Alpe du Zwift under the hour TOP 3 TIPS | How I went SUB 60 

As a 67kg rider, seeing your raw wattage numbers is just completely terrifying 😅 If you’ve developed a good aero posture on the bike you must be an absolute weapon in flat TTs and triathlon bike sections

Just managed to go sub 60 yesterday (59.06) at 100kg’s and upped my FTP to 321! Thanks for the motivation Mark 🚴

Awesomeness, pure awesomeness! Congrats on the achievement and please keep these magnificent videos coming!

Thank you for your in-depth review. I love your enthusiastic, yet relaxed form of speaking. Great!

Congrats on the subs and glad to have subscribed. Enjoy your sense of humor.

Yet another great video Mark. I love your direct, no-nonsense style. keep em coming. And congrats on reaching 5000 subs.... tell your kids you're more awesome than them. 1 question though. What do you reckon is the best way of noting your times to each corner other than trying to take screenshots or write things down in a sweaty mess. Strava doesn't seem to give easy numbers either.

Super video Mark, thank you. Taking your advice on each section for my next attempt - although I am further away from the hour mark for the time being, it is a goal. I too did not ride the hill back down on my first go. Was just happy to be at the top and didn't even cross my mind to go back down!

Most important learning point so far - a renewed love of the Rocky 4 soundtrack!! 😂. Currently playing as I wash the dishes!! Brilliant videos - the only content creator who I subscribe to AND have an alert when you post a new video so I can come and watch it. Truly hope your following grows and grows!

Great strategy, Mark. Amazed to see you have had different tries, and reflect thinking about why and how to ride faster next time. I'll learn from you. Ride on.

Thanks for all your videos! Love the hilarity and rawness of your truthfulness. Found you on Zwift and am following you there too!

You are an Expert, in determination and strength, that's all it takes to climb on a bike/Zwift. What you have proved is try hard enough and most things are achievable.

Tips: -Set your trainer read out to be 3 second average. -Don't be afraid to lower your trainer difficulty if your hearing is suited to flat terrain, i.e you don't have a 28 or 32 cassette. -Make damn sure you activate the Everest challenge before you start your AdZ missions, it'll work towards your Tron bike. -Visit the drop shop before you climb, get yourself a climber frame (Canyon Aeroad/Specialized Tarmac SL7) and some climbing wheels, ENVE 3.4 or DT Swiss Arc (quicker than Zipp 202). You're welcome :-)

Really great video Mark- engaging and relatable mate- nice. I like your analytical approach, it’s clear and absolutely right. I’m currently at 1:03 for this climb from just riding it rather than planning it like an event so I’ve got some work to do. Rocky 4 music-excellent and necessary. Turkey leftovers- correct incentivisation Ride on!

The first video of you going up the Alpe du Zwift is absolutly epic. Brave to show the complete footage. Great work. Sorry that I had a good laugh at that. Me myself I am still way above the one hour mark and I feel sick everytime I go up there. I am a bit jealous of you grabbing "my" badge.

Another great video matey! Keep them coming.

I found your channel just now (and by chance). Getting the Alp d'Zwift under 1 hour with your weight is not easy. Great work. Congratulations! My goal is to climb it under 45 minutes, but I'm a little bit lighter than you. Maybe I'll try it next week. Congratulations on your channel and congratulations on your persistence and determination.

Thank you for a very informative and helpful video! I've been struggling to pass the 50 minute mark on the Alpe and really found your math logic for the corners tempo's for varying gradients helpful, I'm pretty new to Zwift but I've been doing some research and hoping the Meilenstein's I won last time I went up might take off the 42 seconds I need to dip below 50! Good stuff, subscribed!

The joys of being a light rider. I'm putting out around 180 watts and still finishing that climb in roughly the same time. It is a crazy tough ride though.

I managed it today too. Used a similar approach, first proper attempt was 60:25 so only needed half a minute off. I set off quicker and was about 1:30 ahead at half way. But, I was tiring, and was worried I’d gone too hard at the beginning. The last 5k was a real mental battle, digging deep to hold the pace. Finished in 59:35. Felt physically sick at the end, but glad I’ve got the badge and achieved that milestone. Congrats to all that have done this!

Great job, love the dry humour 😂🍻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿👍

Did this yesterday (my third ascent). The spreadsheet of your times was invaluable, thank you! It didn't help that my chain came off TWICE in the first two minutes, I was so angry that I was nevertheless able to beat your time to the first corner... The Rocky IV soundtrack is absolutely key.

I got drawn to the videos of you running with your dog; I do not even own a bike but your videos are just so entertaining, keep it up man.

Mark, recently found your channel. Went back and watched many of your old videos and love your channel. I've been riding for a few years, got into zwift during the lockdown. My last FTP test was 306W at 85kg. My endurance is good, but I'd like to increase my sprinting power. I've heard that lifting is the way to go, but I'll admit I'm fearful of weighted squats. I've known several people who have seriously messed up their backs from squating and would like to know your opinion.

This is awesome! One of the most informative videos I have ever viewed on any Zwift element and RU-vid!!

Legend. Loved it. Thanks for taking the time to create this clip. 👍

Good explanation of tactics. Interesting seeing people’s different approaches. I’ve got a rowing background, so used to just sitting at a prescribed power output for a sustained period of time. Nothing too exciting. Best way I’ve found to approach the Alp is to know what my target watts is, and just stick to it. Making sure each segment hits the average allows you stay on track. Not deviating too much from your average is more efficient as well. Bouncing between mid 200s and mid 400s on watts is hugely inefficient compared to just sticking to 320ish watts the whole way

Very motivating! I want that damn badge now!

Thanks for the guidance. New to Zwift so yet to attempt the ride

Thanks for the advice Mark used your spreadsheet idea and what times I need to be at each turn, saved 11 minutes off of my previous time 01:16:02 to 1:04:52

What I always found useful is doing interval workouts up Alpe. This way you switch intensities and have specific rest periods. But mainly because it breaks down your 60min effort into 1-2-3 or 4 minute chunks.. Bear and Grin it SST-short Are my go-to workouts that get you around 45min up the mountain

Excellent analysis - I’ll try again” urrr tomorrow !

I just recently beat the hour up the alpe. I'm on a similar journey to yourself, albeit nowhere near as far along. I'm turning 50 this year, had let my physical condition slide over the years, peaking at 107 KG a couple of years ago (only 6ft tall). I was at 104 Kg in November, so started to watch what I ate, was 101 on January the 1st. I'd bounced up and down from low 90s to low 100s for years. I started counting calories (working out what I could eat that filled me up, gave me what I needed nutritionally, but made my calorie budget achievable), I also went on zwift every day....I usually needed to burn calories at night to keep inside my target. My weight is now 87 Kg, my FTP is up from 240 to 300, v02 max from 42 to 52. I went from being a strong cat D in zwift (which is where I was for a couple of years) to being a catB. I'm not competitive in B and it seems a huge, almost impossible feat to become competitive in it....however that's how I felt when I entered cat C. I've still some way to go to get to where I want to be with weight and cycling but I'll get there. Loving watching your videos, they help me keep my focus on change.

Awesome job, you crushed it!

Interesting to see your time in zone, you spike up heaps into z5+, kills me if I do that! Great work.

As a 108 kg rider, I am working on getting my weight down a little bit more. I average about 275 watts up the alpe, but that is just a little bit over 2.5 w/kg. This video is very inspiring and helpful. THANK YOU!

I’m a heavier rider as well at 104kg. On my second attempt I did as part of Fire & Ice and did it in 62:40. I didn’t really go in with a plan and that’s probably what I was missing. So I’ve created a spreadsheet and will give it another try. Also will just do the road to sky to minimize up front gain/distance. Should be interesting to see how it goes.

I'm soon to be 57 years and weigh a massive 57.8 kg. I ride the Alp standing the whole way as I find I can sit on 240w and up to 250 on a good day. 47 min is my record, Seated would be a very in painful experience I think. Nice video. And great advice.

Evening Mark. I found your channel very recently and it’s brilliant, I am watching videos for hours every day! A couple of questions if you don’t mind? I was 300lbs in July 20 and realised I needed to change my life. Since then I have dropped 60lbs and my VO2 max has increased to 47.5 from running alone (long and slow). How tall are you? Im 6.5 (you must be tall also if you are around 100kg and ripped! Love your videos, you are giving me motivation to push on to 100km runs (I’m a long way off). Liam

I love your vids!! Keep it up!

Brilliant as usual. Very useful having the times per corner and cumulative. Challenge is on. New watch?

Cheers Mark! Followed your advice and did 57 min climb this morning, first attempt. Am well chuffed!

Congratulations 🎉🎊❗

Brilliant video again 👌🏻. You should ride with one of the ‘pace partners’ sometime. You would be fine with the ‘B’ pace partner. He rides constantly anywhere between 3.2 - 4 watts per kg. His route is good as well. There are usually quite a few other riders as well so it can be a good group. Ride with him for 30 mins to get a feel for it then ‘Breakaway’ and try and stay away for 30 mins 😆. Unlike us, the pace partners don’t tire and keep the power constantly. It’s far from structured, but good fun to try and stay away. In a painfully, sick kind of way 🤣.

Love the zwift videos! Try mount Ventoux next

Watched you video today so thought I would give it. Did it look n 61 mins, gutted but was 31 mins faster than last time. So will try again next week. Thanks for a good video

You can do even faster if you do more treshold training, all the green stuff in your workout log will disappear then and be replaced with yellow stuff. AdZ basically is the full-hour FTP test with added concentration so you do not forget to increase cadence hard as soon as the short "flat" sections come.

Nice vid. this popped up in my feed as I have watched your GWT vids. That's a lot of thought going into doing the ADZ. I was watching your power and cadence. Did you run a compact chainset / big cassette or trainer difficulty not on 100% ? Go Rocky!!

Awesome. I'm sitting at 1 hr 4 minutes on this climb. Will use your tips. My added challenge is that I'm 69 kg and 65 years old. Just made it to category B and level 26 on Zwift. I've got my work cutout. Thx

Still at 1 hours and 10 minutes, giving it my all (or maybe close to... without falling of the bike at the end... so maybe not giving it my all afterall 😉 ) - Great video from you again 😊

Mark - great chellenge - one that is close to my heart. For what it's worth, your first tip - looking at corner times and cumulative corner times is potentially problematic - if people go off too hard, which pretty much everyone does the first time they do it, it simply encourages you to go EVEN harder the next time - exaccerbating the issue of pacing the whole climb. I would strongly suggest doing the climb once, then looking at your average power/weight or the whole climb and using THAT as your reference point - try going 0.1W/kg harder the next time etc. Your 2nd tip -fuelling is important no doubt but for an effort of an hour, most people have enough glycogen stores to last them the whole effort without drinking/eating which will have a detrimental impact on breathing. I've climbed the Alpe du Zwift 24 times and my PB is 40:34. My advice on going up the Alpe fast is as follows: (1) choose the lightest bike possible (Tarmac Pro if you have it) with the lightest wheels possible (Lightweight Meilenstein if you have them). (2) reduce your trainer intensity (settings menu) to 10-20% - this will reduce or eliminate the need to change gears and you can focus on your performance not your bike. 10-20% is optimal (as opposed to zero) as doing so will allow you to keep a constant cadence and it will automatically put more power down the steeper sections - a useful tip that you correctly included. (3) draft - enter a race that uses Road to the Sky route - this has a 5km lead in to the climb which you should take relatively easy but it then provides you with lots of people to draft - particularly important for the 2 ever so slighly flatter, longer sections of the climb (4) As above - fuel and water before the ride - try having a whole bottle - this should allow you to focus on breathing Good luck everyone - hope this helps.

I recently took just over 5-minutes off my best Alpe time, down to 91-mins, and that new time was done as the last climb as part of doing the Four Horsemen route for the first time ever, so apparently the best tip I can give for knocking time off your Alpe PB is this: Do a really really hard and tiring ride full of climbs for about two and a half hours before Alpe du Zwift and you'll be golden :) haha :) Congrats on the sub-60mins!

Awesome!!!! Great video

Perfect, watchable delivery, interesting points of info, nice use of technology. Suscribe. Greets from Austria.

Congratulations ...you deserved it !

Why did I watch this, I don't know but I'm glad I did. Pumped to give it a try.

I'm a 62kg rider new to zwift but run all the time I realize since Zwift how weak my legs are lol I done a 1h4min the other day and was sure I was gonna sub 1h and did do a Pb but another 1h4min so only just lool I will get it lol nice upload.

Brilliant to get sub-hour @ 100kg+. I'm only 82kg so got 54'43" on my first go, so my target is sub-50 which is ambitious but one of my pals has done it. He was 59kg at the time, though. I think I mainly lost time through the corners so I like the tip about going up a gear as you hit the flatter sections. Recently Katie Kookaburra did a paced sub-hour ride up AdZ so may also be worthwhile looking out to see if she does another.

I did 73 minutes first time having no clue what I was doing, 63 minutes on my next attempt and 67 minutes today, but that was part of a longer ride including the epic kom before the alpe so I was really happy with that. Your tip of the corner times and cumulative times sounds excellent, I’ll try and pull those out and try for sub hour next time.

Yes! I accomplished this myself yesterday! 59:30. Definitely not an easy task but really happy I’ve done it. Took 3.3w/kg @ 63kg.

Awesome video and congratulations! My first attempt at reaching the top today in Tour de Zwift stage 3. Total newbie on cycling, but I love it. This video got my really motivated to try sub 60 in the future! Cheers!

Congrats on this great achievement. I think we can assume that your FTP is about the average watts it took to finish this since the definition of FTP is "power you can achieve for 1 hour". Therefore, here's my tip for getting a PB without fretting about each corner's time: Just start the ride by riding the minimum watts to keep your graph yellow. Since yellow is your FTP "range". If you dig in, you will see it go orange (Vo2 Max land) and then red (anaerobic) - memorize these numbers. Try to stay away from any orange or red until you hit corner 2 or so. If you time a 3+ min VO2 max effort (>115% of FTP) at the end of the ride, you will likely beat your PB. You likely won't be able to hold orange or red for more than 3 mins so save it for last. Just stay yellow and start lower than FTP. You'll crush it.

The power on higher gradients is due to less aerodynamic drag when you are going slower on high gradient sections, whereas where it is flatter you are fighting both gravity and (virtual) wind

Yup... That soundtrack is wicked!:-)

Have not read the comments below...but PR is not "Previous Ride" [but it was in your case]....its Personal Record. Love your attitude and humility. Keep doing what you do.

I gotta try this now too after watching it :D

Nice tips video!! If I may, we can see few times during the video your power on Zwift and it fluctuate a lot during the entire ride. You should try to keep the same average power during all the ride for more efficiency. Constant effort vs HIIT, it will be easier and its mean you can go faster :) . You probably don't sprint often during an endurance run!!!!

Really good.video. I’ve got a lot to make up at 1hr 9 :(. How did you get your times for each corner? Is that timing information available somewhere?

Hey Mark. I am also a larger rider, looking at getting a kickr bike. All the reviews are great just wondering how it’s handling a heavy rider. You have had for a while now, any issues other than some creaks? Thanks

Hi Mark great video and has given me some real motivation to achieve the sub 60 climb, I’m currently at 101.43. Can you advise how you replay your rides on Zwift so I can go back watch my ride and note my corner times and accumulative ride time. Cheers

More power on the steeper sections has a rather simple explanation. At lower speeds the % increase over your competition will be much higher, e.g. going from 8 to 9kph on a steep section is a 12.5% increase in speed, while trying to get the same increase at 30kph is most likely more costly, especially if you factor in drafting mechanics (as long as you are not pushing at the front). Same reason you push on in a head wind rather than trying to push in a tailwind.

As a 6’5 . Non muscled 119kg zwifter Hats off to the sub 1 alp. Make sure you switch on the tron bike challenge. But the big question is the t shirts look really a really long fit, where are they from!

Like the gel comment - plenty of research showing that glucose/sweet taste in the mouth increases endurance effort - even if spat out - more than placebo effect. Also acts as a pain killer in neonates.

If I want to go under the hour on Alpe du Zwift I just get on the bike pedal and when I get to the top it’s less than an hour. I recommend anyone wanting to go under the hour follow this exact method. You’re welcome, I’ll be here all week. Cheers.

Good way to do it. That's how I got it the first time. Every subsequent time, I aim for a minimum of 1 watt over my 3.2 w/kg average for each segment. So I push out 3.2 on the ride over to see what that number is (current is 222 watts), so I will aim for an average of 223 watts for each segment. If I fall under, I remember how many watts I was under (let's say I did one segment in 212 - I remember I have to make up 10 watts through the course of the ride). Next segment doesn't have to make up all 10 watts, but if I chip away at it and break even again before the end it's fine. Then sprint the end, and golden. Sub-60 every time (except my last climb, where a herniated disc in the back said 'screw your hard efforts, just pedal easy' and I obeyed its demands).

I found a few more watts by sticking a 4 inch block of wood under my front wheel, it also helped prolong the standing.

legend mate!

great video. how did you dig out the corner times from your last effort please?

My PB is 1:24:36... getting to 1 hour is my goal. I think I should not attach ADZ to any other route and use your strategy. Also, I should go in fresh. Thanks for the great tips brother!

Great work Mark. Geeky question - what do you set your Zwift trainer difficulty to and what gear ratios have you set on the kickr bike? I’m not sure if maximising the “feel” of the hill would help or hurt.

Quite amazing how smashed you were during the first effort. Whats your fuel strategy on long sessions?

Congratulations on breaking the hour. Speaking of badges. There is one for climbing it 25 times. I do have that one. But not the hour badge. Close but have to shave 2 min. I wrote down your times for each corner. That gives me something to shoot for. I didn't know about the 3.2 wattage either. Thanks enjoy the video

The reason you want to put out more power on the steeper sections, is because that shortens the amount of time spent going relatively slower than what you do on the less step sections. You want to shorten the amount of time on the sections on which you go slowest.

Mark. Can I ask, where did you find your corner times for the climb. Planning to smash the Alpes back doors in again this week 😉

Quick question on minimalist shoes. I haven't run for few years now. I did use barefoot shoes for several months then out of the blue my achilies went. Not bad but enough to put me off and I used standard 10mm drop shoes but always had constant knee and hip pain. This put me off. Have now got back into running. What shoes did you start with and or would recommend. I did try altra paradigm in shop but they felt awful. Like big pillows on my feet. I personally like a more grounded feel but unlikely to go back completely to barefoot shoe

I need to get under two hours

Is the previous best time a new feature? Never seen it before, but have done workouys the last few times on adz

Hey dude, I don’t know how it effects if you are on the pretty heavy end of things but most people will find 3.3W/kg average will get them up the Alp du Zwift in under an hour...but congrats! Great progress!

Great video...I’m in the same boat as you - looking to knock off a minute to get below the hour barrier. One question? Is there a resource where I can obtain all the relevant stats to show me my times for each turn and the cumulative time. Is it a case of going through all the Strava segments? I want to create a similar document to the one you had, to use during my next attempt. Thanks.

Lol I know what you mean. But that's the quickest way to get the tron bike. The tron is the neon bike. But you have to sign up for the alpes challenge. Or all your climbing doesn't count. I had 20000 feet of climbing before I found that out. But I have the tron now. You seem to me like you like challenges. I'm sure you will get it. I started in April. I have 124 of 133 in badges. Also I run outside with a stryd footpod. And use my phone for tracking the pod great video I'm EZ Rider on zwift. See you out there 👍

I'm getting panic attacks just watching the video LOL. Took me 13 minutes to kart my Wattbike up the Volcano climb KOM segment so this will be a massive struggle. I think I need to put some more practice in before I go anywhere near Alpe du Zwift!

No homo or anything but do you lift weights? I started road biking about 6 months ago which I love (am an MTBer normally) and I've stripped off 4 stone this year. Its also made me realise I cant do both, either doms stops me road biking after leg day or I'm burned from a ride, I lost all my gains this year after cutting. Slowly getting them back. Struggling to manage/juggle cycling and weights, maybe I just need a few months to adjust my diet? be interested to know how you manage both.

Fairly new to Zwift and not sure where do I go to select this ride? Do you have to be at a certain level before it is available?

Great job and cool methodology. I thought I was doing good until I realized Zwift sets THE "Trainer Difficulty" at 50% (in the set up area)..now at 100%...well I am back to the drawing board.

It’s easier to take the time off at the last 5 corners, and also the keep the power up through the flatter transitions.

I'm 92kg and got a 54:14 about a month ago. I almost died

Good video

Nice video i will leave a abo :) my first try on Alpe was 100mins so 1h 40min... 103kg and 1 month into zwift. Getting on zwift was the best to lose wight and get fit (not just lifting wights) that i did till now

Yippie I did it on my 3rd attempt😎 64.35 down to 59.32 3.2w/k on the nose using your plan thanks Mark. Nearly required CPR and was swallowing puke for the last 3 mins... 🤢 had to ave 4.5 w/g when I saw eta 60.20

The reason effort is better expended on steeper sections is air resistance - the drag inflicted by air resistance goes up in proportion to the square of the speed. So you are better off investing effort to go quicker when you speed is lowest, because then more of the energy goes into getting you up the hill and less in pushing air out of the way in front of you.

Your watts are crazy, my ftp is only 227 but the first time I did the alpe I did it in 53:53 after 3 months cycling. But I way 60kg