FRANCE / ITALY / SWITZERLAND · SPORTIVE

HAUTE ROUTE ALPS TRAINING PLAN.

Seven days of timed Alpine stage racing — 920km from Nice to Geneva over 21,000m of climbing, including Bonette, Galibier, Iseran, Colombière, and Joux Plane. Each stage is timed against the field; the GC after stage 7 is what people remember. ASO-quality logistics, transfer trucks, mass starts, and a peloton that races every day.

920 km·21,000 m climbing·7 days (stage race)·August

THE OVERVIEW

WHAT THE HAUTE ROUTE ALPS ACTUALLY IS

TERRAIN

Seven daily stages averaging 130km and 3,000m of climbing, all timed independently with a cumulative GC. Each stage features two or three HC/Cat-1 climbs — Bonette, Galibier, Iseran, Madeleine, Colombière, Joux Plane — sometimes paired with summit finishes, sometimes with valley descents into the line. Distance and climbing vary by stage; some days are 90km/3,500m climbing, others 160km/2,500m.

WEATHER

Late August in the Alps swings hard. Valley starts at 12-18°C, summit temperatures on Bonette and Iseran (above 2,500m) often 2-5°C, and exposed descents off the high cols turn cold fast in cloud or wind. Afternoon thunderstorms above 2,000m are weekly events — riders chasing GC time start early and finish before the front lands.

FITNESS DEMANDS

WHAT YOU NEED TO ARRIVE WITH.

MINIMUM FTP

3.4 W/kg

to finish, well-fuelled

COMPETITIVE FTP

4.2 W/kg

to ride the day on your terms

ENDURANCE

13-16 hours/week peaking 12-16 weeks out, with at least three back-to-back long-ride weekends totalling 10+ hours each (5-6h Saturday + 4-5h Sunday). Single 5-hour rides are not enough — the Haute Route's defining demand is recovering enough overnight to do it again tomorrow, and you can only train that with stacked weekends.

WHY THESE NUMBERS MATTER HERE

Haute Route is multi-day-pacing limited, not single-day-FTP limited. 3.4 W/kg gets you through all seven stages inside cut-offs if your recovery protocol is dialled in. 4.2+ W/kg is the GC-contender bar — you need to be able to hold threshold-adjacent power on day 6 with five hard days in your legs, not just on day 1.

CLIMBING DEMANDS

THE CLIMBS, IN ORDER.

21,000m of climbing across 920km is more than the height of Everest scaled three times. The climbs are split across seven stages with no flat day; even the 'transfer' stages have 2,500m of vertical. Three of the seven stages cross 2,500m altitude, and most amateurs lose 8-15% of sea-level sustainable power on the upper sections of Bonette, Iseran, and Galibier. The cumulative climbing fatigue from days 1-3 is what makes day 4 the GC pivot point.

COL DE LA BONETTE

EARLY-WEEK STAGE — TYPICALLY DAY 1 OR 2

24.1 km·5.9% avg·1429 m gain

2,802m summit — the highest paved road in the French Alps. 2-2.5 hours of sustained climbing. Pace it on power, not the riders attacking off the front; the GC is decided across seven days, not on Bonette.

COL DU GALIBIER

MID-WEEK STAGE

17.7 km·5.5% avg·1245 m gain

2,642m summit, often paired with Télégraphe as a back-to-back climb. Sustained tempo for 75-90 minutes. The descent into Valloire is fast and exposed — pack a gilet for the summit even on warm days.

COL DE L'ISERAN

MID-TO-LATE-WEEK STAGE

13 km·7.4% avg·962 m gain

2,764m — the highest paved pass in the Alps. Steeper than Bonette and Galibier on average. The upper third bites: altitude, gradient, and three days of accumulated fatigue all land in the same 30 minutes.

COL DE LA MADELEINE

BACK-HALF STAGE

19.2 km·7.9% avg·1517 m gain

Sustained 7-8% for 90+ minutes. No respite — the gradient barely changes from base to summit. Where amateurs who haven't trained back-to-back long days first feel the multi-day cost.

COL DE LA COLOMBIÈRE

LATE-WEEK STAGE

16.3 km·6.8% avg·1108 m gain

Comes on day 6 or 7 most years — by this point you're racing the leaderboard and the legs simultaneously. The final 4km steepen to 9-10% and shed riders who paced the climb on early-week feel.

COL DE JOUX PLANE

FINAL STAGE APPROACH TO GENEVA

11.6 km·8.5% avg·14% max·989 m gain

Famous as one of the hardest cols of the Tour de France finishes. 8.5% sustained over 11.6km on day 7 legs. The GC is won and lost here — sub-threshold riders climb in pieces, rested riders take chunks of time.

EXPECTED FINISH TIMES

WHERE YOU'LL LAND.

Use these bands to set a realistic goal. Pick the band closest to your current fitness — not the one above it. Pacing a band you haven't earned is the fastest way to a back-half blow-up.

FIRST-TIME FINISHER (COMPLIANCE)

55-65 hours total / 7-9h daily average

FTP 3.2-3.6 W/kg, 11-13 hours/week training, two back-to-back long-ride weekends (10+ hours combined), Alpine climbing experience.

MID-PACK RIDER

45-55 hours total / 6-8h daily average

FTP 3.6-4.0 W/kg, 13-15 hours/week training, multiple multi-day rides in the legs, refined recovery protocol, gut trained to 90g+ carbs/hour.

TOP-THIRD GC CONTENDER

38-45 hours total / 5-6:30h daily average

FTP 4.0-4.5 W/kg, 15-18 hours/week training, racing background, structured threshold + sustained climbing blocks, altitude exposure 14+ days pre-race.

FRONT-OF-FIELD GC

32-38 hours total / 4:30-5:30h daily average

FTP 4.5+ W/kg, 18-22 hours/week training, sub-threshold for 4+ hours daily, full altitude camp 3+ weeks pre-race, sub-2% body fat margin from race weight.

Ask Roadman about your Haute Route Alps target →

THE TRAINING PLAN

HOW LONG TILL YOUR HAUTE ROUTE ALPS?

Six weeks-out windows, each built around the demands of this course. Pick the one that matches your window today. The framework is free; coaching makes it personal.

16 WEEKS OUT

BASE PHASE

Aerobic foundation. High volume, low intensity. Don't skip this.

12 WEEKS OUT

LATE BASE

Bridge phase. Volume still rules, but structure begins.

8 WEEKS OUT

BUILD PHASE

Structured intensity enters. Threshold + VO2 max work.

4 WEEKS OUT

PEAK PHASE

Event-specific sharpening. Volume drops, quality rises.

2 WEEKS OUT

TAPER

Sharpness is banked. Now shed fatigue.

1 WEEK OUT

RACE WEEK

Don't do anything clever. Eat, sleep, show up.

FUELLING STRATEGY

EAT LIKE THE DAY DEMANDS.

Haute Route fuelling is on-bike + off-bike, and the off-bike side is where most amateurs lose the week. On the bike: 80-100g carbs/hour for 5-7 hours, every stage, every day — that's roughly 32 gels-equivalent across a stage, plus solid food at every feed zone. Daily total carb intake during race week climbs to 8-10g/kg body weight (a 70kg rider eats 560-700g of carbs across the day) — well above what most amateurs eat in normal training. Protein matters at multi-day events more than single-day ones: 1.5-2g/kg/day to support overnight muscle repair. The recovery window is non-negotiable: a carb-protein shake (3:1 ratio) within 30 minutes of crossing every finish line, then a real meal within 90. Asker Jeukendrup's research on multiple transportable carbohydrates underpins the standard 2:1 glucose-fructose mix used by most riders. Sleep is fuel — riders banking 7-8 hours per night across the week recover; riders sleeping 5-6 hours crack on day 4 regardless of fitness.

PACING STRATEGY

RIDE IT IN THE RIGHT ORDER.

Haute Route pacing is multi-day pacing, full stop. Each stage is a 70-80% effort, not a 100% effort. Day 1 power should be the slowest you can sustainably hold for 5-6 hours, not the fastest — riders who race day 1 are riding defence by day 3. On the climbs, pace on rigid wattage ceilings: 75-80% FTP for HC cols on stages 1-3, dropping to 70-75% by stage 5 as cumulative fatigue lands. Heart rate runs 5-10 bpm higher at altitude than at sea level for the same wattage — pace on power, accept the HR drift. The descents are recovery, not racing: eat, drink, freewheel where the gradient allows, and brake conservatively because crash-and-broken-collarbone ends a Haute Route faster than a bonk. The leaderboard rewards consistency more than peak performance — finishers who hold 95% of their day-1 average power on day 6 move up the GC; finishers who chase early-week stage wins are usually riding 60% by stage 7.

COMMON MISTAKES

DON'T DO THIS.

Patterns we see at the Haute Route Alps every year. Each one has a fix that costs nothing — except the discipline to actually use it on the day.

MISTAKE

Treating it like seven independent sportives

FIX

Haute Route is one event spread over seven days, not seven events. Pace and fuel for cumulative load: day 1 effort = 75% of single-day max, recovery protocol locked in from stage 1, sleep prioritised over evening socialising. The riders who finish strong on stage 7 are the ones who held back on stages 1-3.

MISTAKE

No back-to-back long-ride training

FIX

Five-hour Saturday rides do not prepare you for stacked 5-hour days. Build at least three back-to-back long-ride weekends (Saturday 5-6h + Sunday 4-5h) in the final 12 weeks, ideally with one of them in real Alpine terrain. The training problem Haute Route asks isn't 'can you ride hard for one day' — it's 'can you ride hard the day after riding hard'.

MISTAKE

Skimping on the post-stage recovery protocol

FIX

Carb-protein shake within 30 minutes of every stage finish. Real meal within 90 minutes. Compression, foam roller, and 7-8 hours of sleep that night — non-negotiable from stage 1, not 'starting tomorrow when I feel tired'. Recovery debt compounds: skip it on day 1 and you pay on day 4 with interest.

MISTAKE

Under-gearing because 'I climb fine on 11-28'

FIX

34x32 minimum, 34x34 if you have it. By day 5 your climbing power is 80-90% of fresh-leg power, and the same gradient that felt comfortable on day 1 feels different on day 6. Riders running 11-28 cassettes on day 6 of Joux Plane are grinding at 50rpm and losing 10+ minutes versus the same rider on a 34-tooth cog.

MISTAKE

Arriving without altitude exposure

FIX

Three of the seven stages cross 2,500m. At those altitudes most amateurs lose 8-15% of sea-level sustainable power. Sleep at altitude in the final 2-3 weeks if you can (a tent or chamber works for sea-level riders), or arrive 7-10 days early to acclimatise. Sea-level fitness with no altitude exposure costs 20-30 minutes per high-Alps stage.

ASK ROADMAN

GOT A QUESTION ABOUT THE HAUTE ROUTE ALPS?

The Haute Route Alps doesn't have a predictor course yet. Ask Roadman directly — Anthony reads every question and replies with event-specific advice.

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FAQ

HAUTE ROUTE ALPS TRAINING, ANSWERED.

What FTP do I need for the Haute Route Alps?

Haute Route is multi-day-pacing limited, not single-day-FTP limited. 3.4 W/kg gets you through all seven stages inside cut-offs if your recovery protocol is dialled in. 4.2+ W/kg is the GC-contender bar — you need to be able to hold threshold-adjacent power on day 6 with five hard days in your legs, not just on day 1. A practical floor is 3.4 W/kg to finish; 4.2 W/kg to ride competitively.

How long should I train for the Haute Route Alps?

Most riders benefit from 12-16 weeks of structured preparation. 13-16 hours/week peaking 12-16 weeks out, with at least three back-to-back long-ride weekends totalling 10+ hours each (5-6h Saturday + 4-5h Sunday). Single 5-hour rides are not enough — the Haute Route's defining demand is recovering enough overnight to do it again tomorrow, and you can only train that with stacked weekends. If you have less time, the 8-week and 4-week plans still produce a meaningful result on the right starting fitness.

What's the typical finish time for the Haute Route Alps?

Amateur finishers cover the full range. First-time finisher (compliance): 55-65 hours total / 7-9h daily average; Mid-pack rider: 45-55 hours total / 6-8h daily average; Top-third GC contender: 38-45 hours total / 5-6:30h daily average; Front-of-field GC: 32-38 hours total / 4:30-5:30h daily average. The difference between bands is climbing fitness and fuelling discipline more than flat speed.

What's the biggest mistake riders make at the Haute Route Alps?

Treating it like seven independent sportives. Fix: Haute Route is one event spread over seven days, not seven events. Pace and fuel for cumulative load: day 1 effort = 75% of single-day max, recovery protocol locked in from stage 1, sleep prioritised over evening socialising. The riders who finish strong on stage 7 are the ones who held back on stages 1-3.

How should I pace the Haute Route Alps?

Haute Route pacing is multi-day pacing, full stop. Each stage is a 70-80% effort, not a 100% effort. Day 1 power should be the slowest you can sustainably hold for 5-6 hours, not the fastest — riders who race day 1 are riding defence by day 3. On the climbs, pace on rigid wattage ceilings: 75-80% FTP for HC cols on stages 1-3, dropping to 70-75% by stage 5 as cumulative fatigue lands. Heart rate runs 5-10 bpm higher at altitude than at sea level for the same wattage — pace on power, accept the HR drift. The descents are recovery, not racing: eat, drink, freewheel where the gradient allows, and brake conservatively because crash-and-broken-collarbone ends a Haute Route faster than a bonk. The leaderboard rewards consistency more than peak performance — finishers who hold 95% of their day-1 average power on day 6 move up the GC; finishers who chase early-week stage wins are usually riding 60% by stage 7.

When does the Haute Route Alps take place?

The Haute Route Alps typically runs in August. Count back from your event date and pick the weeks-out plan that matches your window.

WANT THIS BUILT AROUND YOUR FTP?

PLAN MADE FOR YOU, NOT FOR THE AVERAGE.

The framework here gets you in the right territory. Roadman coaching builds it around your FTP, your week, your weeks remaining, and your delivery via TrainingPeaks.

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