(tuesdat) and another day to climb Col du izoard. (thursday)
Hopefully i get to do all of the marmotte, but i will try to squeeze ind the alpe after marmotte as well.
Sounds like a really nice trip. The Dolomites are d definitely on my to-do list. Enjoy and I hope you the travel works well.
My rest week was a bit more of a rest then anticipated but maybe that isn’t bad and I hope I can get 2 Hard weeks in and then start dialing it back in the 2 Weeks before the event. Still aprehensive about the possible heat, we still had no days where I was actually able to ride above 24C, thinking of doing some of the easier session on the Trainer with a winter jacked on to get the core taemp up and do a bit of heat acclimatization that way.
I am also resting now, after my longest ride of 6hours this saturday. unfortunaly also more rest than i needed, but i am feeling a tension behind the right knee, and i am very worried if this harms my marmotte. i really hope not.
I am also gonna start doing some more heat work on the training and hope that can do the trick. But can you really do 2 more hard weeks before dialing back?
I rarely get temps above 20 degrees and was fine with the heat last year and will just accept there will be no acclimatization again. Alpe Duez was a furnace but when when the finish line is so close it is bearable. Better than a wet misty day!
I have had 4 consecutive weeks about 13 hours and will continue with 2 more 15 hour weeks before dialing it back for the last 2 weeks (10 & 6 respectively).
Weight has been coming down and getting good sensations on the local climbs. More volume and less intensity this year so will be interesting to see which approach yields the better result.
Collapsed on Galibier last and had to stop for 10 mins so hoping if I can avoid that stop will make it under 7 hours.
Yeah 2 hard weeks includes this week 2 Weeks after that should be enough to be fresh by the start of the Marmotte, I find doing lots of Sweetspot and even Threshold I can handle pretty well, and also from my experience last year I don’t need to be fully sharp for something like the Marmotte as I don’t need to do much above TH…
Yeah I’m just really not doing well in the heat so I will try it out. Yeah if it only gets really hot on the Alpe then I can probably manage. Man sub 7 Hours that is a strong time. For me I’m more focused on trying to nail my nutrition and also hoping that I don’t collapse over the Galibier, that high altitude is really hard. my windsock tells me I should be able to do it in around 8:10, but with the stops at aid station and the possibility of not being able to push as much power as I want in the end I would be very happy with an official time of 8:30 considering that the Glandon descent is not timed.
The one off day I had for another long climbing day next Monday is sadly out since I need to see the Doctor because they diagnosed anemia (just under the minimum Hämoglobin threshold of 13), but Iron and all other markers are looking good…
Safe flight over here. The sun is out at the moment.
Took a rest week after my longest ride last weekend (6hrs). Had some knee issues so dialed it back.
Now i am ready to go again the next two weeks, before driving to france.
Where should i focus? The week after next would be some kind of taper, as i think i am gonna ride madeline on tuesday and Col de izoard on thursday
Where’s the best place to stay for the event, and how far in advance should I book my room? I am planning to ride in 2025. Also, are there any bike shops for rentals nearby?
Personally I would start reducing the volume for the remaining weeks and continue with whatever structured sessions you are doing midweek.
I had my biggest ride last Saturday 215km, 3500m in 7.5 hours and a 15 hour week. This week will be 5hour weekend ride and about 13 hours. Following week 10-12 hours and a few turbo sessions (sweetspot / tempo) the week of the event before flying Friday.
For anyone that rode it last year and intends riding it again this year, will you adjust pacing plan for the shorter / less climbing course this year?
Mollard was a 25 minute effort for me and I think contributed to my bonk on Galibier. I got the pacing wrong anyways but it was 30-40mins from the summit where things started to unravel.
I am thinking without Mollard I may not need to revise efforts down as much.
Any know if the foodstop is before Galibier summit? Last year I stopped in Valloire and didn’t intend to stop at Galibier but was pretty kooked so needn’t to stop.
It is the normal route like always? I would not adjust pacing. Use the (maybe) extra energy for the Alpe. If still feeling pretty strong you can make a huge difference (instead of being dead on that climbing and losing minutes and minutes…).
Many people make the mistake (in my opionion) that Telegraphe/Galibier is almost one long climb. Telegraphe downhill is nothing…So they go way to hard on the Telegraphe. And the first part of Galibier does not seem that hard, but it always is…leaving many riders destroyed when it begins at Plan Lachat. The Marmotte begins when you take that right corner there…
Foodstop is on top Galibier? Not? As I remember…I always stop on top of Telegraphe to re-fill bottles…No stop in Valloire, then stop on top Galibier to re-fill…
Its the standard / traditional route this year. Last year there was a foodstop 2km from the Galibier summit, I was too wrecked to make the last 2km without stopping. Agreed, there is not much respite after the Telegraph (only a short descent) and then straight into the climbing out of Valloire, I put out way too much power on the first draggy / false flat section of Galibier which destroyed me.
Managed 1’12 on Duez so wasn’t a complete disaster as recovered a bit by then.
Noooooo ;-). Just kidding. But that is tricky. My tip, recover recover on short downhill Telegraphe, then push little on first steep bump out of Valloire and then recover recover on that false flat. Because the part after this one does not seem hard but it is 6-7% and you can really destroy yourself there. And with all the climbing already in the legs…you should still be pretty ok when arriving at Plan Lachat. For a good time, it is there you can make the difference, and on the Alpe ;-).
1.12 is not that bad for the more normal human beings like us ;-). Solid effort!
Wow - that’s an impressive effort in a big week - chapeau 
Nice elapsed time.
