SWE Albtal Triathlon Ettlingen: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The swim is 1,500 metres in the Buchtzigsee, in two laps of 750 with a short spell on land between them. Transition sits right at the lake.

The bike is three laps of a 13.2 kilometre circuit, and every lap contains the same climb: 3.83 kilometres averaging 5.7 percent with ramps to 12.8 and 217 metres of gain, up from Ettlingen in the Alb valley to Schöllbronn on the edge of the northern Black Forest. It begins each time at lap kilometre 1.23 (practically straight out of transition) and then again at kilometre 14.43 and 27.63. The descent back into the valley follows each pass. The altitude band runs from 117 to 348 metres, only 20 percent of the route is flat, and 4.5 percent each is steeply uphill and steeply down.

The run is the opposite: two laps of 4.9 kilometres on the flat ground south of the Buchtzigsee, 14 metres of climbing over the whole distance and a course profile classified as one hundred percent flat. SSV Ettlingen 1847 stages the race for the fourth time, capped at 320 places and part of the Baden Tri Cup; it is sold out for 2026.

Pacing Strategy

The two swim laps with the land break are shorter than they sound but do break the rhythm once. Swim the first lap under control, take the land section briskly rather than at a sprint, and find a clean stroke again on the second: the climb begins immediately after transition.

That is precisely the core of this race: the Schöllbronn climb sits at lap kilometre 1.23 every time, straight after mounting and on legs cold from the lake. Three point eight kilometres at 5.7 percent are long enough for the wrong intensity to genuinely hurt, and you ride them three times. Choose the intensity of the first pass so that you can match it on the third, not beat it. Ride the first climb on the adrenaline of the mass start and you lose more on the second lap than you gained.

The third climb from kilometre 27.63 and the descent that follows decide the race. After that comes a run course that gives you nothing: one hundred percent flat, with no rise on which pace regulates itself and no descent to recover on. The classic trap is therefore the transition: after 756 metres of climbing the first flat run metres feel deceptively easy, and a first kilometre run too fast costs the whole second lap.

Training plan for SWE Albtal Triathlon Ettlingen: 12-week build

The Olympic distance in Ettlingen takes roughly 2:20 to 3:15 depending on level. The demand is unusually split in two: at 19 vertical metres per kilometre and only 20 percent flat, the bike leg is a clear climbing effort with three long tempo blocks on the ascent, while the run stays physiologically uniform throughout.

The third pass of the Schöllbronn climb decides it, and after that the ability to run ten kilometres evenly on a completely flat course. Those two demands hardly substitute for one another in training.

Bike training therefore needs repeated long climbs: 3 to 4 repetitions of 12 to 18 minutes at five to six percent, ridden within one session and at the same target intensity, because that repetition is exactly what the race asks for. Add descending work, because every ascent is followed by a descent with a 4.5 percent steep share, and check your gearing for ramps of up to 12.8 percent after 28 kilometres.

For the run the most specific session is a long brick of 25 to 40 minutes straight off a hilly ride, with the first three minutes deliberately controlled. Add 2 x 4,900 metres at race pace on flat ground, because the 10 kilometres are exactly two such laps. On the date: mid-September in the Alb valley brings cool mornings and a lake still pleasant after the summer; the real conditions question is the descent back to Ettlingen in the wet, if it has rained.