My friend/athlete Leah told me that the Alpe d' Huez triathlon was one of her favorite triathlon races. As I was searching for routes for our France trip, I realized that we were able to cover the entire bike course from the race. With our Airbnb located at the base of Alpe d' Huez, all we needed to do was ride towards the lake (near the town of Allemond) to start the bike course. With our athlete Bara in town from Czech, we headed out in the morning and warmed up our legs with a flat start to the ride. For the actual race, the start for the L (Long) distance is at 9:30am. This gives time for athletes to bike to the swim start at the lake as the race expo/finish is centered around Le Bourg and the village of Alpe d'Huez. The distances for the L race are: 1.3 mile swim 73 mile bike (10,500 feet elevation gain) 11.9 mile run (1,150 feet elevation gain) One we got on the course, the next 10 miles were fast as it was a gradual descend. The road was a bit busy as it was o...
On Wednesday, we completed the 2026 L’Étape du Tour route. Since 1993, this annual mass participation event (currently attracting around 16,000 cyclists) allows amateur riders to race over the exact route and stage as the “Queen” stage of the Tour de France. The “Queen” stage of a cycling event describes the most difficult (ex hardest mountain climbs, highest overall elevation gain) day of racing in a multi-day cycling stage race. When planning our France cycling-cation, I knew we had to conquer this route. We set out around 9am from our Airbnb in Le Bourg D’Osians for this 105 mile, almost 18,000 feet elevation gain course. With our pockets stuffed with extra fuel, we spent the entire day on our bikes, checking off legendary TdF climbs (two of which we have never climbed before) while taking in the incredible views. Col de la Croix de Fer Col du Télegraphe Col du Galibier Col de Sarenne What makes these climbs so magnificent isn’t just the elevation gain (and c...