Finally got the opportunity to knock off a bucket list item of climbing Alpe d’Huez. Added on the climb up to Col du Serenne on the back end. Man, that downhill from Sarenne was no joke. It was epic!
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Hey is the last picture on the exit of the Sarennes decent near the base of the Les Deux Alpes climb (Lac du Chambon) ? Its an awesome spot! I may go next summer during the last week of the TdF(hopefully the tour is actually not running thru there at the time as it makes the riding insane) and end up in Paris for the final stage (and just watch…no personal cycling)
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Yes, that’s the spot. Didn’t spend much time there other than to snap a pic or two but it was quite scenic.
Were you staying down in Bourg D’Oisins? I love the ride back down from Barrage du Chambon back down to the village through the ravine and tunnels. Your post got me looking at flights for next summer!!! I was there 1984, 2004, 2007, 2015, 2016. I went to Paris for last weekend of Olympics this year but wishing I had gone for some cycling too
Yes, riding through that tunnel was pretty trippy.
Did you rent a bike or ship yours out? This is a bucket list item for me as well.
I did the Alp D’Huez Triathlon last year and rented a bike.
I then did a 2 week cycling tour through the alps, again I rented a bike.
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Can you post a race report from Alpe d’Huez tri. I likely will go to Paris for final stage of TdF and I just pulled out of IM Canada Ottawa (home race) so this frees up potentially trying ADH long course if my body can handle the trail run at altitude!!! But its gotta be easier than an Ironman
No race report, but here are some tips.
Stay at the top of D’Huez so you dont have to get down the mountain after the race before collapsing into bed.
The water is very, very cold. As soon as I entered the water both calves cramped and my breathing/heart rate went sky high. I had sit on a rock for about 10 minutes to stop the cramp and get my breathing down. There was probably 25 people doing the same. Try to do some cold water acclimatisation before the race.
I rented a road bike with a 34 on the back. I would not recommend a TT bike. Clip on aero bars might have a small benefit on the flatter sections.
Pace yourself getting to Alp D’Huez. There is ~2000m of elevation gain getting to Alp D’Huez. You need to conserve some energy to get up Alp D’Huez. On every hair pin turn there was people trying to stretch out cramps, laying on the ground exhausted, pushing their bike, vomiting, …
The run, because of the elevation, is tough. There is a very steep section near the airport that you run down which is hard on the quads.
The day I did the race it was hot. I drank both bidens and had to go about 30 minutes without water to the next aid station. Consider taking 3 bidens.
After the race take the opportunity to ride some of the TDF epic climbs like Col Du Gladon, Col du Lautaret, Col du Galibier which are all close to Alp D’Huez. I did a 10 day cycling tour after the race.
My race time was about 1.5 hours shorter than my IM time. So it isn’t much easier than an IM.
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KUDOS!!! 
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I don’t have enough nerve to do the Alpe D’Huez tri yet.
Instead this year I am doing 5 days riding from Bourg d’Oisins (targets are Les Des Alpes, Ornon, Lauteret, Galibier, Alpe d’Huez and Croix de Fer over 5 days and then its a 4 hrs drive to IM70.3 Vichy on Aug 24, 2 day taper, race and come home. It’s actually a straight forward trip from where I live (leave home at 3 pm, in Lyon next morning by 9:30, in Bourg d’Oisins 3 hrs later so door to door 15 hrs)
While there I am considering doing a mini personal tri which would be a 2000m swim in the 25m pool in the village then climb up ADH and then running one loop of the run if I can figure out where the run loop is (probably target doing this on the Tue before racing Vichy on Sunday). This way I can gauge if by next year, my body is up to 3 loops on that run course at elevation!!!
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I’m registered for the short version and looking at tacking it on after Riccitello’s France Camp the last week of July but getting a knee surgery out of the way before final decisions. Also, If you are in the valley and want an extra ride , take a right from the valley road up to Vaujany and do Col du Sabot - it is cattle (and some cow pies) and amazing scenery above Vaujany… You’ll climb up to where you are on the other side of the valley/dam/lake from the Croix de Fer/Glandon and can look across.
Thanks, I rode that route up to Vaujany in 2016 and then came down and did Croix de Fer, so got to see the view from both sides. I’m going to have to figure out where to get enough legs to do all these courses and then a 70.3 at the end of the week!!!
How about the road surface at the Tri? Good enough for TT TR tires, or would that be too risk on that course? So far most of my races in Europe have had nice enough roads to trust TT tires.
The roads were in good condition. If it is raining you may want different tyres.
Check out this route on Strava: Alp D'Huez Triathlon Run | 20.1 km Running Route on Strava — Alp D’Huez Triathlon Run
That looks really tough. 400m of vertical is like running 8 of the 22 switchbacks !!! Does the run route take you all the way to Col de Sarenne? By the way going down the Col de Sarenne to Barrage du Chambon and then climb up to Les Deux Alpes is a nice ride and then come back down and on the way back to Bourg D’Oisins turn right off towards Auris en Oisins and from there there is a “balcony route” that connects to La Garde which is around the 4th switchback on the ADU climb…then it’s freefall back to Bourg d’Oisins and “lunch time”
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here are some image from Sarenne ride in 2015
This was going to Croix de Fer
This is from ride to Lauteret
It is a tough run, if you run it all. However, it’s well suited to a walk/run strategy. There are distinct climbs to walk and then flatter sections to run (i.e. one can get into a rhythm, not needing to frequently switch between walk and run). That was my approach - I managed to switch off racing brain - and just enjoyed some outside time in the mountains. It remains one of my endurance sport highlights.
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Is the run fully paved and suitable for supershoes, or are there some rougher gravel sections?