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
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!
@@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!
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.
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
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
@@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!
Outdoor Chris v. Indoor Chris, that's a duel worth watching. Thanks, Chris, and with a big enough imagination, inside is actually outside, and that's a beautiful thing.
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 love videos like this because it's great to see all the physical effort the presenters put in to bringing us weekly content. It's genuinely inspiring.
In 2019 I did train for Alpe d’HuZes (climbing the Alpe d’Huez 6 times in a row for charity, raising money for treating cancer) on Zwift. Since I live in the flat Netherlands this was the best way to train frequently for long training sessions of climbing. I did use the Wahoo Climb for this. The virtual bike is way lighter than nu real bike, but it still got me familiar with the posture of climbing and in great fitness. Without it I could not have prepared so well, and because of the preparation I enjoyed all 6 times of climbing the mountain. Ofcourse all the music and shouting people all Across the climb helped with that as well ;)
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.
You look so happy and fulfilled on the real mountain, and utterly miserable on the indoor trainer. I love snow (ski tragic) so I would be thrilled to be riding on those alpine conditions as well.
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!
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!
New Wahoo product idea after you get the Climb? Wahoo altitude simulator mask with Bluetooth controlled variable suffocation levels based on actual Zwift altitude.
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 😂
@@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.
I'd love to have a go at the real climb. Just got my "Masochist" achievement from Alpe du Zwift (an achievement I didn't even know existed). Glad to hear that the heat creates at least comparable decrease in output to altitude, as someone who lives in a completely flat country I don't have the chance to experience altitude at all.
Alpe is definitely a must on a cyclist bucket list, as the surrounding climbs (Galibier, Madeleine..) and Ventoux. If interested to bring your "Masochist achievement" to another level, we will be happy to help. do check out our site www.belovelo.com kind cycling regards. Laurent
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.
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.
BEAST, Chris! I started cycling end of April 23, did my first attempt at the ADZ a couple days ago n got 68mins. Sub 60 should be achievable now I know what to expect. 68mins of pain might I add but addictive pain. We go again 😂👍
a Group of us are doing 5 days in the Alps in June and Alpe d'Huez is obviously on the list. This has been a fantastic little learning curve and informative. thank you!
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!
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.
Just did my first run up alpe du zwift today I couldn't believe the effort to the first corner but got settled in and managed 85mins... Need a lot more training to bring that under an hour but it was an achievement.
Great video. I have ridden both but first rode the real Alpe in 1993 and then again in 2007. But the Zwift effort, look and feel was really similar to what I remember. Unfortunately I'm not 72kgs like I used to be and I suspect I've dropped a few watts too since those days so I'm a little way off Chris' time. But happy enough with a sub 50 mins. Chapeux to Zwift for the climb but I recommend going out to the real thing if you can.
That's some dedication from Chris- suffering the ride up Alpe D'Huez without even enjoying the descent. Thanks for the comparison between the two-- I'm going to hit AdZ for the first time this week.
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!
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.
A key question is: where does Zwift assume your power is being reported? If at the cassette (like on a Wahoo Kickr) then this power goes straight into propulsion, whereas if outdoors you're measuring power at the crank, then some of that power is lost in the drivetrain. So even if the two measure the same, you could be 2% faster on the trainer since the drivetrain losses are neglected, which would be 1 minute difference. This is in addition to differences in assumed mass (outdoors included a lot of clothes + water). Wind resistance is another factor and Zwift assumes a relatively aero position. When riding with winter clothes wind resistance would be greater. This could also be a 1% difference: consider if you could ride 40 kph on the flat in the same position, but are 14 kph on the hill, then a fraction (14/40)² = 12% of power is wind resistance, so if wind resistance is 10% worse, that's 1.2% difference in effective power, which would be 1% of time, so another 30 seconds difference.
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!!!
The gradient and the road layout is the same for the two (even though I've never ridden the real one I know it well because, well its where I go Skiing). There are some features in the Zwift version that aren't on the real one - the gallery after bend one for example (that's in this clip) gives the climb more of a feel for the Tourmalet from Campan than Alpes D'Huez, and there's other gallery sections more reminiscent of the Stelvio from Bormio. Its not the gradient or the shape of the road - but the feel the view gives as you ride... Just wonder if these features were the designers planning ahead for features that could be swapped out and used in future climbs of Zwift du Tourmelet or Zwift du Stelvio....
Ohh yea and managed to hold steady conversation throughout!! - first thing to go is my lungs that's why I love the coffee stops with my mates - my only chance to actually chat when we're out!
dude is strong! nice watts and great video! Now just put everything in perspective and pay homage to Il Pirata who climbed it (out of the saddle no less) in 37:00....still a record today...
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.
One year ago, I didn't care at all about this content.. just a year and a month later, things are totally different and I can really appreciate this content after my first two months ever of indoor riding...
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.
Those of us who live in Houston and places with a similar climate know that heat is poor man's altitude. I wish there was a way for Training Peaks to account for it in a training stress score (TSS).
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.
Great work Chris, I have experienced the real Alp d'Huez in 2017 and did not do the level of training that you have demonstrated here that can be done in your own home. I am assuming the Wahoo Climb equally brought some realism. Stats were surprisingly close.
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%.
Its great that you mentioned putting the realism level up to 100%. That is a must imo to replicate the lower cadence efforts needed and resultant impact on the muscles. Also agree indoors is roughly 10% quicker than outdoors. Great comparative review! 👍👍😊😊
Great video and definitely a route worth ticking off. Rode Alpe d'Huez last year and loved it, with a time of 1hr 5mins, then rode Alpe D'Huez on Rouvy this winter and achieved similar time. Looking forward to trying out zwifts offering when I get above level 12, plus have a new smart trainer (tacx Neo) so looking forward to the comparison.
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!
@@riseshine3177 Yeah I'm hoping to progress a bit. I had forgotten when I commented that I had done the Three Sisters 47.7k 895m elevation route 4 times day after day before doing Aple du zwift, hopfuly with a rest I can improve on that time! :)
Just cracked Mt. Tiede. Its awesome to climb and the decent is superb. Amazing views and landscape in the crator. I prodomintely used my power zone 2 and some 3 out of the saddle. My FTP is 336W and 3.97W/kg so I felt fresh at the top. On the decent into the crator use arm warmers and reapply sunscreen at your stops. Definitely recommend the trip
@@razerbaz Very well thanks. You're in for a treat when you get out here. Its a superb climb with amazing views /roads and landscape. Start early around sunrise to beat the sun and wear arm warmers on the decent in to the crator and down Mt. Tiede.
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.
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.
Cool Zwift commercial! Also, glad to know I beat a GCN presenter up Alpe D'Zwift but nearly 2 minutes at that, albeit a sprinter but I am still happy with that. Now for the real challenge, beating Vegan Cyclist's time.
I don’t have Zwift but with a bit of maths and using Climbbybike profiles I can simulate climbs on my Keiser M3 Spin Bike except for the altitude effect of course. Basic but effective.
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!
This was great 1. world experience vs computer simulation and 2. The video stayed on topic with the Title of the video...my biggest gripe with you guys.
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!
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.
Alpe d‘Huez in snow, Olies Everesting at 35C... Do you know this strange thing they call Internet? People say you can look up the weather forecast there 😉. Sorry for the bad joke. Great video!
I have been waiting for this comparison. Nicely done! I wish Zwift release more iconic climbs. It starts to pop up competitors that puts Zwift in the shadow and if Zwift doesn't release more courses more often it going to loose the war.
zwift had a new route update yesterday and i think you forget that zwift is a multi sport platform they focus a bit more on the running atm cause thats a huge untouched market as far as community training platfroms go , because triathletes and runners are also important cause when zwift run goes out of beta testing they will be paying customers. and will create more income revenue for zwift wich they can use to hire more people / designers etc. since zwift atm has such a big head start atm on their competiotors since the community is so strong on zwift its not something to worry about
I think Zwift has already won the popularity contest. With the size of their subscriber base, the advanced level of game development, and the big marketing pushes, they pretty much have it made. Most people prefer the video game format over v.r. Still some of us don’t like the mario brothers sound effects and the video game look and feel or the idea of having to spend more time (money) to unlock specific routes and features. If I’m paying for a training program, I want full access to all of it’s features and functionality right now. So, there are other ways to train or just ride indoors. Sufferfest, Road Grand Tours, Virtugo, TrainerRoad minimized to bottom of screen with Col Collective playlist running above just to name a few.
Taiwan KOM! No earthquakes to close the road to the climb. Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai, Thailand is another Zwift should consider putting in as a climb as well.
@@victorlwd As you say, Zwift has a head start but others will quickly catch up and if they can cater more precisely for what many cyclists want for less or no money, there will be a lot of Zwift subscription cancellations.. Currently Zwift is overpriced (it's costing me about the same as my mobile phone contract, FFS..) and I'm looking very closely at the up-and-coming alternatves such as the revamped RGT. I think I will cancel my Zwift subscription for the summer this year (unlike last year), and that's down to the recent opportunistic price hike.
Chris, not too sure about a couple of your comments. "Altitude"? I thought that was only noticeable at, or from, about 1800m? "Tough climb"? In my opinion the climb is short and not too steep a gradient with plenty of recovery around the corners. I did it last year at the end of April (on my 60th birthday). I live in Andorra and climbing is what we do here. Very variable gradients which touch 14%, distances up to 25kms and max road asphalted altitude here is 2400m. Fascinating video though. Only yesterday on our club run we were speaking about Zwift and Alpe d'Huez. Keep up the amazing work!!
Alternatively, don’t give a load of cash to Zwift to get to level 12 or whatever like someone hooked on a candy crush app but set your smart trainer to 8% gradient and watch a tour stage going up the alps on your tv/tablet while you pedal
Thank you for this Chris. I am doing Mont Ventoux and Alp dHuez in July the week before the PRL (which is my reason for coming to the UK from Cape Town). All of my training will be on Zwift. I do plan to put in about 250-300km with about 1200m of climbing a week for the next 9 weeks. My question is about recovery and the altitude effect. How quickly did you recover from the effort? If I do MV on Monday and AdH on Tuesday, do you think I will be able to recover in time for the PRL, do you think I will recover enough from MV to do AdH 24 hours later? I am not racing I am riding it. I weigh about 93kg with a FTP of 290 at the fresh young age of 52. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I'm recovering from an ACL surgery and my goal is to ride Alpe d'Huez un August. I'll surely be riding it first on Zwift to prepare myself for the huge challenge that it will be!
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.
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 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!
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.
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!
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.
Outdoor Chris v. Indoor Chris, that's a duel worth watching. Thanks, Chris, and with a big enough imagination, inside is actually outside, and that's a beautiful thing.
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 love videos like this because it's great to see all the physical effort the presenters put in to bringing us weekly content.
It's genuinely inspiring.
In 2019 I did train for Alpe d’HuZes (climbing the Alpe d’Huez 6 times in a row for charity, raising money for treating cancer) on Zwift. Since I live in the flat Netherlands this was the best way to train frequently for long training sessions of climbing. I did use the Wahoo Climb for this. The virtual bike is way lighter than nu real bike, but it still got me familiar with the posture of climbing and in great fitness. Without it I could not have prepared so well, and because of the preparation I enjoyed all 6 times of climbing the mountain. Ofcourse all the music and shouting people all Across the climb helped with that as well ;)
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.
You look so happy and fulfilled on the real mountain, and utterly miserable on the indoor trainer. I love snow (ski tragic) so I would be thrilled to be riding on those alpine conditions as well.
This is really good. One of the best GCN productions.
Thanks Joe
Alp de Zwift was great training for the Sa Calobra climb on a Mallorca weekend trip 👍
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
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!
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 ...
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 😂
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.
I'd love to have a go at the real climb. Just got my "Masochist" achievement from Alpe du Zwift (an achievement I didn't even know existed). Glad to hear that the heat creates at least comparable decrease in output to altitude, as someone who lives in a completely flat country I don't have the chance to experience altitude at all.
Alpe is definitely a must on a cyclist bucket list, as the surrounding climbs (Galibier, Madeleine..) and Ventoux. If interested to bring your "Masochist achievement" to another level, we will be happy to help. do check out our site www.belovelo.com kind cycling regards. Laurent
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 good video. Chris is an excellent presenter and great addition to the GCN team
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....
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.
Really enjoyed this video, thanks Chris. Using Alpe d' Zwift to help me prepare for a Bavaria trip later this year.
BEAST, Chris! I started cycling end of April 23, did my first attempt at the ADZ a couple days ago n got 68mins. Sub 60 should be achievable now I know what to expect. 68mins of pain might I add but addictive pain. We go again 😂👍
a Group of us are doing 5 days in the Alps in June and Alpe d'Huez is obviously on the list. This has been a fantastic little learning curve and informative. thank you!
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!
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.
Just did my first run up alpe du zwift today I couldn't believe the effort to the first corner but got settled in and managed 85mins... Need a lot more training to bring that under an hour but it was an achievement.
Great video. I have ridden both but first rode the real Alpe in 1993 and then again in 2007. But the Zwift effort, look and feel was really similar to what I remember. Unfortunately I'm not 72kgs like I used to be and I suspect I've dropped a few watts too since those days so I'm a little way off Chris' time. But happy enough with a sub 50 mins.
Chapeux to Zwift for the climb but I recommend going out to the real thing if you can.
Some wattage that. Absolutely nailed it and I’d struggle to hold 220 for the whole climb.
That's some dedication from Chris- suffering the ride up Alpe D'Huez without even enjoying the descent. Thanks for the comparison between the two-- I'm going to hit AdZ for the first time this week.
If you love downhill, I'll advise you to try out Col du Galibier (34 km non stop )...unfortunately the pass might not open before mid may
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!
Interesting comparison without doubt. I had been thinking about this recently, so comments and feed back were excellent! Good 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.
A key question is: where does Zwift assume your power is being reported? If at the cassette (like on a Wahoo Kickr) then this power goes straight into propulsion, whereas if outdoors you're measuring power at the crank, then some of that power is lost in the drivetrain. So even if the two measure the same, you could be 2% faster on the trainer since the drivetrain losses are neglected, which would be 1 minute difference.
This is in addition to differences in assumed mass (outdoors included a lot of clothes + water).
Wind resistance is another factor and Zwift assumes a relatively aero position. When riding with winter clothes wind resistance would be greater. This could also be a 1% difference: consider if you could ride 40 kph on the flat in the same position, but are 14 kph on the hill, then a fraction (14/40)² = 12% of power is wind resistance, so if wind resistance is 10% worse, that's 1.2% difference in effective power, which would be 1% of time, so another 30 seconds difference.
Great Vid. God help us heavy low FTP riders. I'm having a go of Alpe d'Huez on Rouvy next week and hope to manage about 200w :)
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!!!
The gradient and the road layout is the same for the two (even though I've never ridden the real one I know it well because, well its where I go Skiing). There are some features in the Zwift version that aren't on the real one - the gallery after bend one for example (that's in this clip) gives the climb more of a feel for the Tourmalet from Campan than Alpes D'Huez, and there's other gallery sections more reminiscent of the Stelvio from Bormio. Its not the gradient or the shape of the road - but the feel the view gives as you ride... Just wonder if these features were the designers planning ahead for features that could be swapped out and used in future climbs of Zwift du Tourmelet or Zwift du Stelvio....
Ohh yea and managed to hold steady conversation throughout!! - first thing to go is my lungs that's why I love the coffee stops with my mates - my only chance to actually chat when we're out!
dude is strong! nice watts and great video! Now just put everything in perspective and pay homage to Il Pirata who climbed it (out of the saddle no less) in 37:00....still a record today...
Of course full of Doping right up to his hairline
@@michaelkadlicz7331 as is virtually the entire world of professional and semi-professional cycling
Great JOB, Chris Knocked it out of the park!!!
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.
Brilliant. Both very entertaining and insightful.
One year ago, I didn't care at all about this content.. just a year and a month later, things are totally different and I can really appreciate this content after my first two months ever of indoor riding...
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.
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.
Those of us who live in Houston and places with a similar climate know that heat is poor man's altitude. I wish there was a way for Training Peaks to account for it in a training stress score (TSS).
This video is super! Very well done, I never did Alp du Zwift, but you took away from me any doubt if going for Zwift/indoor trainer or not
Love this video! answers a question that gets asked a lot in a very real way.
I've made same exercice on Ventoux: 1h40 on my bike vs 1h42 on my BKool trainer. Quite real ... except the win on the top that usually slow you.
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.
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
Great work Chris, I have experienced the real Alp d'Huez in 2017 and did not do the level of training that you have demonstrated here that can be done in your own home. I am assuming the Wahoo Climb equally brought some realism. Stats were surprisingly close.
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%.
Interesting video, was curious about the differences. Thanks
Its great that you mentioned putting the realism level up to 100%. That is a must imo to replicate the lower cadence efforts needed and resultant impact on the muscles. Also agree indoors is roughly 10% quicker than outdoors. Great comparative review! 👍👍😊😊
Loved this video, thank you so much for making it. Very surprised your experience in Zwift is so similar to the real thing.
Great video and definitely a route worth ticking off. Rode Alpe d'Huez last year and loved it, with a time of 1hr 5mins, then rode Alpe D'Huez on Rouvy this winter and achieved similar time. Looking forward to trying out zwifts offering when I get above level 12, plus have a new smart trainer (tacx Neo) so looking forward to the comparison.
Thanks, very informative
That's so amazing how real swift can get. Amazing technology! Good effort on the comparison's. Cheers!
Great video Chris. And nice effort, you really gave it your all.
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!
Great effort on both rides bud. Beauty doing the real deal in the snow, that's epic.
Great racing!
Super helpful! Thanks GCN, as always. :)
Fair play Chris!! Serious effort on both, but certainly on Alp D'Zwift! Sheesh... that looked tough! 😥
when Chris said it should take anywhere between 45 min and 1h30, i cried a little. my time isn't close to that 45 min mark :-(
Dean Sinclair did you have your set at 100?
I just unlocked it and it took me 2 hours 1minute at 75%-80% but I am a short fatty so I guess I should be happy with it
@@Nathan-1234 i prob would need even more time😁
Be proud of yourself🤞🏼
@@riseshine3177 Yeah I'm hoping to progress a bit. I had forgotten when I commented that I had done the Three Sisters 47.7k 895m elevation route 4 times day after day before doing Aple du zwift, hopfuly with a rest I can improve on that time! :)
Superb video Chris, love to see you chaps suffering in the name of cycling :-)
I've just landed in Tenerife, I used Alpe Du Zwift to practice for Mount Tiede climb on Wednesday..... See how the training has transferred 😉
Let us know!
SAF1981 I did exactly the same, tiede wasn’t as bad as i thought
i am going in 2 weeks and doing the same how did it go
Just cracked Mt. Tiede. Its awesome to climb and the decent is superb. Amazing views and landscape in the crator.
I prodomintely used my power zone 2 and some 3 out of the saddle. My FTP is 336W and 3.97W/kg so I felt fresh at the top. On the decent into the crator use arm warmers and reapply sunscreen at your stops. Definitely recommend the trip
@@razerbaz Very well thanks. You're in for a treat when you get out here. Its a superb climb with amazing views /roads and landscape. Start early around sunrise to beat the sun and wear arm warmers on the decent in to the crator and down Mt. Tiede.
Thanks for caring this. I am definitely getting a Zwift after years of avoiding trainers due to their lack of realism.
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.
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.
Cool Zwift commercial!
Also, glad to know I beat a GCN presenter up Alpe D'Zwift but nearly 2 minutes at that, albeit a sprinter but I am still happy with that.
Now for the real challenge, beating Vegan Cyclist's time.
I don’t have Zwift but with a bit of maths and using Climbbybike profiles I can simulate climbs on my Keiser M3 Spin Bike except for the altitude effect of course. Basic but effective.
Great video and quite surprising how comparable the numbers were. Thank you
Well done CO just brilliant.
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!
Outstanding video report. Thank you!
I just completed it first time today 1:39 I didn't even think I could do it
This was great 1. world experience vs computer simulation and 2. The video stayed on topic with the Title of the video...my biggest gripe with you guys.
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!
Curious about how Kinomap’s version would compare. Good job!
47 minutes! Wow. Impressive.
I've been working on the Epic KOM, haven't worked my way up the Alpe du Zwift, yet.
Great effort! I want to go to France now and ride the real one too.
Come when you Want !
You ll love it !
Omg the commemorative picture of Si's Ras win in the background!
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.
Thx!!!! Excellent comparison
Alpe d‘Huez in snow, Olies Everesting at 35C... Do you know this strange thing they call Internet? People say you can look up the weather forecast there 😉. Sorry for the bad joke. Great video!
I have been waiting for this comparison. Nicely done! I wish Zwift release more iconic climbs. It starts to pop up competitors that puts Zwift in the shadow and if Zwift doesn't release more courses more often it going to loose the war.
zwift had a new route update yesterday and i think you forget that zwift is a multi sport platform
they focus a bit more on the running atm cause thats a huge untouched market as far as community training platfroms go , because triathletes and runners are also important cause when zwift run goes out of beta testing they will be paying customers. and will create more income revenue for zwift wich they can use to hire more people / designers etc. since zwift atm has such a big head start atm on their competiotors since the community is so strong on zwift its not something to worry about
victorlwd No
I think Zwift has already won the popularity contest. With the size of their subscriber base, the advanced level of game development, and the big marketing pushes, they pretty much have it made. Most people prefer the video game format over v.r. Still some of us don’t like the mario brothers sound effects and the video game look and feel or the idea of having to spend more time (money) to unlock specific routes and features. If I’m paying for a training program, I want full access to all of it’s features and functionality right now. So, there are other ways to train or just ride indoors. Sufferfest, Road Grand Tours, Virtugo, TrainerRoad minimized to bottom of screen with Col Collective playlist running above just to name a few.
Taiwan KOM! No earthquakes to close the road to the climb. Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai, Thailand is another Zwift should consider putting in as a climb as well.
@@victorlwd As you say, Zwift has a head start but others will quickly catch up and if they can cater more precisely for what many cyclists want for less or no money, there will be a lot of Zwift subscription cancellations.. Currently Zwift is overpriced (it's costing me about the same as my mobile phone contract, FFS..) and I'm looking very closely at the up-and-coming alternatves such as the revamped RGT. I think I will cancel my Zwift subscription for the summer this year (unlike last year), and that's down to the recent opportunistic price hike.
Chris, not too sure about a couple of your comments. "Altitude"? I thought that was only noticeable at, or from, about 1800m? "Tough climb"? In my opinion the climb is short and not too steep a gradient with plenty of recovery around the corners. I did it last year at the end of April (on my 60th birthday). I live in Andorra and climbing is what we do here. Very variable gradients which touch 14%, distances up to 25kms and max road asphalted altitude here is 2400m. Fascinating video though. Only yesterday on our club run we were speaking about Zwift and Alpe d'Huez. Keep up the amazing work!!
Alternatively, don’t give a load of cash to Zwift to get to level 12 or whatever like someone hooked on a candy crush app but set your smart trainer to 8% gradient and watch a tour stage going up the alps on your tv/tablet while you pedal
@J NR
Good suggestion. Q/ How does one "set" their smart trainer to replicate 8%?
In Zwift settings. It defaults at 50%. Set it to 100%.@@nickzourikian4555
Nick Zourikian most smart trainers has a dedicated app
I'm about to try the Zwift version.. this is a great insight.. nice one Chris
You must be nearby
Thank you for this Chris. I am doing Mont Ventoux and Alp dHuez in July the week before the PRL (which is my reason for coming to the UK from Cape Town). All of my training will be on Zwift. I do plan to put in about 250-300km with about 1200m of climbing a week for the next 9 weeks. My question is about recovery and the altitude effect. How quickly did you recover from the effort? If I do MV on Monday and AdH on Tuesday, do you think I will be able to recover in time for the PRL, do you think I will recover enough from MV to do AdH 24 hours later? I am not racing I am riding it. I weigh about 93kg with a FTP of 290 at the fresh young age of 52. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Is the zwift difficulty setting 100% for comparison? Just want to have the idea of the real experience, thank you and love GCN.
I'm recovering from an ACL surgery and my goal is to ride Alpe d'Huez un August. I'll surely be riding it first on Zwift to prepare myself for the huge challenge that it will be!
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!