Alpe d’Huez Legend Triathlon, 30th July 2025
As a long time cyclist and watcher of pro cycling, Alpe d’Huez in the French Alps was a bucket list venue for me, so why not combine it with a triathlon and a holiday? Having completed some 70.3 distance races I felt this would be a great next challenge without the extra load and pressure of a full IM distance race.
In my wisdom I decided to go for the longest option called Legend – 2.2km lake swim, 120km bike and 20km run. The twist is that the bike includes three significant mountain passes, and finishes at the top of Alpe d’Huez, with a total of around 3,200m of climbing. The second twist is three laps of a pretty hilly run at altitude, which I’d never experienced before.
Thus, we hatched a plan to have a family holiday driving around France, and arrived at our accommodation in Alpe d’Huez late on the Sunday night, with the race being on the Wednesday. We were very happy to find we were located a 1 minute walk from T2 and the finish area/event expo. Staying in what would normally be a winter ski apartment hotel, the place was buzzing with triathletes. Caroline and I both went for a recce run on the Monday which was a bit of a shocker having not run at altitude before (only tried skiing and drinking previously!). Caroline then rode up the 21 hairpins of Alpe d’Huez on Tuesday morning and took some awesome photos of the climb, as I knew I wouldn’t be able to do this on race day.
The race has a swim in Lac Du Verney, which is a watersports only venue with a Hydro-Electric dam at one end. Normally you can’t swim there, despite it being beautifully clear water. EDF Energy power down the hydro plant specially for the race, so it’s quite a privilege. Due to the split transition, I left my bike and cycling gear in T1 by the lake and my running gear at T2 at the top of the Alpe. The organisers put on shuttle buses and bring your bags back to the finish to save any repatriation hassle post-race.
On race day morning there is a shuttle bus from Alpe d’Huez to the lake, or if you’re hardcore you can cycle down to the lake the short way, about an hours ride. We took the bus. T1 was super busy, as around 1,600 entrants rushed to get ready for the swim. When the starter horn went it was a run down a steep slope and straight into some pretty cold water (around 14 degrees I think). It took me a while to get my breathing sorted but the lake is so big I never got bumped or battered as the swimmers quickly spread out. The swim course was out and back, so very easy to navigate, and then it was out onto the bike.
The first 20km riding from the lake is along fast flat roads – with super smooth tarmac throughout. Why can’t we do roads surfaces like the French…? Anyway, I managed to climb the first two mountains okay, about 1000m for the first one (Cold de la Morte), and 800m for the second (Col d’Ornon), without stopping on the climbs, just at the summit aid station for food and drink. It was getting hotter and I could tell the final climb up the iconic d’Huez hairpins would be tough as I could see my average power dropping. Suddenly 10% gradient felt like 20%. When it got to the Alpe d’Huez climb I managed to spin up, but stopped at most of the aid stations to tip water over myself and take on food, as was paranoid about bonking on the run. The local supporters were a massive moral boost near the top, as was the mutual support/camaraderie of those sharing the road with you.
Once I got to the top it was onto the run. I have done quite a few half marathons before but this was way harder due to the trails, hills and altitude, I had pretty dead legs and cramping, and I resorted to walking the hills and jogging the descents. I also could no longer stomach anything except water and bananas, and I was a little worried about the cut offs. Although I’m a reasonable cyclist and runner, I’m officially the slowest swimmer in my family (they never mention this though) and knew I’d be near the back of the field. I managed to finish in 11 hours, certainly in the last 10 or 20 % of finishers, with a high number DNF’ing further back. Most of the pro’s were around 5.30 to 6.30 hours which is insane, although as impressive is the level of the age groupers which was very high. They are built different in the mountains. The race was streamed live on YouTube, the unique underwater swim footage in the lake (scroll to around 15 mins in) is well worth a watch and puts IM race coverage to shame. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJTNhBmpjIE&t=10336s
I’d recommend this event to anyone that wants to try something a bit different. It’s fun to move away from the big corporate events, this has its own regional identity, yet is still very well run, being in its 18th year. A nice surprise is the cost of the race which at €285 for the Legend distance is significantly less than an IM 70.3. There is a shorter ‘medium’ event, similar in distance to a Standard tri, albeit the ride is still from bottom to top of Alpe d’Huez, so remains a challenge. There is also a duathlon and a great Kids triathlon in one of the local outdoor Lido’s. Ideally a week or more of acclimatisation to the altitude might be a good idea next time.
3 comments on “Alpe d’Huez Triathlon”
That looks brutal. Having just posted about my Snowman middle distance, I think your event wins the more challenging.
Interesting and detailed report Chris, well done and thanks for going to the trouble of submitting a report.
A few of us did it from the club some years ago. An epic course made special because I worked as a ski rep there for two winters when i was young! That run is hard. Great report, brought back good memories of pain, pleasure and awesome mountains with the most aqua blue lake. Not to mention my favourite ski resort.