Marmotte 2015

buckmulligan

The official website has put up a notice saying that 2015 entries will open in November again this year and I suspect it will still sell out very quickly despite the €80 entry fee.

Anyone know what date they’re likely to go on sale, IIRC it was the start of Nov last year? And what are your top tips for making sure you get your registration in before the door slams shut?!

I'm looking forward to the tunnels already :?

stanthomas

BuckMulligan wrote:

what are your top tips for making sure you get your registration in before the door slams shut?!

Use the French version of the site and enter the Trophee de l'Oisans.

1KmtoGo

BuckMulligan,

I have been thinking about La Marmotte for 2015 - the registration last year opened on 4 November. I have signed up to a website called www.urbantoalps.com as they will be sending details about registering for La Marmotte as soon as the date is known (I think that previous to 2014's event registrations had usually gone on sale from 1 December).

DeVlaeminck

Last year I noticed signs that perhaps it wasn't quite as popular with UK riders as it has been - the campsite wasn't rammed full as it had been previous years. Perhaps with the annual price rises and as other events become a bit more visible the mad rush to enter the Marmotte might cool down a bit ? I'd still enter straight away though - the Trophee isn't a bad shout though - think you get in the earlier start if you enter that too (though you may prefer an extra 30 minutes in bed).

hypster

I entered this year's (2014) Marmotte with five friends. If I remember correctly the official website was saying entries would open at the end of November. Just by luck I logged on late on the 4th November and found that the entries had already opened. I panicked a bit because the six of us were determined to enter but it was so late I couldn't contact all my mates so just did all six entries on my credit card.

As it turned out the entries were still open a couple of days later so I wasn't the total sell-out that I was led to believe but I guess you do have to be reasonably quick. The communication from the organisers is pretty bad as well so don't expect too much back from them. I printed out the details of all our entries just in case and didn't get any official confirmation until the end of December. Also, the official print-out of our entry form wasn't available until 17th June, just three weeks from the event. You have to upload a scan of your doctor's letter to the website as well to gain access to the entry form.

I printed copies of the entry form and doctor's letter for each of us but only the entry form was required at registration. I get the impression that the doctor's letter is only a cursory check and with some 7500 entrants is probably automatic anyway and is just to cover the organisers' backs in the event of some sort of medical problem with an entrant on the ride.

The registration process the day before at Alpe d'Huez was a lot smoother than I was anticipating. The queue was reasonably long but it moved quite fast and picking up your entry pack was relatively painless.

ilav84

relative to my interests

alan_a

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Last year I noticed signs that perhaps it wasn't quite as popular with UK riders as it has been - the campsite wasn't rammed full as it had been previous years. Perhaps with the annual price rises and as other events become a bit more visible the mad rush to enter the Marmotte might cool down a bit ? I'd still enter straight away though - the Trophee isn't a bad shout though - think you get in the earlier start if you enter that too (though you may prefer an extra 30 minutes in bed).

This year clashed with Le Tour Yorkshire. Hence the reduced number of Brits.

DeVlaeminck

Yes I expect that had an impact - I was referring to last year (2013) though rather than the last event - I didn't do it this year.

venster

Thought I'd jump in on this thread rather than open a new one.

Is the Marmotte traditionally the first Saturday in July?

And is there a standard day for the Etape du Tour?

I need to book next year's annual leave before these dates are announced and want to try and get some time off around one of these events.

DeVlaeminck

Yes for the Marmotte but it can depend on where the Tour is that weekend as there is a small chance the pros will be using those roads that day so I'd hold fire until they announce the Tour route if you can - think the Etape varies - pretty sure it has been the day after the Marmotte or one of the adjacent weekends. The Tour should be spending a fair whack of time in the Alps next year so definitely a chance to watch the race and do one or both of these events too.

1KmtoGo

The Marmotte is very likely to be Saturday 4 July 2015 and the latest speculation about the Tour route suggests that the Etape du Tour will possibly be on Sunday 19 July in the French Alps. There are a couple of blogs on this topic at the following address on the website urbantoalps.com: http://www.urbantoalps.com/blog

DeVlaeminck

Interesting blog - if that start town for the Etape is correct and they are right about taking in the Glandon or Croix de Fer I wonder what the options for the route are. One way would be a loop over the Galibier which would be quite Marmotte like. What other options are there round there - The Madeleine is close isn't it and there are some other climbs off the CDF they have used before.

Leroy42

Registration is open on line.

They seemed to have sorted out the issues from previous years, I was able to put through my registration with no hassles.

tonyscp

Yep, smooth as silk. I'm in for the Trophee again.

Ankles50

Very easy registration, now the complicated part of getting man & bike there and a decent hotel

DeVlaeminck

Well that's me in again - better get dieting !

fuzzdog

Yep! I'm in too.
However, does anyone know what their password is?
I tried logging in to me to make sure I was actually in and it asks for a password. I did it last year through an agent and was told it was my date of birth but I've tried that and no luck. Maybe it needs to be in a different configuration. Anyone know. I don't remember the form asking you to enter a password.

JLC

Does anyone know a decent campsite in Bourg or nearby? I have just entered but plan staying in the region for a couple of weeks, so a decent campsite with a pool would be great. Will be there a ciouple of weeks so looking for something which wil be nice for a couple of weeks, ideally close enough to walk to a few shops/bars/restaurants. Thanks

stanthomas

fuzzdog wrote:

Yep! I'm in too.
However, does anyone know what their password is?
I tried logging in to me to make sure I was actually in and it asks for a password. I did it last year through an agent and was told it was my date of birth but I've tried that and no luck. Maybe it needs to be in a different configuration. Anyone know. I don't remember the form asking you to enter a password.

Try d.o.b in yyyymmdd format.

stanthomas

JLC wrote:

Does anyone know a decent campsite in Bourg or nearby? I have just entered but plan staying in the region for a couple of weeks, so a decent campsite with a pool would be great. Will be there a ciouple of weeks so looking for something which wil be nice for a couple of weeks, ideally close enough to walk to a few shops/bars/restaurants. Thanks

Take a look the tourist board site at http://bike-oisans.com/en/accomodations ... ion-oisans
pick your town & type of accomodation etc.
I plan to stay at le Colporteur again which is in town but doesn't have a pool (you can use the municipal one). There are a couple of sites up the road in Rochetaillée which are nice (and a little cheaper).

shazzz

Date format above worked for me.
How do you go about finding accommodation?
It all seems to be booked/closed according to usual internet sites...

fuzzdog

Great! Thanks stan. That works for d.o.b.
Cheers

lparren

How did you check whether you are in? I don't get the d.o.b. part and don't see any way to enter a password or check

DeVlaeminck

I know a lot will already be booked up but anyone know of any accommodation in or nearish Bourg that would sleep a group of 8 plus ? Always camped in the past but would prefer a bed this time.

fuzzdog

Checking if you are in or not.
The d.o.b. thing seems to just get you back to the details you entered earlier however I think you may need to access your account later on.
I assume the mere fact that they took your money means that you are in. However I had what I also assume is a confirmation email later this afternoon. Hope you got one too.
Also wondering about hotels etc. All booked. As far as I can see they have been for months. I don't know if places are made available later on. Maybe people cancel who prebooked if they didn't get in. I remember there were still places this year until about May. But I can't remember if that was just for Saturday and Sunday nights or not. Any Ideas?

JSS

Marmotte sold out already. I reckon that was in under 11 hours. It took 36 hours last year (albeit with the website constantly crashing and driving people mad).

In terms of accomodation, have a look at ski rentals in Alpe d'Huez. We found there were still things available in May and if you get in early now you should have no problem finding decent self catering. I think all the hotels in the Bourg and Alpe d"Huez will have been booked by the specialist cycling packages as they know the dates years in advance and lock everything up way ahead of the average cycle tourist.

cjcp

In.

One or two less mince pies this Christmas, I think...

BenderRodriguez

shazzz wrote:

Date format above worked for me.
How do you go about finding accommodation?
It all seems to be booked/closed according to usual internet sites...

I wouldn't worry too much. Most places will just be looking to get their bookings for the ski season sorted out right now.

I found a very decent hotel in Alpe D'Huez last year which didn't even show up as having any vacancies until about March time. There are a lot of beds in ADH!

narbs

shazzz wrote:

Date format above worked for me.
How do you go about finding accommodation?
It all seems to be booked/closed according to usual internet sites...

I've booked through the AdH tourist office website and got a room at the Pierre et Vacances building not far from the altiport. Also stayed here - http://www.skiboundholidays.co.uk/hotel ... lle-aurore - which we booked through a UK tour operator.

As BenderRodriguez says, they'll all be gearing up for the ski season so I wouldn't worry until next year.

cc78

Finally got my place confirmed this morning... now the aim is to work out a training plan between now and Christmas and then start working on the turbo in January.

ilav84

How is everyones training going? I was starting to go well until my hamstring injury but getting very little climbing. Longest ride was 140km at an average of 28mph. Keep getting the doubting feeling that i'm not going to have enough in my legs to finish the bloody thing. I just hope my hamstring injury doesn't keep me out of training for too long.