Swiss Cycling Alpenbrevet Training Plan & Preparation

Course & Elevation

The route drops out of Andermatt before the Susten begins at kilometre 12. It climbs in two steps — 8.9 kilometres at 7.4 percent, then after a brief easing another 4.2 kilometres at 7.8 percent — cresting at kilometre 29 at 2,236 metres, followed by a long descent into the Haslital.

The Grimsel starts at kilometre 69, again in two stages at roughly seven percent, with the summit at kilometre 83 at 2,160 metres. Through Gletsch and the Goms valley the route reaches the Nufenen: after an opening ramp at kilometre 101, the hardest sustained climb of the day begins at kilometre 105 — 8.95 kilometres averaging 9.1 percent for 813 metres of gain. The top at kilometre 114 is the loop's highest point at 2,475 metres.

From there the character changes. Some 90 kilometres of descent and valley road through Ticino to Biasca separate the Nufenen from the Lukmanier, which climbs far more evenly from kilometre 206 over 11 kilometres at 5.2 percent. After the descent to Disentis only the Oberalp remains: 5.25 kilometres at 7.6 percent from kilometre 252, topping out at 2,041 metres, then eleven kilometres of descent back to the start.

Pacing Strategy

At 26.5 metres of climbing per kilometre with only twelve percent genuinely flat, the Platintour is a sequence of long, even ascents, each one costing between 40 and 90 minutes unbroken. Set the intensity accordingly: an effort you could repeat eight times, not one that makes the first pass fast.

The Nufenen at kilometre 105 is the hardest climb, but it is not where the day is decided. That happens on the Lukmanier from kilometre 206 — at 5.2 percent it is the friendliest gradient of the loop, yet it arrives after more than 200 kilometres and 5,000 metres of climbing. Riders still turning a steady gear there will also bring the Oberalp home.

The real trap sits between the two: the 90 kilometres of valley road through Ticino. After the Nufenen they feel like recovery, and that is exactly where fast groups burn riders down. Ride the section deliberately controlled, and eat there for what the Lukmanier will ask.

12-Week Preparation

For an age-group rider the Platintour means roughly ten to fourteen hours in the saddle. The demand is aerobic and even throughout: there are no attacks and little positioning, just eight long climbs worked through for hours in endurance to low-threshold zones. Holding a moderate output steady for a very long time matters far more here than any peak number.

The race is decided late. The Nufenen at 9.1 percent over almost nine kilometres is the single hardest demand, but the Lukmanier at kilometre 206 and the Oberalp at kilometre 252 ask you to climb with more than 5,000 metres already in the legs. Five long descents from above 2,000 metres add a full day of concentration and handling.

Preparation should therefore include long rides with the climbing loaded towards the end — vertical gain in the final hour rather than the first. Repeated 45-to-90-minute climbs at endurance intensity complement this well, because that is what each pass actually costs.

Two things are routinely underestimated: altitude, with three passes above 2,000 metres and the Nufenen close to 2,500, and fuelling across ten hours or more. Both belong in long training sessions rather than being tried for the first time on race day.