Raced last year, stayed up in the village there's plenty of options for accommodation, food etc..
Easy to get down and watch the duathlon and then the short course.
The ride down to T1 in the morning can be chilly so wear extra clothes and pop them in your bin liner with your suit to be taken back up.
The water is beautiful and not cold despite the urban myth ( not compared to Welsh lakes/sea).
There seems to be a slight current on the right as you line up so the locals pack that side.
The bike is hard, 1st climb is long, second comes and goes before you know it and the valley floors can get hot.
I rode a Trek Speedconcept and Zipp 606 combo and would again.
The descents can get crazy, big drops with a foot high wall, make sure you have plenty of room around you and remember it isn't closed roads.
The Alpe climb is what it is, just tick off the corners and enjoy the history.
The run really is mixed terrain with some long climbs and a fast descent back to the village. It's marked up so you can run it in the days before.
Yes, you can feel the altitude a little but I wouldn't stress on it and wouldn't consider any masks etc.
There's some great rides and alternate routes up Alpe you can do in the days after and some lovely restaurants specialising in the mountain cuisine.
I would place the race closer in effort to a full than a 70.3, probably a 3/4 Ironman.

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It's only impossible if you stop to think about it.

Its AWESOME. Just do it. I didnt find swim too cold at all, no worse than other races have done here ( NZ). The ride is hard - it can be pretty hot winding up the ADH and you have already done quite a bit of climbing before then.

The run has a mix of off road and road and tends to go up or down ( not steeply ) and 3 laps - first lap I found a struggle as my legs were a bit smashed from all the climbing but got into a better groove after that.

I was on a road bike as had been in Europe for 5 weeks prior to that riding in France so was quite well acclimatised to the altitude. I dont see any benefits from aero bars or TT bike son that course, apart from the first 25 km from the swim to base of first col BUT if you can climb and descend OK on your TT bike then you would be OK.

Oh and the nutella crepe thingies at some of the bike aid stations are delicious :-)

not done the race, but know the route very well as i have friends who used to live on col d'ornon which you'll descend, and now live in Allemont (where the swim is).
2 thoughts for you,1) as you start the first climb, from Sechilienne, it feels really uncomfortable as you've been descending all the way from the swim, and 2) often a headwind along the draggy false flat to Valbonnais
have a great time in one of my favouriteplaces, and if you have the time, explore the balcony roads and little roads :-)

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'to give anything less than the best is to sacrifice the gift'...Pre

There are some good tv shows on YouTube that go back a few years, you can see the differing weather that could greet you. Most of them are in French and if you see the bearded chap in T1 from last years that's me!.
There is parking at T1, most ride down / across to it, my wife and coach drove and then had plenty of time to cruise back to the village, there is nothing at T1 so take any pre race drinks/gels/clothing with you.
The short course athletes had a long wait in the sun last year but they start in the afternoon, it was cold in the shade and there was a lot of dew on the grassy transition.
I would say if you are comfortable in the aero bars there is a lot of ground between the climbs and even over the second that I stayed in mine.
The biggest advantage the "locals" seem to have was the ability to fly past on the descents even when you think you're flying!

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It's only impossible if you stop to think about it.

Hardest tri I've ever finished. And I was in the best shape of my life that summer. If you're not from a mountainous region, the climbs are simply you can't really train for, you can just get by with.

That being said, that region speaks history of cycling and you can feel it on the climbs. First climb just seems to go on and on, 2nd one can get hot with an epic downhill and then the Alpe is the Alpe. I remember guys getting off in the middle of the Alpe just to cool down in one of the water falls coming down.

Road bike for sure, you'll probably not even use the aero bars for more than a few minutes. My takeaway, I can't climb for sh*t and Euros are at another level with long distance racing. Ha. It was unreal experience that will leave you breathless.

I did this in 2014 and only have good things to say about it. It really is an amazing race. I went with a group and we stayed at a campsite in Bourg d'Oisans at the foot of Alpe d'Huez and cycled the ten miles to the start on raceday with our kit. Take note of the instructions for the split transitin if you are not setting T2 up yourself. I didn't set T2 up but it was done very well by the organisers.

The weather is very changeable and can go from sunshine to hailstorm at short notice. The weather forcasts are pretty accurate for the next/same day. Take kit to cover every eventuality.

The swim is cold compared to the air temp but not that cold. The first climb is longest but not steep, the road to the second mountain is exposed in places, the second mountain has a more technical descent with low walls and long drops. Some of the corners get tighter as you go round them. Be cautious if you don't get to recce it.

The climb up Alpe D'Huez is fantastic. Soak it up! You still have to take it easy for the run after although I was out of legs but the top and couldn't go any easier! There are no particularly hard gradients, it's just a lot of climbing over the day.

The run is an exercise in getting your pacing right, seeing how you feel off the bike and if altitude is affecting you.

On each mountain you will be climbing continuously for long periods of time. Consider comfort for your bike setup. If you use tri bars make sure they are lightweight. I was down to 44 rpm a few times on Alpe d'Huez when I ran out of gears. My bike had 34/28 gearing which will normally get me up 25%+ gradients but by the end of a day of climbing I was struggling on 10% gradients. Could be fatigue, altitude or both.

The main thing is to enjoy it. I was at the slower end of the race and still loved it. Agree with the comments to pace the bike like an ironman.

Thanks all for your answers! I will definitely utilize the info!

I'm also trying to get a file to download the course to PerfPro or Zwift so I can recon ride in the garage. OUCH! Can anyone direct me to a link or tell me what I need to do? I emailed Drew @ Perfpro, but have not heard back from him.

Thanks again!

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USAT L2 TriAUS L2 UC Irvine head coach "The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art."
Leonardo da Vinci

I don't use PerfPRO or Zwift but it looks like it is possible to upload course files in many formats including .gpx with PerfPRO looking at this link http://perfprostudio.com/CourseInfo.aspx. Couldn't find anything for Zwift in a quick search.

There is a bike route fike for the LD race on http://www.gpsies.com which cam be downloaded in a variety of course formats at http://m.gpsies.com/...eId=zqqdkppaslmnmbhc

Happy to let you have my activity for the race converted to a Garmin course file but I was using a Forerunner 310 back then which can be inaccurate for altitude information (even with map software corrections)but it gives you an idea of what you're up against.

I'll be climbing (or trying to climb) Alpe d'Huez at the end of a very long day in the saddle in the Marmotte des Alpes in 4 weeks time. I'm pretty nervous about the whole event since I'm not confident I'll actually be able to complete it and I reckon I'll be in the saddle 12hrs or more if I do. My biggest concern is Alpe D'Huez, simply because it's last and I know I'll already be shattered by the time I start up it. I've bought myself an 11-32 cassette so that I'll have 34/32 at my disposal rather than my usual smallest gear of 34/28. I have little doubt I'll need it as my legs get tired!
As I understand it the steepest part of the climb is the first couple of kilometers. Does it ever get much above 10% and am I correct in thinking it's pretty steady climbing except for the corners as opposed to short sharp ramps and flatter sections?I'm sure there's lots of descriptions out there to be found. I need to go hunt for some of them. However, I'd appreciate your insight!

Water is cold but not really a problem during the swim itself since it's pretty short. The worst part is how long you have to wait in the water before the start (the swim start is also always a joke as people slowly drift ahead of the start line, but that's a different story). Although it you don't mind losing some time, you can wait for the start on the shore. Then the other problem is the first portion of the bike to Sechilienne, which is downhill in a narrow valley and can be pretty cold when you're wet and cold from the swim.

After that, the bike portion can be very hot or very cold, so plan according to the weather.

Altitude can be a factor on the Alpe d'Huez climb, but there's not much you can do about that. You'll also notice that almost everybody goes way to fast in the first climb (Alpe du Grand Serre) and literally comes down to a crawl in l'Alpe d'Huez. It's pretty ridiculous really. So the altitude will probably be the least of your concerns.

The run is hard.

Aerobars are useful. Some of the faster athletes will be on TT bikes.

I did it a couple of years of ago - still the best race I've ever done. I would echo a lot of what has already been said. Swim was cold but not ridiculous - I did buy one of those wetsuit-type swim hats which kept me a bit warmer. Coolest moment was the swim start when the helicopter buzzed the lake taking video of the start. Bike was long - I would just suggest trying not to burn too many matches early on as Alpe D'Huez at the end is really hard work. I was compact+28 and I could have done with more gear. The year I did it was very hot and I regretted my choice or aero helmet (poorly vented Rudy Project) - would have been better with regular one I think. I remember going down some of the hairy descents just thinking how frickin' cool it was to be screaming down the same descents as the TdF riders... awesome feeling. I thought the run was not that bad - I like looped courses as mentally I like checking off the laps. I didn't find the altitude made that much difference.
Have fun, it's a race you'll remember!

Thanks for all the posts. I'm doing the long course this year so any information is appreciated. In the past I rode the Marmotte cyclosportive a couple of times, so cycling wise I have an idea what's coming. I do intend to use my road bike since I believe this will be faster overall. We're driving over on Monday and do the duatlon on Tuesday as a warm up.

I did last year's race which was HOT HOT HOT.
The swim was almost 17C I think? Air temp was in the 30's for most of the day.
I'm a good cyclist and this course cracked me... although my legs were a bit messed up from the flight from Canada 36 hours before.
I rode my road racing bike with no modifications.
When I go back next year (cuz this race is AWESOME), I'll definitely put on shorty clip-on aerobars for the flat sections, mainly the first 30km.
Also, my good friend who has ridden in Europe for 20 years warned me to get at least a 36 for my inner ring.
I didn't and suffered with 39-28 as my granny gear. I was pedaling at 30 rpm for much the the AdH.
I have no problem on some of the big alpine climbs individually, but when you stack them together, I need the bailout gearing!

The 11-32 cassette is a great idea. I'm not a strong cyclist, it's flat where I live and I only get to hill train when I visit family but the gradients themselves still weren't challenging for someone at my BOP level. It really is just the accumulation of all the climbing over the day plus altitude at the top maybe. Alpe D'Huez is long without a real respite until you get to the top. The first km are certainly a steeper gradient than a lot of the mountain and after the first four bends it gets "easier". I don't remember lots of gradient changes, just a steady climb with the switchbacks giving you a welcome break. If you're counting down the bends on the ascent there are more than 21, they only count the switchbacks. I do remember wanting more gears by the end of it.

The Marmotte looks amazing and the occasion will give you extra strength on the mountains.

Great, thanks for that. I really appreciate the insight!