Ostalb Giro: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The Gran Fondo is the big loop of the Ostalb Giro: 240 kilometres with 3,000 metres of climbing, starting and finishing in Aalen. The route rolls through the hill country of the Ostalb region, and although eight categorised climbs are scattered along the way, none of them is long or brutally steep. The typical pattern is 1.7 to 2.9 kilometres at four to six and a half percent.

The first rise arrives at kilometre 12, followed by a dense cluster of three climbs between kilometres 32 and 58, among them the steepest of the day at an average of 6.4 percent. The profile then settles down for a long stretch before the second half stacks up four more waves at kilometres 133, 160, 181 and 198. The final one crests about 40 kilometres from the line, leaving a rolling run back into Aalen.

Roughly 38 percent of the course is flat and genuinely steep ramps are rare. Aid stations staffed by volunteers line the route, and the finish area greets riders with an expo, live music and a festival atmosphere.

Pacing Strategy

The 240 kilometres pack in eight category-4 climbs, each only one to three kilometres long and rarely steeper than six per cent on average. No climb forces an attack; what matters is the sum. Four rises cluster in the first third up to kilometre 58, then a flatter middle section follows before four more ramps appear from kilometre 133, exactly where the legs start to fade after four or five hours.

Ride the early climbs firmly in your endurance zone and let groups that burn matches there go. The flatter middle, with nearly 38 per cent flat, tempts you into fast group riding; use it to eat and drink instead.

The race is settled in the final third: whoever can still turn the climbs between kilometre 133 and 198 cleanly arrives at the front. The biggest trap is starting too hard.

Training plan for Ostalb Giro: 12-week build

Plan on eight to ten hours of riding for the Gran Fondo, depending on your level. That makes sheer duration the defining demand: the 3,000 metres of climbing are spread so evenly across eight short climbs that no single one decides your day, but their accumulation does.

The effort is predominantly steady and aerobic, interrupted by recurring rhythm changes on ramps of four to six percent. Riders who surge over these waves early pay for it late, because the climbs at kilometres 181 and 198 arrive after seven or more hours in the saddle and determine whether the final stretch flows or drags.

Training should centre on aerobic volume. Extend your long rides progressively towards five or six hours, ideally on rolling terrain with many short climbs rather than one sustained pass. Add work in the moderate intensity range so you can ride the waves economically without dipping into anaerobic territory every time.

Fuelling deserves the same attention as fitness: eight to ten hours of effort only work with a practised eating and drinking routine on the bike, so use your long rides to test quantities and products. Finally, practise riding in a group. With around 38 percent of the course flat, sitting in the draft saves a decisive amount of energy for the late climbs.