Marmotte Granfondo Pyrénées is the event that arrived quietly behind its famous Alpine sibling and has been gaining ground every year since. Same organisers. Same format. Different mountains — and for riders who know the Pyrenees, that distinction matters.
The course is roughly 170km with 4,600m of climbing through the Luchon area of the French Pyrenees. Four cols — Peyresourde, Azet, Hourquette d'Ancizan, and the Tourmalet — strung together across a landscape that feels noticeably wilder than the Alps. The road surfaces are rougher. The weather changes faster. The support infrastructure is thinner. And at the centre of it all sits the Tourmalet — 17.1km from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan at 7.4%, topping out at 2,115m, the most climbed col in Tour de France history.
This guide is the framework we use with riders inside Not Done Yet who are targeting the Pyrénées edition. The training structure mirrors what works for the Alpes version, but the periodisation, pacing, and logistics differ in ways that catch riders out if they treat this as the same event in a different postcode.
What Makes the Pyrenean Marmotte Different
The headline numbers — 170km, 4,600m — sit in the same territory as the Alpine edition. But the character of the riding is distinct in several ways that affect both preparation and execution.
The Tourmalet as the centrepiece. Where the Alpes Marmotte builds towards a finish on Alpe d'Huez after the Galibier, the Pyrénées version puts the Tourmalet at or near the end of the day. At 17.1km, it is one of the longest single climbs in any European sportive, and the gradient profile is deceptive. The first 10km from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan average around 6.5% — steady, not savage. Then you pass through Gripp and the road tilts. The final 7km average above 8% with pitches touching 10-11%. Riders who went too hard on the lower slopes find themselves in trouble above La Mongie with nowhere to hide.
Pyrenean terrain. Alpine cols tend to follow wide, well-surfaced roads built for tourism and professional cycling. Pyrenean cols are narrower, rougher, and more exposed. The Col d'Azet is a proper back road. The Hourquette d'Ancizan winds through valleys where you might not see another rider for 20 minutes. This remoteness is part of the appeal, but it also means fewer feed stations, fewer spectators, and less infrastructure if something goes wrong. You need to be more self-sufficient here than at any Alpine event.
Late-season timing. The Pyrénées Marmotte typically falls in late August or early September. This is important for two reasons. First, you are building towards peak fitness at the end of the season, not the beginning. If you have been riding and racing all summer, the accumulated fatigue from April through July sits in your legs whether you acknowledge it or not. Second, the heat. August in the Pyrenean valleys is reliably hot — 30-35 degrees Celsius at the valley floor. The Tourmalet summit, meanwhile, can drop to 5-8 degrees with wind chill. Dressing for a 30-degree temperature swing within a single day requires planning.
Weather volatility. The Pyrenees generate their own weather systems. A clear morning in Luchon can become rain on the Tourmalet by early afternoon. Thunderstorms roll through mountain valleys faster here than in the Alps, and when they hit, they hit hard. A lightweight packable rain jacket is not optional — it is essential equipment.
Fitness Benchmarks
Your power-to-weight ratio determines the character of your day on the Tourmalet. These benchmarks assume proper pacing and fuelling across all four cols.
| Target | W/kg (sustained climbing) | Approximate Finish Character | Notes | |--------|--------------------------|------------------------------|-------| | Strong | 3.8+ W/kg | Riding the Tourmalet with power to spare | Can accelerate on the steep pitches above Gripp | | Solid | 3.2-3.7 W/kg | Controlled, sustainable, steady on the Tourmalet | Sweet spot for well-prepared amateurs | | Finish | 2.7-3.1 W/kg | Completing the Tourmalet, grinding the steep sections | Pacing and fuelling discipline become paramount | | Survival | Below 2.7 W/kg | Very long day, may walk sections above La Mongie | Consider the shorter route option |
The FTP zones tool will frame where your current fitness sits. The Climbing Time Estimator will translate your W/kg into projected ascent times on each col — particularly useful for planning your Tourmalet pacing — and the Race Predictor will model your overall finish time based on the course profile and your power.
One caveat specific to this event: if you have been racing or riding hard all summer, your tested FTP in August may not reflect your actual race-day capacity. Cumulative fatigue degrades sustained power. A rider who tested at 3.5 W/kg in June may be closer to 3.2 W/kg by late August without adequate recovery. Build that into your target numbers.
The 16-Week Training Structure
This plan assumes you are already riding 8-10 hours per week with climbing experience. Because the event falls in late August or September, the 16-week block typically starts in May — the middle of your riding season, not the beginning. That changes the approach.
Phase 1: Base Refresh (Weeks 1-6)
Volume: 8-11 hours/week. Four to five rides. Predominantly Zone 2.
This is not a traditional base block built from nothing. You are coming into this plan with a season of riding behind you. The goal here is aerobic consolidation and recovery from whatever racing or hard riding you did in spring. If you hammered the Etape du Tour in July, your body needs recovery built into the structure, not more intensity stacked on top.
Weekly structure:
- 3-4 Zone 2 rides (1-2 hours midweek, longer on weekends)
- 1 quality session: tempo intervals, 2x20 minutes at 88-93% FTP
- 1 long ride building from 3 hours to 4.5 hours with 600-1,200m climbing
- 1-2 strength sessions: single-leg press, lunges, core stability, hip work — maintain what you built in winter without adding load
Key metric: By week 6, your long ride should feel like training, not an event. If a 4.5-hour ride with 1,000m of climbing leaves you wrecked for two days, either the intensity is wrong or you are carrying more fatigue than you realise.
Track your training load across this block. CTL should be climbing steadily — 3-5 points per week. Watch for persistent negative TSB. If you are starting this plan already fatigued from a hard spring, the first two weeks should be recovery-weighted before building.
Phase 2: Build (Weeks 7-12)
Volume: 10-14 hours/week. Climbing-specific work begins in earnest.
Weekly structure:
- 2 quality sessions (see below)
- 2-3 Zone 2 rides
- 1 long ride building to 5-6 hours with 1,500-2,500m climbing
- 1 maintenance strength session
Quality session 1 — sustained threshold climbing: 3x15 minutes at 92-97% FTP on a real gradient (5-8%), progressing to 2x20 minutes by week 11. This builds the specific capacity for 17km of Tourmalet. The efforts should feel properly hard by the third interval — if they feel comfortable, the intensity is too low.
Quality session 2 — VO2max development: 5x4 minutes at 106-115% FTP with 4 minutes recovery. VO2max work raises the aerobic ceiling that makes your threshold efforts feel more sustainable. Two intensity sessions per week in a polarised framework, separated by enough recovery to execute them properly.
The Tourmalet simulation ride. At least twice in the build phase, find a climb that takes 40-60 minutes and ride it after 3-4 hours of steady riding. This is the specific demand of the Tourmalet — a long, hard climb arriving on already-tired legs. If you live somewhere flat, indoor alternatives work: ride 3 hours steady on the turbo, then immediately do a 45-minute climb simulation at 85-90% FTP. It is not the same as a real mountain, but the physiological stress is close enough to be useful.
Climbing cadence work. Every second week, include 3-4 low-cadence torque intervals: 6-8 minutes at 55-65 RPM on a moderate gradient. These recruit type 2 fibres at aerobic intensities and build the neuromuscular pattern for grinding on steep Pyrenean pitches above Gripp where the gradient kicks above 10%.
Heat adaptation. With the event in late August, heat preparation matters. If you are training through summer, your body is already partially adapted. If you are training indoors or in a temperate climate, add heat sessions from week 9: ride the turbo for 60-90 minutes without a fan at moderate intensity, twice per week. This triggers plasma volume expansion and sweat-rate improvements that make the Pyrenean valley heat manageable.
Phase 3: Taper (Weeks 13-16)
Weeks 13-14: Volume holds at 10-12 hours. One final long ride with sustained climbing — ideally 4-5 hours with a 30-40 minute climb simulating Tourmalet fatigue. Reduce threshold work to maintenance: 2x12 minutes at FTP.
Weeks 15-16: Volume drops 30-40% in week 15, 50% in week 16. Keep short sharp efforts — 3x5 minutes at threshold, 4x90 seconds at VO2max — to maintain responsiveness without accumulating fatigue. The taper does not build fitness. It sheds fatigue. Resist the urge to test yourself in the final week.
The late-season timing makes the taper psychologically harder. You have been riding all year. The form feels like it should be there already. But if you have trained properly through the build, the fitness is there — buried under accumulated fatigue. The taper surfaces it.
Col-by-Col Pacing Strategy
The four cols have different profiles, different roles in your day, and different pacing requirements. Get this right and the Tourmalet is hard but manageable. Get it wrong and the Tourmalet becomes the longest 7km of your life.
Col de Peyresourde (13.2km at 7.0%)
Target effort: 75-80% FTP. This is the opening act and the discipline test. Peyresourde is a proper col — 13km is long enough to do real damage if you ride it too hard, especially if the morning is cool and the legs feel fresh. Your VAM on Peyresourde should be 15-20% below your maximum sustainable climbing rate.
The gradient is consistent without savage ramps, which makes it deceptively easy to ride above target. Settle into 75-85 RPM, stay on top of fuelling from the base, and arrive at the summit with your heart rate still in a comfortable aerobic range.
Col d'Azet (5.8km at 6.7%)
Target effort: 80-85% FTP. Azet is shorter but the road is narrower and the surface rougher than Peyresourde. It is a transition col — harder than a warm-up, not hard enough to be the crux. The gradient is manageable throughout. Eat at the top if there is a feed zone, and drink on the descent.
Hourquette d'Ancizan (9.3km at 5.8%)
Target effort: 80-85% FTP. The Hourquette is the most moderate col on the course and it arrives before the Tourmalet. Treat it exactly that way — a controlled effort that positions you well for the main event. The temptation is to push harder because the gradient feels easy after Peyresourde and Azet. Ignore that temptation. The Tourmalet is next and it does not care how fast you rode the Hourquette.
Col du Tourmalet (17.1km at 7.4% from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan)
Target effort: 82-88% FTP for the first 10km. 80-85% FTP above Gripp. This is the climb. Everything else in the day leads here.
The Tourmalet from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan splits into two distinct halves. The first 10km to the village of Gripp average around 6.5% — steady, rhythmic, almost pleasant if you have paced the earlier cols correctly. Many riders arrive at Gripp feeling good. That is by design. The problem starts above Gripp, where the gradient steps up to 8-10% and stays there for 7km.
The tactical error is spending energy on the easy half. Riders who push 85-90% FTP on the lower slopes arrive at Gripp feeling strong but have already spent the matches they need above La Mongie. The correct approach: ride Sainte-Marie to Gripp at 82-85% FTP, shift to a conservative 80-85% above Gripp, and only push harder in the final 2km if the legs actually allow it.
Altitude matters here. At 2,115m, most amateurs lose 5-8% of their sea-level power. A rider putting out 240 watts at sea level is closer to 220-225 watts at the Tourmalet summit. Build that into your target numbers. The FTP zones calculator gives you the wattage ranges; mentally discount the top end by 5-8% for everything above 1,800m.
The summit of the Tourmalet is exposed and can be windy. If you are climbing into a headwind above La Mongie, shelter behind other riders where possible and accept that your VAM will drop. Fighting the wind at altitude after 150km of riding is a losing proposition.
Fuelling Strategy
A 170km day with 4,600m of climbing burns somewhere between 4,500 and 6,500 kcal depending on body weight and finishing time. The fuelling principles are the same as any major sportive — but the execution in the Pyrenees requires more self-reliance.
Target: 80-90g of carbohydrate per hour from kilometre one. Use the fuelling calculator to plan exact quantities against your expected ride time.
The Pyrenean feed-zone problem. Alpine events like the Marmotte Alpes typically place feed stations at col summits and in major valleys. Pyrenean events have fewer stations, and the gaps between them can stretch to 40-50km. Carry at least 3-4 hours of food on you at all times. Pockets, top tube bag, frame bag — use whatever works. Running empty on the Hourquette d'Ancizan with the Tourmalet still ahead is a crisis you can prevent entirely by starting with more food than you think you need.
Hourly plan:
| Hour | What to Eat | Notes | |------|------------|-------| | 1-2 | Drink mix (40-50g/hr) + 1 gel or bar per hour | Easy absorption, steady intake from the start | | 3-4 | Drink mix + real food (rice cakes, banana, energy bar) | Variety prevents nausea on a long day | | 5-6 | Mix of gels and solids, whatever your gut tolerates | Absorption drops — eat what works, skip what doesn't | | 7+ | Gels and liquid carbs, small amounts frequently | Solids may not sit well this deep into the ride |
Hydration. August in the Pyrenees means heat. 500-750ml per hour in moderate conditions, up to 1,000ml in full sun at valley level. Sodium matters — 500-1,000mg per litre. Fill bottles at every opportunity. The gaps between water sources can be long on remote Pyrenean roads.
Pre-race. 8-10g of carbohydrate per kg of bodyweight the day before. Breakfast 3-4 hours before the start: 2-3g/kg of carbs, moderate protein, low fibre, low fat. Train your gut to the 80-90g/hour protocol on at least four long rides during the build phase. Gut distress on the Tourmalet at 1,800m is not the place to discover your stomach rejects a particular gel brand.
Late-Season Periodisation
This is the section that does not exist in most spring-event training guides, and it matters here.
If the Marmotte Pyrénées is your A-event in late August, your season needs to account for the fact that you have been riding — and probably racing — since March or April. Five months of accumulated training stress sits in your body. Ignoring it and bolting a 16-week plan on top of an already-full season is how riders arrive at the Tourmalet overtrained and underperforming.
Option 1: The Pyrénées is your main summer target. Race or ride hard in spring, take a proper recovery block in late April or May (7-10 days reduced volume), then begin the 16-week plan refreshed. This is the cleaner approach.
Option 2: You raced through spring and into summer. Build the first two weeks of the plan as recovery-weighted. Cut volume by 30%, drop intensity sessions, and let CTL settle before pushing it back up. You will feel like you are losing fitness. You are not. You are shedding fatigue that would otherwise surface on the Tourmalet.
Option 3: The Pyrénées comes after the Alpes Marmotte. Some riders do both events in the same season. If you rode the Alpes edition in July, take 10-14 days of proper recovery, then compress the build phase to 6-8 weeks. You already have the base fitness. What you need is recovery, event-specific sharpening, and a taper that actually works after a full season.
Monitor training load closely through this process. If your CTL is already at 80-90 by the start of the plan, you do not need to build it further — you need to peak it and taper. If your CTL is at 50-60 because you took a spring break, you have room to build. The plan is a framework, not a mandate. Adjust it to your fatigue profile.
Race Day Execution
What to Wear
August Pyrenees means starting warm and potentially finishing cold. Start in shorts and a short-sleeve jersey with sun cream applied generously. Pocket a gilet, arm warmers, and a lightweight rain jacket. You may not need the jacket. But if thunderstorms roll in on the Tourmalet — and they do — you will be glad it is there.
The temperature at the Tourmalet summit can be 25 degrees colder than the valley floor. Put arm warmers on before the summit if you plan to descend immediately. The wind chill on a Pyrenean descent at 60kph turns 8 degrees into a feels-like temperature that gets into your hands and core faster than you expect.
The Tourmalet — The Final Act
When you leave the Hourquette d'Ancizan and begin the approach to Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, everything from the previous hours either works or it does not.
If you have paced Peyresourde at 75-80%, eaten at every opportunity, carried extra food, and ridden the Hourquette without ego — you arrive at the foot of the Tourmalet with a sustainable effort ahead of you. Not easy. Not comfortable. But manageable.
Ride the first 10km to Gripp at 82-85% FTP. Stay seated. Keep the cadence above 70 RPM. Eat one last gel before Gripp because above that village, the gradient makes eating harder and the effort absorbs your attention.
Above Gripp, the road tilts. Settle into 80-85% FTP and accept that your speed will drop. The switchbacks above La Mongie are where the event reveals itself. Riders with good pacing and good fuelling climb through this section steadily. Riders without it stop, walk, or weave. There is nothing between these outcomes except preparation.
The summit of the Tourmalet is one of the great locations in cycling. The memorial to Octave Lapize — who shouted "assassins" at the race organisers when the Tour first climbed it in 1910 — sits near the top. If you arrive there under your own power, having ridden four Pyrenean cols across 170km, that moment belongs to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
The answers above cover the detail, but here are the questions we get most from riders inside Not Done Yet targeting this event.
Is the Tourmalet harder than the Galibier? Different, not definitively harder. The Tourmalet is slightly shorter (17.1km vs 18km) and slightly lower (2,115m vs 2,642m), but the gradient above Gripp is steeper than most of the Galibier. The Galibier's altitude is more punishing; the Tourmalet's steep section is more muscularly demanding. Both are exceptional climbs that reward pacing over power.
Can I train for this without mountains? Yes, with caveats. Indoor trainers with gradient simulation handle the sustained-effort component well. Overgeared tempo intervals on flat roads build the torque patterns. But the Tourmalet's gradient changes, the road surface, and the psychological challenge of watching a col unfold for 17km above you — those elements benefit from at least two weekends on real mountain terrain during the build phase. If mountains are inaccessible, the longest sustained hills you can find, ridden fatigued, are the next best option.
What if I have already done the Alpes Marmotte this season? Good preparation — the base fitness transfers directly. Take 10-14 days of proper recovery after the Alpes event, then run a compressed 6-8 week build into the Pyrénées edition. Your body already knows how to climb for 5 hours. What it needs is recovery and a fresh taper, not more base.
How do I manage the heat in the valleys? Pre-cool before the start if possible — cold towels, ice in bottles. Drink to thirst in the valleys and add sodium to your bottles. Wet your jersey at feed stations. The heat is worst in the flat sections between climbs — once you gain altitude, it eases. The hydration calculator will help you plan fluid intake against body weight and expected conditions.