Final and last stage of the autumn series. Alpe d’Huez showdown! Wait, Alp d’Huez? Ve, ve,.. Zwift has done perfect GPS based replica of famous and often deciding Tour de France climb, making it that much more interesting since many won’t have a chance in their life to travel to France and try the real climb.
The stage many have been waiting for. Above all, the pure climbers. It is their moment coming. Their element, their game. 12km of steep mountain top climbing with no parasite on their wheel. This is what they love, this what they crave for.
In terms of tactics, there is not much to say about the stage. After a short warm-up approach through the jungle towards the climb, where the majority will try to hide and save energy, the monstrous slope of Alpe d’Zwift begins. Same as with stage 8 it is almost everyone for himself right from the bottom of the climb. Even the duration of the climb is similar to the duration of the TT last week. Climbers would call it the Zen, others consider it more of a punishment, endless torture. Due to the massive popularity of Alpe d’Zwift climb, this stage might attract many one day racers, usually pure climbers.
And just a fun fact for Slovenian riders. Alpe d’Zwift climb is very similar to popular Krvavec climb. These two correlate perfectly well. If one is using reliable and accurate PM and his weight is set correctly, and he will manage a similar power output indoor as outdoor, his Alpe climbing time will be within one minute of his Krvavec real-life climb.
Categories will all do the same distance and climbing, up the long hill to the finish banner, that’s it! 19.5 km and 1.045 meters of climbing.
There are two slots available and remember; you can do either one or both, your best result will count towards general points classification.
Click on the day that fits your schedule for a link to Zwift event signup page.
Saturday at 15.05 CET (3 PM CET) / 2 PM BST / 9 AM EDT / 6 AM PDT / 11 PM AEST / 2 AM NZDT
Sunday at 10.30 CET (10.30 AM CET) / 9.30 AM BST / 5.30 AM EDT / 1.30 AM PDT / 7.30 PM AEST / 9.30 PM NZDT
Here is the VeloViewer 3D map of the course.
Have you ridden the course before? The easiest way is to check the segment in your Strava account.