FRANCE / SPAIN · ULTRA

TRANS PYRENEES TRAINING PLAN.

Trans Pyrenees is one of the hardest self-supported ultras in Europe — roughly 1,500km across the Pyrenees between the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, with around 28,000m of climbing depending on the year's parcours. 6-9 day finishes. October weather unpredictable.

1500 km·28,000 m climbing·6-9 days·October

THE OVERVIEW

WHAT THE TRANS PYRENEES ACTUALLY IS

TERRAIN

Roughly 1,500km of paved road across the Pyrenees between the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, with around 28,000m of climbing depending on the year's parcours. Self-navigated, self-supported, with a mandatory tracker and daily check-ins. Surface is mostly tarmac but can include gravel transitions on certain optional routes.

WEATHER

October in the Pyrenees is the day-and-night problem. Coastal valleys can sit at 18-22°C while the high passes (Tourmalet, Aubisque, Aspin) drop below freezing with snow above 1,800m. Daylight is short — 11 hours at the start, fewer by the finish. Wet weather is the default expectation, not the exception.

FITNESS DEMANDS

WHAT YOU NEED TO ARRIVE WITH.

MINIMUM FTP

2.6 W/kg

to finish, well-fuelled

COMPETITIVE FTP

3.4 W/kg

to ride the day on your terms

ENDURANCE

Ultra-specific training, not sportive training. 14-18 hours/week peaking, with three multi-day training blocks (3-4 day stretches of 6-10 hours daily) in the final 12 weeks. You should have done one 24-hour ride and one self-supported overnight ride before the start. Sleep deprivation training is part of preparation: at least one 36-hour ride with 4 hours of sleep midway, to test gear, lights, fuelling, and your body's response to broken sleep on the bike.

WHY THESE NUMBERS MATTER HERE

Trans Pyrenees is paced at a fraction of FTP — 50-55% sustained — so the question isn't peak power, it's the floor you can hold for 18-hour days across 6-9 days. 2.6 W/kg with disciplined pacing finishes; 3.4+ W/kg with good sleep management gets to the front of the field. Sleep economy and the willingness to ride through cold rain matter more than watts past day 3.

CLIMBING DEMANDS

THE CLIMBS, IN ORDER.

Around 28,000m of climbing across roughly 1,500km — more than three times the height of Everest across the event. Every named HC and Cat 1 Pyrenean pass features in some edition. Tourmalet (2,115m), Aubisque (1,709m), Aspin, Peyresourde, Portet — the climbing is the event. Pacing on every climb is sub-threshold, regardless of fresh legs or time pressure, because the pass after this one is also coming.

COL DU TOURMALET

VARIES

17.2 km·7.4% avg·10.5% max·1268 m gain

The signature pass. Pace it at 60-65% FTP and accept the time — riders who push it harder pay across the next two passes. In October, the top can be in cloud or snow.

COL D'AUBISQUE

EARLY IN THE WESTERN SECTION

16.5 km·7.2% avg·1190 m gain

Long sustained climb with a deceptive false-flat middle. Manage hydration carefully — Atlantic side weather is wetter and colder than the Mediterranean side.

COL DU PORTET

CENTRAL SECTION, QUEEN-STAGE EQUIVALENT

16 km·8.7% avg·12% max·1390 m gain

The day's hardest climb when it's in the route. Sustained 8-9% with no flat. Pace at 55-60% of FTP, eat through the climb, and accept that ascent times do not matter — finishing the event does.

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.

SURVIVAL FINISHER

8-9 days

FTP 2.4-2.8 W/kg, ultra background, has completed at least one 1,000km+ self-supported event, comfortable sleeping rough.

MID-PACK FINISHER

7-8 days

FTP 2.8-3.2 W/kg, 12-14 hours/week training, multiple multi-day training blocks, sub-30-minute average daily off-bike time.

STRONG FINISHER

6-7 days

FTP 3.2-3.6 W/kg, 14-16 hours/week, ultra racing background, sleep-deprivation tolerant, refined bikepacking setup.

FRONT OF FIELD

5-6 days

FTP 3.6+ W/kg, 16-20 hours/week, podium-tier ultra results, 4 hours of sleep per day for 6+ days, dynamo-powered without resupply windows.

Ask Roadman about your Trans Pyrenees target →

THE TRAINING PLAN

HOW LONG TILL YOUR TRANS PYRENEES?

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.

No aid stations. Resupply at open shops, cafés, and petrol stations in valley towns — and the windows close in October as mountain villages shut for winter. Plan resupply by daylight and by altitude, not by hunger. On the bike: 80-100g carbs/hour while riding hard, 60-70g/hour during easier sections. Real food at cafés every 4-5 hours: hot meals, hot drinks, and the kind of calories supermarket bars cannot match. Hot drinks at altitude pass points are non-negotiable for both calories and core temperature management. Carry extra gels for nighttime emergencies and for the inevitable shop-closed-when-you-arrived problem. Sodium losses are higher than you'd expect even in cold weather — long-day cumulative sweating sneaks up on cold-weather riders. Sleep is fuel: aim for 5-7 hours per day for sustainable progress; less and the third-day cognitive failure rate climbs sharply.

PACING STRATEGY

RIDE IT IN THE RIGHT ORDER.

Trans Pyrenees is climbing-dominated. Pace on the climbs, not the flats. Target sub-threshold on every pass, regardless of time pressure — 55-65% FTP for HC cols, dropping to 50-55% in the second half of the event. Heart rate runs 5-10 bpm higher at altitude than at sea level for the same wattage; pace on power, accept the HR. The descents are recovery: eat, drink, freewheel where the gradient allows, and brake conservatively. October mountain descending is genuinely dangerous after dark in wet weather — pick safe sleep windows that bracket the longest exposed descents in daylight. Sleep 5-7 hours/day for sustainable progress; check weather nightly and pick tomorrow's start time accordingly. Riders who push past 18-hour days for more than two days in a row crash on day 4 — the cognitive failure precedes the physical one.

COMMON MISTAKES

DON'T DO THIS.

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

MISTAKE

Treating it like Badlands or other Mediterranean ultras

FIX

The Pyrenees in October are colder, wetter, and more mountainous than southern Spain. Kit and pacing assumptions from southern ultras get riders cold and into hypothermia territory above 1,800m. Pack as if for a winter Alpine event, not a summer ultra.

MISTAKE

Underspeccing kit for October above 1,800m

FIX

Waterproof jacket that genuinely seals, waterproof gloves, waterproof socks (not just water-resistant), insulating layer, and a bivvy + sleeping bag rated to 0°C. October at 2,000m can be -5°C with sleet. The riders who scratch at Trans Pyrenees almost never scratch from fitness — they scratch from being cold and wet, which is a kit problem.

MISTAKE

Sleep deprivation affecting descending safety on day 4+

FIX

Plan sleep windows around the longest exposed descents. After 72 hours with less than 5 hours sleep per night, decision-making degrades sharply and reaction time on technical wet descents drops by 20-30%. The fast strategy is also the safe strategy: 5-7 hours of real sleep per night, taken in genuine accommodation when possible (hostels, hotels) rather than bivvy in mountain rain.

MISTAKE

Inadequate lighting and dynamo setup

FIX

Dynamo hub with a USB pass-through is the only realistic charging strategy for a 6-9 day event. Battery-powered lights die at the worst moment, and 11 hours of October daylight means you're riding in dark for half of every day. Pair with a backup head-mounted light. Riders who skip the dynamo end up doing café-charging stops that cost hours per day.

MISTAKE

Pacing climbs by ego rather than wattage

FIX

Every Pyrenean pass should be ridden sub-threshold, with no exceptions, regardless of whether you have fresh legs or time pressure. The climb after this one is also coming. Riders who race a single pass at sportive pace pay back the time across the next 200km, which on Trans Pyrenees usually includes another HC climb.

ASK ROADMAN

GOT A QUESTION ABOUT THE TRANS PYRENEES?

The Trans Pyrenees 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

TRANS PYRENEES TRAINING, ANSWERED.

What FTP do I need for the Trans Pyrenees?

Trans Pyrenees is paced at a fraction of FTP — 50-55% sustained — so the question isn't peak power, it's the floor you can hold for 18-hour days across 6-9 days. 2.6 W/kg with disciplined pacing finishes; 3.4+ W/kg with good sleep management gets to the front of the field. Sleep economy and the willingness to ride through cold rain matter more than watts past day 3. A practical floor is 2.6 W/kg to finish; 3.4 W/kg to ride competitively.

How long should I train for the Trans Pyrenees?

Most riders benefit from 12-16 weeks of structured preparation. Ultra-specific training, not sportive training. 14-18 hours/week peaking, with three multi-day training blocks (3-4 day stretches of 6-10 hours daily) in the final 12 weeks. You should have done one 24-hour ride and one self-supported overnight ride before the start. Sleep deprivation training is part of preparation: at least one 36-hour ride with 4 hours of sleep midway, to test gear, lights, fuelling, and your body's response to broken sleep on the bike. 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 Trans Pyrenees?

Amateur finishers cover the full range. Survival finisher: 8-9 days; Mid-pack finisher: 7-8 days; Strong finisher: 6-7 days; Front of field: 5-6 days. The difference between bands is climbing fitness and fuelling discipline more than flat speed.

What's the biggest mistake riders make at the Trans Pyrenees?

Treating it like Badlands or other Mediterranean ultras. Fix: The Pyrenees in October are colder, wetter, and more mountainous than southern Spain. Kit and pacing assumptions from southern ultras get riders cold and into hypothermia territory above 1,800m. Pack as if for a winter Alpine event, not a summer ultra.

How should I pace the Trans Pyrenees?

Trans Pyrenees is climbing-dominated. Pace on the climbs, not the flats. Target sub-threshold on every pass, regardless of time pressure — 55-65% FTP for HC cols, dropping to 50-55% in the second half of the event. Heart rate runs 5-10 bpm higher at altitude than at sea level for the same wattage; pace on power, accept the HR. The descents are recovery: eat, drink, freewheel where the gradient allows, and brake conservatively. October mountain descending is genuinely dangerous after dark in wet weather — pick safe sleep windows that bracket the longest exposed descents in daylight. Sleep 5-7 hours/day for sustainable progress; check weather nightly and pick tomorrow's start time accordingly. Riders who push past 18-hour days for more than two days in a row crash on day 4 — the cognitive failure precedes the physical one.

When does the Trans Pyrenees take place?

The Trans Pyrenees typically runs in October. 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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