Alpe du Zwift VS Alpe d'Huez: Preparing For Reality?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- The famous Alpe d'Huez, a climb steeped in Tour de France history. But just how does it compare to the Alpe du Zwift? Chris rode both to find out....
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rode alp d'huez in january 2019 with me on a hire bike from the shop in the valley and my dad 60 years old on his brompton I will never forget that day
Hi, am thinking of riding my Brompton up a few mountains, can you tell if he changed gears or chain ring? Thanks
Hi Mark, he kept the gearing the same as standard, hope this helps
Wow, he must be strong, so I better start hill training, thanks
I’m amazed he rode a B up The Alpe. Fantastic achievement (I have a B too with the max gearing and wouldn’t ever think of it)..
"You should complete it in 45 mins - an hour and a half depending on your fitness."
Me: Laughs in 2.5 hours plus.
I have it still on my list, at the moment nothing more than 600km .. not sure I could do it under 2,5 hours at all. Will wait for a rainy weekend.
I hear ya, Madiantin! (I was gonna say 'bro' - glad I clicked first. :D ) Just did my first climb of this in about 2:10. :\ I'm of a similar vintage and clearly not in danger of entering TdF anytime soo...well..ever. :D
@@teejfalconaf 2:10!! I salute you! Fantastic!
@@madiantin Take another stab when you feel up to it. Now you know what to expect and can maybe pace yourself better. I took 15 minutes off on a 2nd attempt by not charging in so aggressively and maintaining a more controlled HR through the climb. When I did have to take breaks it was due to dead legs instead of blowing up heart/breathing.
@@teejfalconaf @@teejfalconaf I did it for the TOW in just under two hours...but it nearly killed me and I didn't enjoy it at all. =D High fives to you on taking off 15 mins!
Great video Chris - really enjoyed this and gave a good perspective on virtual riding on Zwift vs riding in the real world. I guess the next step would be to setup an oxygen tent over your Zwift bike and as you gain virtual altitude the oxygen is reduced in the tent!
I rode Alpe d Huez twice last time 5 years ago and when it came to Zwift immediately went up for comparison. Found it very similar but slower indoors. Probably fitter when actually there and definitely younger then.
Should've tried the 'Wahoo Suckr Air''... It artificially sucks oxygen out of your room to replicate altitude climbs! Or try the 'Wahoo Blastr Bastrd' which generates random wind conditions in your garage!
However both can be adequately replaced by eating a curry the night before then riding your bike.
lmfao
Ahahahaaa. Too funny.
Genuine loud laugh to that comment :)
:D
This literally might be the funniest comment I've ever seen on youtube.
Phenomenal Stats, I really didn't think it was possible to do those Watts and maintain that HR - well done, very inspirational!
Opie is a total monster
@@camallan1 yep for sure!
Really enjoyed this video, thanks Chris. Using Alpe d' Zwift to help me prepare for a Bavaria trip later this year.
I imagine the increased cadence can also be due to the stability you have indoors. On that incline you are moving slower, requiring a slightly greater effort to stabilize.
It eases off after the first 4km and even a fat git like me can spin nicely. The first section is steep though.
Cheers Chris, very interesting comparison, I've ridden Alp du Zwift twice now and I feel pretty good about it... thanks to you and the GCN crew....
sometimes I watch these kinds of GCN videos just to be amazed at how strong the GCN riders are. They do things I can never achieve, which is fun to see! 200 HR, I'd literally go into cardiac arrest lol
Have you seen the cycling tattooist when he rides chain gang his goes above 200, as he says like some sort of hummingbird heart - I can’t break 170 now 😂
Doubt I reach level 12 on zwift but did climb the real deal when I was 58 in 1hr 7mins ,that was 5 yrs ago.
The level is just an accumulation of miles. It is not a statement of fitness or capability, just that you have ridden a number of hours. I almost level 30 and have over 5000 miles on zwift. Its a great training program. I rode the hill when you had to be level 20. Glad they dropped it.
now you can do it as you can unlock it at level 5 for a short period of time. go try it. all the best
Nice work 👍
so there is hope for me thank you great job
As Malcolm said, level on Zwift is just a measure of the distance you've ridden, plus bonuses for completing pre-defined routes. You can now ride AdZ at level 6. Up to about level 10, you don't even need to ride very far: as I recall, I was gaining about one level per ride, and I usually just ride 20-30 miles on Zwift.
I did 1:03 during my SST medium workout. I hope it bodes well for when I do it in August in real life. I’d like to get an hour. I hear that takes 3.7w/kg in god weather in real life, but I wasn’t doing that much though. Here is to parting for good weather that day!
That was a proper effort there Chris, nailed the comparision and that was beautifully done.. The video did remind me of the previous Alp d'huez video by Matt and Tom in epic climbs ( one of my all time favourite really)...again kudos to people behind the camera, beautiiiiful work....cheers to awesome video!!!
Thoroughly enjoyed this vid comparison. Makes me feel good about the Watopian Alpe, which is one of my regular climbs. Thanks to GCN, and to smart training technology and Zwift. All the benefits of outdoor cycling, and none of the risks.
Great JOB, Chris Knocked it out of the park!!!
This was a excellent comparison! I can see that if I do the Alp du Zwift it will easily prepare me for the Alp dHuez. Particularly since I live at 7,300 feet in elevation and the summit of Alp d'Huez is only 6,100 feet. However, I seriously doubt I will be anywhere close in time to your effort.
This is great news, thanks for doing this. While not as iconic, I hope to ride the Road to the Sun over the North American continental divide some time in the near future. I live in the Midwest, where it's hard to get 1000' (300m) of elevation change in a days riding. So training on Zwift using the Alpe du Zwift seems a reasonable substitute. The climb from Lake McDonald to Logan Pass is about 11 miles (17.6km) and 3300' (1000m) of elevation change. For a 50+ year old 100kg flatlander, that's going to be a challenge. Good to know that this is a reasonable approximation for climb training.
Rode Alpe du Zwift for the first time today... I've never ridden up a mountain before and I've not ridden since I got hit by a car in December last year.... it was tougher than I thought it would be and I did a woefully slow time, but I set myself a benchmark to beat in a few weeks after some training.
47 minutes! Wow. Impressive.
As part of the mere mortals that barely see the 200 club for an hour, I am genuinely shook when I see numbers like that. Madness
Weirdly I was almost thinking the opposite - Chris is a moderately big sprinter-type and in fact it looks like he was only putting out a bit over 4w/kg for the 50mins. That's in mortal territory (even if his massive sprint power numbers aren't, as seen in the recent "is lower faster?" video!
Great effort on both rides bud. Beauty doing the real deal in the snow, that's epic.
Can you please do Innsbruck next?!
Interesting video, was curious about the differences. Thanks
Fair play Chris!! Serious effort on both, but certainly on Alp D'Zwift! Sheesh... that looked tough! 😥
Great video and quite surprising how comparable the numbers were. Thank you
you know you can still get the kickr climb to go up/down normally at lower trainer settings; eg; with you trainer at 50% settings - you can set the kickr climb wheelbase to double (x2) what it is, and it will adjust like it was at 100%.
tremendous video, nice job chris. i climb alpe du zwift once a week and always wondered how it would transfer to the real thing. can't wait to ride in real life!
Another excellent video Chris. I love Alpe du Zwift, but haven't tackled the real thing yet so it's great to see the comparison. I've done plenty of Alpine and Pyrenees climbs so I do feel Alpe du Zwift is good preparation.
As a new zwifter really interesting to see this
if you can talk - present - while having 191 HR then you are real man! ;-)
Is the zwift difficulty setting 100% for comparison? Just want to have the idea of the real experience, thank you and love GCN.
Omg the commemorative picture of Si's Ras win in the background!
Outstanding video report. Thank you!
A factor that actually makes the two rides even more comparable is that the CO2 levels indoors increase over the course of the ride, even if you have a window open. C02 in an empty room usually sits around 430ppm at sea level, but over an hour of riding can steadily creep up to ~1600ppm. I have a ventilation system in my Zwift cave, and still get these numbers. Without proper ventilation, you'll likely easily go above 2000ppm. This is likely to have a negative effect on your performance, and likely is contributing to the higher heart rate indoors (along with higher cadence etc.) Great video though! I'd recommend an sure monitor to check these levels (amongst other things) if training indoors excessively.
Excellent video, I’m riding the Haute Route Alps this year and there is time trial up Alp d’Huez! I do not use zwift but have a kickr linked to Rouvy, time to check out the climb!
A few info and tricks here: first, Alpe Du Zwift minimum level has now been reduced to level 6. Second, for those of you who is still below level 6 but can’t wait to experience the pain, you can ask your higher level (6 or above) Zwift friend to arrange a Zwift Meetup to Alpe Du Zwift. You can pass the gate even though it’s written “6” there. But it was painful the whole ride. I think I will settle for the flatter course for a while.
I'm about to try the Zwift version.. this is a great insight.. nice one Chris
You must be nearby
Thanks, very informative
Great racing!
Do EVERY zift climb, real vs zwift, please
Where does he find the Zwift Volcanoe KOM in real life?
I’m a 2m 130kg rider, and looking forward to do this in about 6 months, hopefully 10kg lighter, because the weight biasing is a killer. I’m riding at home with the aircon on set at 27degC with an overhead fan.
Sounds like a savage way to train inside!
Cadence difference is interesting. I also ride at a higher cadence indoor (Wattbike), than outdoors (Giant TCR)
I've looked at going over there to give the climb a go a few times, but always had issues finding a half decent place to stay that didn't cost an absolute fortune.
Excellent really enjoyed that and informative !!
The music in this video is next level
Amazing ride! I will buy one smart trainer, thanks!
Awesome video with some strong riding!
What an effort...
Super god test Chris. I can concur that it is super tough!!!
Brilliant. You guys ask "what if", and then go out and do it.
that was excellent
Hello you all...I've been training on a Schwinn 800 IC for the last few weeks. I calibrated it accordingly and am progressing quite nicely. I know that you hardcore bikers will say that a setup such as the one in this video or other similar ones are much better for training. But are they so much better? If I can stay at the very front of a ride up Mt. Ventoux until the finish line, which is a beast of a hill, it does require a lot to keep up with the riders in the front pack. So, am I correct in assuming that if I can keep up with the best of them (in that one ride, not worldwide :)), my a bit more modest setup is quite efficient as well, yes? Thank you for your answers, wherever they may come from :). Ride on :)
Your higher indoor cadence at the same power output might also contribute to a faster time indoors.
Great video and chapeau. BUT it looks like there's a schoolboy error here. Looks as if GCN stopped the AdH stopwatch on the Chrono course finish line (see 8:50 - at 14km. The AdZ segment stops at 12.22km long. Big difference!
New to Zwift, level 7. Can't wait to try this climb when I hit level 12!
It’s available from level 6. Has been for a while!
Hmmm…where do I find it? Is it in daily rotation of maps?
@@richhenneberry1691 no its in Watopia a route called Road to Sky, the Alpe du Zwift segment starts around 3 miles into it. This is the shortest way to get it. Good luck
Thank you!
What machine training I should buy to
46 mins?!? 😮 Give us a chance mate!
Will you be using the vision of the real version to make a training session vid? That would be great!
I finished my first Alpe du Zwift today and averaged around 170W….after 3 unsuccessful attempts. Hopefully I can try the real thing one day.
Chris gets better at presenting with every video.
Miss you Chris!
Did it for the first time yesterday on a Tacx NEO. It was fun. 280W in 56min. I’m 90Kg at 45 years old.
24 degrees is heat? That what we aircon our houses too in Australia!
PB on zwift 51:xx, 20min power 270 at 68kg, cant imagine cruise over 300W.
Alpe D’Huez was one of my biggest disappointments ever as it is so traffic heavy. Diesel fumes annoyed me. I genuinely believe that the only reason it is used for the Tour de France of the amount of space top to facilitate all of the to entourage. Therefore it’s not really that much of a beauty spot. However You can see a lot of beauty spots from up there. There are in fact tons of alternative climbs with hardly any traffic on them that are much nicer to side
You need to ride out of season, although even then there is quite a bit of commercial traffic going up and down. The road was first used in the early 50s after it was rebuilt and made 2 lanes by local politician Joseph Paganon so it would have been a pretty cool climb back in the day and the natural amphitheatre is a great spectacle. If you ride the back road via Villard Reculas it is a lot quieter and there are nicer hairpin climbs to ride, try the Col de l'Arpettaz north of Albertville.
The Col de sarenne is much more beautiful and no traffic.
I'm amazed at how high you can sustain your heart rate. At the moment if I do much more then 183 (sprint) I'm about ready to puke haha. Just did the alpes su zwift yesterday and was curious. Ride on! Haha
In mountainbiking, I only do the uphill to get the descending fun.
I wish you did a sped up side by side comparison
Considering I live at 9000 ft it should replicate nicely on Zwift.
That sounds really fun
You should have added additional kilos for the additional clothing etc. for the Zwift ride
The real question if did Chris unlock the lightweights at the top of the Alpe 😂
Nah, If it was hist first (second, third,forth,fifth) time, he'll have got gloves :-)
All that work on the real deal to not descend, bummer
I've descended it while being underdressed....it's not a good time. Numb toes and fingers, shivering all over.
I decented 16 climbs (Route des Grandes Alpes) last year and my brakes overheated quite often. Up and down with camping 14 kg gear and water. I liked the climbs more than the decents. I liked the flats the least. I won't bring any camping gear the next time I try big hills like that.
@@bjarkenielsen8515 damn it boy! Most would be shedding stuff like a wagon train crossing Death Valley. That's one place where disk brakes are the clear choice.
Excellent time. Tour winner makes in 40 minutes. You are fit
Incredible... the fact that you can maintain a HR above 180 for that long. I feel like I'm going to fall off my bike if I go above 180 for more than 5 minutes lol
Compare watts per kilo, or HR zones, but not actual HR. There's no link between fitness and how fast your heart beats, that's genetic. My max HR is above 200 but that doesn't make me fitter than you in itself.
11:37 : Inside was 46'30 actually NOT 47'30 see 8:37
Mira que no mencionar a Indurain....
52' that's pretty good
Forget level 12. Just do it when ever you want if you use Rouvy.
Wattage Game. Overheating VS Hypoxia 0 : 0
Weight Lifting Game. Virtually Lighter VS Really Heavier 1 : 0
Hi I raced up alp du swift last night for the first time and came second in my D group but and averaged 203 watts I have a tacx flow smart trainer but I think the residence only goes to to 6or7% . So would I be able to train for the real thing ?
different muscles used in long climbs like these vs a level trainer. At least try to prop your front wheel up.
Do I understand Chris correctly that we set the training difficulty on max? :0
45 Minutes to 1.5 Hours... wait it took me 2:07:52... although I rode 25 miles already that day...
You rode it, that's what matters.
you did reach your own Cycling Everest, regardless of the speed, this is already a performance ..well done !!
How'd you get Zipp 808's only being at level 12?
They're way higher than level 12
Alpe d'Huez (along with many other famous climbs) has been available on Tacx's software for years (it doesn't even require level 12). I think the introduction on Zwift has been too hyped. You could do a third comparison with Tacx's version :)
So could Zwift simulate that climb for a 100 kilo rider who wants to see what it is like for a 60 kilo rider? That would be interesting. I'd have to put out a steady 500+ watts to get that time in the real world.
hey. how long to the pros warmup for on the stationary bicycles.
also how o i measure the steep hill near me?
cheers
likelyladintorontofrombrighton
I'm also curious how to measure the gradient of a hill, short of surveying equipment.
Duh (to me, not you). Smart phones have levels available. Use that.
@@brannmacfinnchad9056 does it give % of gradient?
@@hugobrown2516 Some do. Search for Clinometer in the apps.
It is still a long way from grenoble over another hill.
Thought when watching this video when it came out "wish I could do 300 watts up there" when I could only manage just over 200w. Now as of today averaged 309w and climbed just over 48 minutes. Also my segment in ask GCN Training helped me a achieve this. Thank You GCN
Nice work 💪🏻
Well done! What was your question to the GCN people?
Bore off - who honestly cares?
@@bountyhuntermk2520why wouldn't you care?
How long and how many miles did it take to go from 200W to 300W?
I strive for the day I can average 300W+ for that amount of time. So insane!
Crazy figures. Totally agree!
It’s not hard , you just need dedication and a training plan
@@Dennis4523 What training plan do you recommend?
@@tvi82 You think the number of men who have threshold power greater than 300 watts is roughly equivalent to the number of humans who can run a sub 10 second 100 meter? You are way, WAY off the mark.
Look at Zwiftpower. You'll see that 95% of a rider's best 20 minute time (threshold power by definition) equaling 300 watts is only good enough to put that athlete in the 85th percentile of all riders. Meaning that roughly 14% of the people on Zwiftpower can average greater than 300 watts up Alpe du Zwift.
Yes, it is very trainable. At least it is for most men of average or greater size. If you are a woman or a man under 65 kg or so, it gets very difficult, as raw power is directly proportional to body weight.
LOL, when your 59kg it's hard.
New Wahoo product idea after you get the Climb? Wahoo altitude simulator mask with Bluetooth controlled variable suffocation levels based on actual Zwift altitude.
Sadistic
Bluetooth controlled variable suffocation levels? Brilliant idea!! LOL!
Good idea... Untill it malfunctions and you fall off the bike😂
@@adamsellick8116 Thats fine if it auto-pauses ...
lol HR 191 and still having a conversation.
I can do that, but im usually saying, help, when,,,,,,,, will ,,,,,,, we .... stop.
Right? Not sure how some people can handle that.
I am primarily a mountain biker. I very recently got on zwift as a good way to stay fit during the unrideable periods over the winter. I was very surprised how not fit I was riding a road bike on zwift. I was not used to the higher cadences at all. My legs were strong for short bursts but not for spinning over 80 rpm. So now I am riding mostly on zwift over the winter even on days I could ride outside. I'm getting a better workout and not freezing to death. I am currently at level 8 and my FTP is a lowly 147. I saw race event today Road to the Sky Alpe du zwift KOM. Opportunity! I entered the D class. Stayed within myself and did the climb in 1:54 and came in 225 out of 299. Never thought I was going to die, kept my heart rate around 165 and just kept going. No stops. It is so long! I averaged 127 watts. It is definitely a test of mental toughness, especially for the D class riders. A lot of riders quit.
Howdy! I hope you’ve still been enjoying it in the couple years since this comment! I’m same boat, primarily a skier who mountain bikes in summer, training on Zwift for some other projects. Wild how little the fitness seems to translate sometimes but psyched cause there’s such a huge amount of potential gains with a measurable and straight forward way to get there
@@chrismccaffrey8109 Also a skier/snowboarder and summer MTBer. Kinda hard to ride bikes in winter in Tahoe where I live and why would you with so many resorts to ski anyway. :D
But this season I committed to using Zwift to get me in shape so that I'm ready to go in spring when the lower trails melt without that long ramp up period to get back to bike fitness. So far so good, though there are days where leg soreness from Zwift is felt on the slopes!
You just need to build up your aerobic base. Keep at it.
@@oldtwinsna8347 howdy! Nice reminder to check in after a couple months. Increased my FTP nearly 40 watts, max 5 second power up a few hundred watts as well. Lost 10 lbs which helps the W/Kg too. Psyched to see what I can get up to in summer with a couple more months to train!
At any level, not quitting is a massive thing. I have an eBike and nearly quit up Werneth Low (John Street) the other day... a voice inside your head tells you... you can't quit, you can't get off and walk and you don't. Then you keep repeating it and get fitter. Don't ever quit!
I trained for Mt. Ventoux climbing Alpe de Zwift. I felt perfectly fit when the real life Mt. Ventoux effort came.
And now you can ride a virtual Mt. Ventoux in Zwift as well!
Brilliant idea for a video, and you executed it so well. Well edited; practical and fun to watch. I can’t believe you can speak with a HR of 191.
Please can you do a video challenge with GCN GMBN GTN EMBN and GCN ITALY AND GCN Espanol
William Sambo I was going to but the battery ran out
Would have been great if you did an overall graph overlay (outside over inside) for HR, Distance, Time and Watts. Would be interesting to see...
Yeah thought that would be the whole point of the video, slight disapointment
Yeah it seems that he did the climb on zwift about 12mins faster than in real life at approximately the same power output. Shows how much easier it is on zwift!
@@alexmorgan2818 that is irrelevant. It is just relative.
@@alexmorgan2818 alpe du zwift is lil bit shorter than real life
This is really good. One of the best GCN productions.
Thanks Joe
I've ridden both and the real one is a bit more of an effort to do. And a lot better views 👌. Alpe de zwift is awesome, but your surroundings are still your pain cave.
Ps you can't buy a Jersey at the top on zwift 🤣
I've found the real one not have as much steep gradient changes as the zwift one, but on zwift it's easier to pace and it's over much quicker. I prefer the real Alpe
It was the opposite for me, the real deal felt so much easier. Suppose the excitement of being there, the first section was hard but once I got to the first hairpin and started seeing names of champions, it inspired me.
Thank you for doing this comparison. As I live in the US, I was wondering if my training on wahoo kickr was really going to help my ride up the Mortirolo and Gavia in May. Keep up the good work!
This was a really informative video, thanks! I've only been Zwifting for a few months and have wondered about the transferability of the platform/the riding. I figured that the #s weren't really going to lie (ie, watts and HR), but to see this specific comparison done was fun to watch. Keep up the great work!