L'Alpe d'HuezRide the 21 hairpins on your indoor trainer
L'Alpe d'Huez
France
1138 M
15.1KM
21
Hairpins
7.5 %
Average
720 m
At the start
The most famous climb of the Tour de France, in 3D, from the center of Le Bourg-d'Oisans to the top. The grade of the real road sets your trainer's resistance, hairpin by hairpin.
15.1
Kilometers
1138
Meters up
21
Hairpins
7.5%
Average
01The climb
Twenty-one bends to the sky.
L'Alpe d'Huez rises out of the Romanche valley in the French Alps, above the small town of Le Bourg-d'Oisans. Measured from the foot of the mountain, the classic climb is 13.8 km long, with an average grade of 8.1 %. The road winds up in 21 hairpins, numbered from 21 at the bottom to 1 at the top.
Each hairpin carries a sign with the names of Tour de France stage winners. The first kilometers out of the valley are the steepest, around 10 %. Past the village of Huez, the road eases a little, then climbs steadily to the ski resort at the top. At bend 7, Dutch Corner, the fans turn the mountain orange on Tour day.
AnyMap's route starts in the center of Le Bourg-d'Oisans, at 720 m. From there it is 15.1 km, with 1138 m of climbing. Every meter of it is in 3D, built from real map data.
Start: 720 m
The center of Le Bourg-d'Oisans, in the valley.
The first ramps: about 10 %
The steepest part comes first, out of the town.
21 hairpins
Counting down from 21 to 1, each with its winners.
02Then and now
Legends of the Alpe.
Since 1952, the Tour de France has come back to the Alpe again and again. Every hairpin has a story, and a name on its sign.
1952
Coppi is first
The Tour de France finishes on the Alpe for the first time. Fausto Coppi wins, alone, and a legend begins.
1976–1989
The Dutch mountain
Dutch riders win here again and again, from Joop Zoetemelk in 1976 to Gert-Jan Theunisse in 1989. Bend 7 becomes Dutch Corner, orange from top to bottom.
1986
Hand in hand
Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond, team-mates and rivals, cross the line together. Hinault takes the stage; LeMond takes the Tour.
1997
The record
Marco Pantani climbs from the foot in 37 minutes and 35 seconds. On most record lists, nobody has been faster since.
2018
In yellow
Geraint Thomas wins at the top in the yellow jersey, on his way to winning the Tour.
2022
A first Tour, a first win
Tom Pidcock, 22, in his first Tour de France, wins on the Alpe after a famous descent from the Galibier.
03Your time
How long would it take you?
On the climb, two numbers decide your time: your power and your weight. Together they make your watts per kilo. The more watts you push for each kilo you carry up the mountain, the faster you go.
Tour riders climb the classic 13.8 km in around 40 minutes. Pantani's record is 37 minutes and 35 seconds. For a 75 kg rider on AnyMap's 15.1 km, it is about 1 h 52 at 2 W/kg, 1 h 16 at 3 W/kg, and about an hour at 4 W/kg.
Set your FTP and your weight, and pick how hard you want to ride. Most riders hold 80 to 90 % of their FTP on a climb this long. (What FTP is, and how to raise it: Fit in Four and FTP Boost.)
How hard you ride · % of FTP
Your time to the top
1 h 46
160 W
Your power
2.1
W/kg
5 min
Per hairpin
An estimate for AnyMap's 15.1 km from the town, with AnyMap's physics at the average grade. In the app, every meter of the real road counts.
04Build up to it
You don't have to ride it all at once.
Two and a half hours up a mountain is a big goal. So make it smaller. In AnyMap's route builder, you tap points on the map, and AnyMap finds the road between them. Draw only the first ramps of the Alpe, and ride them this week. Next week, draw it a little further. Your own climb grows with you, until the day you ride all 21 hairpins.
Step 1
The first ramps
Draw the route to the first hairpins.
2.83 kmLength
306 mClimb
29 minAt 70 % FTP
4/10Effort
Step 2
Halfway up
Draw it on, up through the hairpins, a little further each week.
8.09 kmLength
678 mClimb
1 h 12At 70 % FTP
6/10Effort
Step 3
The whole climb
All 21 hairpins, from the town to the top.
15.1 kmLength
1138 mClimb
10/10Effort
Want a plan around it? Gran Fondo Ready builds climbing strength and long-ride endurance; FTP Boost raises the power you can hold.
05Ride together
Never climb alone.
Every rider in AnyMap rides in the same world. When you start up the Alpe, you see everyone who is on the climb right now, and the riders on the roads nearby. Ask your friends to join, and climb it together.
Sit on a wheel and you save watts: in AnyMap, the draft takes up to 45 % of the air off you. On the steep ramps the draft is small, because you ride slowly. But on the flatter parts, through the town and past Huez, a wheel is worth a lot.
And if the Alpe is too steep today, the trainer difficulty setting softens it: at 50 %, a 10 % ramp feels like 5 %. The climb stays as long; your speed still comes from your watts and the real road, so a race stays fair.
Live riders
See who is on the climb right now.
Up to 45 %
Less air drag on a wheel.
25–100 %
Trainer difficulty, your choice.
06FAQ
Before the first hairpin.
The classic climb, measured from the foot of the mountain, is 13.8 km long and rises about 1,100 m. AnyMap's route starts in the center of Le Bourg-d'Oisans, at 720 m: 15.1 km and 1,138 m of climbing to the top.
The classic climb averages 8.1 %. The first kilometers out of the valley are the steepest, around 10 %. Past the village of Huez, the road eases a little, then stays steady to the top.
Twenty-one. They count down from 21 at the bottom to 1 at the top, and each one carries a sign with the names of Tour de France stage winners.
It depends on your watts per kilo. On AnyMap's 15.1 km, a 75 kg rider needs about 1 h 52 at 2 W/kg, 1 h 16 at 3 W/kg, and about an hour at 4 W/kg. Tour riders climb the classic 13.8 km in around 40 minutes. Work out your own time on this page.
Yes. In AnyMap, the grade of the real road sets your trainer's resistance, hairpin by hairpin. Any smart trainer with Bluetooth FTMS works. The trainer difficulty setting decides how steep the ramps feel: at 50 %, a 10 % ramp feels like 5 %.
Yes. Every rider in AnyMap rides in the same world. You see everyone who is on the climb right now, and you can ride it together. On the flatter parts, sitting on a wheel saves you watts.
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