Etape du Tour 2026: How I'm Preparing for the Hardest Race of My Life

This Sunday I'm racing the Etape du Tour 2026: 170km and 5,400m of climbing from Bourg d'Oisans to Alpe d'Huez, on the exact route of stage 20 of this year's Tour de France. Croix de Fer, Telegraphe, Galibier and the Col de Sarenne, all in one day. This is the route, my pacing plan, and the bike I'm racing it on.

🚲 THE BIKE: QuickPro AR:One frameset, sorted for me by the guys at Panda Podium who made this whole build happen
https://www.pandapodium.cc/product/quickpro-arone-carbon-road-bike-frameset?ref=25637

👕 THE KIT: Siroko SRX Pro jersey and shorts, my favourite kit and what I'm racing in. 15% off for a limited time with code TBCYCLING
https://srko.co/tbcycling

Some of the links here are affiliate links. They cost you nothing extra and they genuinely help keep the channel going.

Around 16,000 amateurs line up for the Etape every year and it is the biggest gran fondo in Europe. This year's edition is a proper Alpine queen stage, and unlike most years the finish does NOT go up the 21 hairpins of Alpe d'Huez. It comes over the Col de Sarenne instead, which has not been used by the Tour since 2013 and even the its the other direction. If you're riding the Etape, or riding La Marmotte, hopefully this one is useful.

Huge thanks to Panda Podium for helping me put this bike together. They gave me total freedom on what I say about it, so everything here is my honest opinion.

CHAPTERS
0:00 The hardest stage of the Tour de France
0:53 The route: Bourg d'Oisans and the Croix de Fer
2:47 Telegraphe into the Galibier
4:34 Col de Sarenne, the sting in the tail
6:21 Training and my pacing plan
9:23 An early start, kit and fuelling
11:49 The bike I'm racing
15:05 On the scales

THE ROUTE
0km: Bourg d'Oisans, flat run out to Allemond
38.5km: Col de la Croix de Fer, 24km at 5.2%, summit 2,067m. Deceptive. There are real descents on the way up, so you climb roughly 200m more than the raw elevation difference suggests, plus a few double digit ramps.
68.5km: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, fast descent with tunnels, then the valley
92km: Col du Telegraphe, 11.9km at 7.1%, summit 1,566m
103km: Valloire, short descent between the two climbs
115km: Col du Galibier, 17.7km at 6.9%, summit 2,642m. Telegraphe into Galibier is effectively 30km of climbing at 7% with barely any recovery. Souvenir Henri Desgrange to the first rider over the top.
124km: Col du Lautaret, then the long descent
161km: Col de Sarenne, 12.8km at 7.3%, summit 1,999m. Turns sharp right off the barrage at Lac du Chambon and starts on a wall.
170km: Alpe d'Huez, finish at the foot of the ski lift

THE FULL BUILD
Frame: QuickPro AR:One, size XL, 20mm of spacers, 110mm stem, 38cm bar (link above)
Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace R9270 12 speed Di2
Chainset: ZRace Unchained, around 330g, with Dura-Ace 50/34 compact chainrings
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c4dnsMJt
Power meter: Cospoo spider (currently testing) plus Magene P715 pedals for the race number
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c3g0AiMF
Cassette: ZTTO Ultimate Gen 2 on a direct mount UDH hanger
Rotors: Chaser Sport 140mm, 80g each
Wheels: Farsports Evo S5, carbon spokes, around 1,200g
Tyres: Continental GP5000 S TR 28mm, tubeless, measuring about 31mm on these rims
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Boost S3
Head unit: Garmin Edge 840
Weight: 6.33kg without pedals, with cages and Garmin mount

KIT AND FUELLING
Jersey and shorts rather than a skinsuit, because I need the pockets. Siroko SRX Pro, 15% off with code TBCYCLING (link above).
Arm warmers and a gilet for a 6:45am start that is going to be bitterly cold.
Lights are mandatory this year for the tunnels.
Two bottles at 100g of carbs each, ten gels, roughly 500g of carbs across the day. Feed stations are at pretty much every climb so there is no risk of running out.

Race vlog lands after the dust settles. Subscribe if you want to see whether any of this plan survives contact with the Galibier.

Full build video for this bike: https://youtu.be/zdiQtbvrPfw
Cassette tier list: https://youtu.be/5JtN6Sp5OHc
Strava subscription 20% off code TOMBOWERS: https://www.strava.com/subscribe/checkout?code=TOMBOWERS

📲 FOLLOW ME
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tom_bowers_/
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1876048
Twitter/X: https://x.com/fairlylongbike
Zwift: https://www.zwift.com/eu/athlete/bde9894b-26cf-4671-b04f-968b0f5e5987
Business: tom@tbcycling.uk

#EtapeDuTour #TourDeFrance #AlpeDHuez #roadcycling #cycling #cyclinglife

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