26 - The Marmotte recap and racing plan

Table of Contents

• Racing plan

  • The days before

    • Training plan

    • Food

    • Cooling

    • Cleaning and fixing the bike

  • Raceday

    • Waking up

    • Outfit

    • What do I take with me?

    • Pacing plan

      • Glandon

      • Galibier

      • Alpe d’ Huez

  • Recap

  • Descending

• Discounts

• Things I like

  • Gadgets

  • Cycling

Racing plan

This past Sunday I rode the La Marmotte Granfondo — 175km over three of the Alps’ most iconic climbs. It’s one of the most legendary events an amateur cyclist can ride. With over 5,000 participants, it attracts everyone from former pros to weekend warriors doing the hardest ride of their lives.

In this newsletter, I’ll share what I did leading up to the race and on raceday itself. I’ve done multiple Granfondos over the years and had ridden the Marmotte once before. That said, this is my approach — not a universal blueprint. Try things out, tweak what you need, and figure out what works for you.

The days before

Training plan

For this Marmotte, I tried a new approach: instead of tapering hard, I kept the legs fired up with more load during race week. In past events, I trained less and focused on full rest. This time, I tested a more active lead-up:

• Monday – Work day (no training)

• Tuesday – Travel day (no training)

• Wednesday – Alpe d’Huez (2h30m)

• Thursday – Col d’Ornon + La Bérarde (3h30m)

• Friday – Recon of first 20km + part of Glandon (2h)

• Saturday – Easy spin to Bérarde + 3 sprints (hit 1350w)

It worked well overall — although I definitely overcooked the Alpe on Wednesday and paid for it with a mid-ride bonk.

Food

We had Niki van Sprang with us. A 2x Olympian and ex-pro rower. He’s a machine, and he brought a ton of knowledge. One tip: go low-fiber in the final days. That cut out a few extra kilos of water weight, and… yeah, the sixpack came back. Felt lean, fast, and race-ready.

Cooling

We knew the Alpe would be blazing hot, it hit 35°C. Niki prepped ice-filled “panties”: cut-up underwear packed with ice cubes, tied off and dropped on our neck at the start of the climb. They melted slowly, cooling us throughout. Sound wild, but it worked really well.

Cleaning and fixing the bike

Swapped out my cassette for a 34-tooth. Fitted new Pirelli P-Zero tyres (with tubes, never failed me on race day.). Checked all bolts with a torque wrench, and glad I did, my brake bolts were a bit loose.

Gave the bike a deep clean with Dynamic Bike Care and topped it off with Secret Surface wax coating. Tyres at 5 bar.

Raceday

Waking up

Start time was 06:30, so I woke up at 04:00. First thing: toilet, warm water to activate digestion (no one wants to be mid-climb and desperate).

Breakfast: white bread with honey and jam, plus a banana. Washed down with half a bottle of Maurten for a carb kick.

I applied SPF50 — which didn’t last (more on that later).

Nose strip for better airflow (fell off).

Vaseline on my eyebrows to keep sweat out of my eyes (that hack worked).

Quick stretch, some core, then off to the start.

Outfit

I went with cargo bibs, aero jersey, and base layer from Le Coffee Ride. The cargo bibs are perfect for storage, no messing with your back pockets mid-race.

What do I take with me?

Here’s what I rolled out with:

• 2× 1L bottles (1 with double Maurten 320, 1 half-filled)

• 6x Maurten Gel 160

• 3x Maurten Caffeine Gel

• 3x Maurten 320 ISO sachets

• Shokz headphones for max climb beats

• Carbon mini pump

• 2x spare Pirelli tubes (black nozzles — clean look)

• Multitool

• Tyre lever

• €50 and ID (emergency stash)

Pacing plan

Glandon

This was all about control. Stay well within limits, ride steady tempo. That paid off massively. Win the Glandon, don’t lose the Marmotte.

Galibier

Big mistake here: I took ISO from the organization, and it wrecked my stomach. No power, no rhythm. Also, I didn’t really have a pacing plan, so it felt like guesswork.

At La Grave (in the descent), I stopped for 10 minutes to refill and cool off. Smartest move of the day.

Alpe d’ Huez

Started super easy — maybe too easy — but I’d learned my lesson in Calpe from Luke Verburg. Go too hard at the start and your heart rate skyrockets. Hard to bring back down unless you stop.

At corner 7 (second church), my trainer’s advice kicked in: go all in. I pushed hard, passed a ton of people, and even sprinted at the finish.

Recap

What could’ve gone better?

• No more random ISO. Big mistake. Had I taken my own, I could’ve gained 10+ minutes.

• Fix sunscreen. I poured so much water on myself that it washed off completely. Got badly sunburned when I finished. Not just painful, it kills performance.

• Stop obsessing over heart rate. I stared at my Wahoo too much, especially on the Galibier. It made me hesitate instead of trusting my legs.

Despite those things: I’m really happy. I had no idea how I’d perform after my crash at Sloten. And still, I did an amazing time.

Descending

Here is a small personal note. I know that the Marmotte is a race that a lot of people do. But every time I go to the car I descend past all the people still doing the Alpe. I am always shocked by the people I see ascending. People walking in the third corner, Ambulances with overheated people and people almost fainting on the climb.

Please be sure you know what you are doing, the risks involved in climbing with 35 degrees and the level you have. It’s not something you just do, it’s a really hard parcours which you should not underestimate.

Discounts

Things I like

Let’s tell you more about the things I found the past month. This could be everything from cycling to some interior things I found. My random corner.

Gadgets

• Bought the DJI Osmo Pocket 3, one of the best camera’s to vlog and make videos with. Really amazed by the quality.

• Bought an Anker Prime for charging. Never going back to multiple adapters again. This thing does it all.

  

• Updated my phone to iOS 26. I am really not impressed this time by Apple. It feels like a work-in-progress and just does not do it. I like flat design. This is a big bet.

• Bought some Eufy trackers for my wallet and keys. Which is a great addition. My tip is to not buy the AirTag. It is expensive and for 1 AirTag you can buy 4 tracker from eufy that also work with Find My and do exactly the same.

Cycling

• Been to the Graveller event. Will do a post about relaxed cycling and my experiences over there.

• Working on the Plan:Pyrenees. Which is going to be a big event for my channel and professional career. If you have any tips or ideas, send me a mail at [email protected]!

Thank you for reading this instance of Interesthings. As always, have fun in life and keep on inspiring others. I see you on the next one!

If you have any things you want to see in the newsletter or want to share, send an email to [email protected].

‘till next month!

Mark