I was in pen 14. By the time we got to Ramaz it was 45C. Made all the time cuts except for the last at Joux Plane. However hurled down to Morzine and they gave me a medal anyway. I did not complain. Thanks for all your videos. They were very helpful. However I dont think I am going to try this again. At age 72, its a little too much for this body to take coming all the way from the USA.
I had a similar experience; started in pen 14, made it around half way up the col de la Ramaz and got caught by the broom wagon. At that point my wahoo measured 46C! Had I managed to start earlier &/or the heat had been ~10 degs lower, then I may have made it. Thanks for all the videos Mike, they were really helpful. Good luck on your next event.
@timatkinson3972 I just made the time cut at top of Joux Plane: I died completely on the Ramaz & had decided at the plateau to jack it in as I was completely broken. I woke up with a bad case of Delhi belly as they used to call it, felt sick all day & my carefully crafted nutrition stratgy went the same way as my breakfast ie very quickly down the toilet. Somehow made stupid decision to carry on at top of the Ramaz. Crawled up Joux Plane in 2 hrs - beat time by 5.5 mins - brutal day
+1 for the blackcurrant waffly things! I didn't get to start till 845am, by the time we got to the Ramaz it looked like a scene from Saving Private Ryan, bodies everywhere! I was just happy to finish inside the time cut, had about half hour to spare....loved every minute of it! 😂
@@CyclingInTheAlps I’d go along with that. The sun had started to dip by the time we got to the upper slopes on the Joux Plane but, boy, was the Ramaz hot! It was especially bad around the tunnel sections and the contrasting cold inside the tunnel was enough to really confuse the body!
Started at 7:45 in pen 6 took me 6:35h to finnish - and apparently i was amoung the few ones not over-estimating their arrival time. I overtook the entire time riders from earlier pens. Almost cracked on the last climb but managed at the end to hold a decent 200W the entire climb (70kg rider). All in all a very nice experience, awesome roads, perfect organization and a super atmosphere from the crowds on the side of the road.
There was a drink station at the top of Joux? Was so glad to have crossed the line I didn’t even notice. Started pen 9, pace was good until the Ramaz then it all fell apart. I’ve never witnessed so many people needing medical assistance and vomit! One fella was sick on the bike and kept going! Finished under 11’ish hours - finishing was the aim and next time is the time but think I will come to the south of France to heat climatisé beforehand!
2 blokes with hosepipes. There should have been something more substantial with the change of official finishing line at the summit. Well done for finishing.
I rode that day pen 11 and the heat on the Ramaz was brutal. Luckily by the time I got to the base of the Joux Plane we had some clouds cove taking the sting out of the heat make the climb much easier than the penultimate climb (imho) thanks for the vids I watched them all and used them in prep for my first Etape at the age of 55. Ride safe !
Well done!! I just L’Etape Texas and only the 25 miles!! Great respect for you mate!! Du Tour is no joke!! Definitely on my list.. one day. But first I need a ton of training!!! A ton.. maybe two!
i did it too. i was very much considering throwing my bike off the edge of the cliff on the Cold de la Ramaz and giving up cycling as a whole 😂 my god was it hot!
Thanks for the videos before and after. I started in pen 7 and went out really conservatively but still got very hot on the Ramaz and doused myself in a lot of water. I thought last year’s Etape was really hot and hard (more climbing) but for whatever reason the Joux Plane felt harder than Alpe D’Huez. Still a great adventure and made it home in one piece.
Its often stated that the JP is one of the hardest climbs in pro racing but then its always, like ADH, at the end of the stage. 2023 was a more dynamic course that the 3 massive slogs of 2022 - two very different profils and whilst no altitude of sorts to deal with this year, the heat was on another level! Thanks for watching.
Thanks Mike, brilliant effort and for all your posts. Wheel sucked from pen 14 to top of Saxal. Had to stop for a guy who was in a bad way after a crash on the Jambaz descent, failed to make the cut at the top of Ramaz after multiple stops. Your blogs are fantastic
Chapeau Mike - they say misery loves company, fuck yes it does!! I finished the L'etape in 7:50 and so happy to hear you too suffered in the heat like I did. My nutrition plan was much improved over last year, but i didn't prepare for the heat . . . thank you for your video's throughout the winter months and spring in anticipation of what to anticipate. Many thanks and look forward to your future posts!
Thanks Joe. I thought I was acclimatised as I live in the next Valley!! Its strange how the heat can affect you differently from day to day. That said, I revisited the Ramaz and JP last weekend and with 16 degrees at the summits it only took me around an hour on each!. Thanks for watching, Mike
I started to at 8:45. It was the longest day on the saddle in my entire life. Finishing time 10:19. I made it half an hour before the cut off time. I only wanted to finish. The time didn’t matter. Thank you for your Videos, they helped me to get prepared. Good job. And I enjoyed every minute too
This was my 2nd Etape (first was 2018) and I felt like throwing in the towel too on the Ramaz. Although when I got to the top, I thought you've at least got to give the Joux Plane a go (I'd done it on the Tacx / Garmin videos a few times which helped) Finished in 10:30, longest day on a bike. Spent a couple of days in Les Gets, such a beautiful part of the world. Well done on completing it.
Same Dylan - Ramaz broke me completely but I had to see that last bloody hill - 11.24 crossing the summit - utterly elated but absolutely broken. Brutal is the only word for it
It was my first L'Etape in France and first race with 2000 m + climbing. Things gone bad starting from the shelters in the Col de la Ramaz and survival mode was switched on on the last climb. Great race, definatelly will return back next year!
Thank you for all the work you do to help people discover the EDT. This was my first EDT, I was able to discover all the climbs before the race and it was wonderful. Until the middle of the Ramaz it was a piece of cake for me but in the tunnel I got cramps and completely changed my mind, I thought I was DNF but with hydration and food, I finished in 8h09 (before the Ramaz my pace was under 7H). I guess I wasn't trained to ride in such heat.
I could copy/paste what you said about the heat in the Ramaz, I ended up meeting my goal of less than 7h but man I lost so much time in the Ramaz, and then Joux Plane I didn't stop but it was such a slow crawl, 1h20 minutes for what should have taken 15 minutes less at least. But it's all good it means room for improvement :)
By contrast it was only 16 degrees at the Ramaz and JP summit yesterday which suited me much better and I was just over the hour on the Ramaz and just under on the JP. For me, the heat of the Etape was on another level! Thanks for watching. Mike
Thank you for this wrap-up! I'm still editing my own video of the experience. Started in pen 3 (2xxx numbers) and glad I started early. As a person who lives in Washington, DC, and is a native of Salt Lake City the heat wasn't as much of an issue for me - especially given the humidity is far lower than in the DC marshland. I paced myself well and thanks to your recce videos I had an idea of what to expect. Glad you made it through unscathed! Cheers! - Rudi from DC
I was back on the Ramaz and the JP this morning and it was about 20 degrees cooler! A much more pleasant experience to get a sub hour Joux Plane! Glad you had a good ride and thanks for the feedback.
Absolutely brutal day Mike - fwiw the vids really helped - though even with the amount of planning i still found the cou & feu harder than i thought theyd be
I watched your preparation videos, it was really good to see what I could expect. But prep videos cannot prepare you to the heat :-). At age 48 it was my first Etape, finished in 10:04 but had a mechanical issue and lost 25 minutes there... at one of the stops my tubeless tyre popped out due to the heat. It was a good lesson for me, in such heat I have to use lower pressure so that when I stop and there is no cooling effect from the wind then the tyre pressure would stay below the limit under the direct scorching sun (or put the bike in the shade). Luckily there was mechanical support there. I had to throw away my airliner from the tyre as I cannot install the tyre with bare hands when the airliner is inserted. Luckily I had enough sealant remaining in the tyre and it was fine for the rest of the race. My fuel strategy was fully based on Beta Fuel 80 and some electrolyte gels, it was working fine for me surprisingly well. For instance, when I tried to eat a banana at the last station before Joux Plane I nearly got sick :-) I had to throw away half of the banana and reverted back to fluid fuel. The last 4 km of Joux Plane was super hard, had to stop several times too. I will be there next year, waiting for your 2024 prep videos :-)
Chapeau for finishing - that sounds like a nightmare. I heard that there was a number of tyre explosions in the overnight bike compound in Annemasse. Interesting that you just used liquids / gels.
+1 to those comments. Almost threw in the towel too - but thanks to the cold water hose, some locals handing out cold water, and the clouds I finished it. Ramaz was the worst climb ever. I got terrible cramps (and I never cramp) - it’s almost impossible to stay hydrated and take in enough salt in that heat. Cheers to anyone who finished - it was a BIG BIG Day.
Well done. Was in pen 10 and pretty much same as you with the heat. Had friends at Taninges also and tempted to Jack but managed to soldier on and got round in just under 10 hours. Friends since said they wouldn’t have let me in the car!
Mike, Tim here from Burnley, good to ride with you early on, was hoping for a 7 hour ride, but for the first time ever I was sick at the RAMAZ summit and the base of the Joux plane, thought it was going to be DNF but struggled up the Joux plane on empty, having not eaten for the last 50 km, finished in 7 h 18min - tough day at the office !!
Mike, next year for one of your videos your should do a deep dive into the whole cut off times for the Etape. It is somewhat unique to this event. I followed your advice- took an extra water bottle and enough gels so I didn't have to stop at the first two rest stops. Refilled my bottles at the community water fountains which fortunately were running that day. I had taped the cut-off times to my stem and made each one except for the last at the top Joux Plane. Otherwise keep up the good work.
Thats a great idea Lee. Only thing is that the cut offs are not announced until quite near to the event and having seen how few views some of my Etape preparation videos got I wonder whether that would be worthwhile of the effort. I'll make a note to consider it for next year when hopefully we will be making enough from RU-vid to cover the costs of the effort to create content. Thank you for the suggestion, Mike
All of these shared experiences have made me realise it wasn’t just me falling to pieces on the Ramaz! I am usually fine with the heat but on the day I was zapped. About 8:15 without the stops. I forgot my bidons and didn’t drink until the first water station. I paid for it!
It seems the Ramaz is where it all went wrong. I still have to set the reminder on my Garmin for every 20 minutes to remind me to drink and eat. Thanks for watching.
Bravo and thanks for all your videos each year. Regarding carb loading - that should start on Friday morning for a Sunday race and taper off amount of eating towards Saturday night so you don’t wake up with a full belly trying to process good. Also for morning of breakfast avoid fiber and extra protein. Keep things as simple as possible for the gut and it takes extra energy for it to process fat and protein. Once on the bike aim for at least 90g but make sure you’ve trained your gut the two months leading up to the race to take in that much. Keep up the good work with the videos!!!
2 months before! Wow. TBH I would always carb load a few days before but I've never aimed to eat so much in the morning. I've been following Cameron Nicholls ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oUVT5Sn7ofk.html and trying to adopt the same plan. Thanks for the feedback and advice - I will give all that a go for the Swiss Marmotte. Cheers Mike
@@CyclingInTheAlps will check out his advice for sure! To be clear you want at least 1 full month if not two months just to train your gut for 90g or more per hour while on the bike. The carbo loading pre-race starts 48hrs prior to the race.
@@doug8263 OK Doug I think thats one for next year, I have one long event left this Summer and its only 2 weeks away. Everything else is much shorter. Thanks again Mike
My Wahoo showing a max of 43°C during 2019 Albertville-Val Thorens, 41°C during 2022 Briançon-Alpe d'Huez, and 42°C during 2023 Annemasse-Morzine. Just business as usual in terms of temperature ...
Hey Mike.. Massive thank you , the info and vids over the past year... in fairness i found Val Thorens 2019 harder but i believe like you my fuel strategy was spot on this time. Whereas in 2019 I winged it.. My mate suffered with the heat, vomiting on the ramaz, and my other mate had a mechanical... it was a tough day... luckily i was in the area for almost 4 weeks, i got to do the full loop of Joux plane on the same day as the pros.. it was rammed.. got caught in the rain back down the other side... Where do you think 2024 will be? Colmian, Turini? Or Thorens again... My mate is now fully aware of what is required... but like any challenge, most og it is in your head... look forward to the future videos.. perhaps just film the stem... 😂😂 thats all a lot will see on the day..
I've spoken to a few people who chucked up. Thats a new one on me - thankfully I haven't seen that before. My guess for 2024 would be in the Nice area as they missed out during the Covid year. Thanks for watching all the videos, cheers Mike
Did you realize that for the last two km's up on Joux Plane the km markers did show a wrong gradient of (if I remember correctly) 5% and 2%? I was looking for the gradient to ease up around the next corner, and it never happened!
