Build your Tor des Géants plan
The instant browser builder stops at the marathon, so this one comes from the coach itself. Tell it your race date, your weekly mileage, and the terrain you can get to, and it writes the whole build and keeps adapting it as you log the training. Free account, no card. You are about 46 weeks out.
- Distances
- 330K
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Field
- Capped at 1,100 starters in 2026, with places drawn by lottery
Course
The Tor des Géants course
A single-stage loop of about 330 km and roughly 24,000 m of climbing around the Aosta Valley, starting and finishing in Courmayeur. The first half follows Alta Via 2 on the Gran Paradiso side of the valley, the second half Alta Via 1 beneath Monte Rosa and the Matterhorn, crossing 25 passes above 2,000 m and around 30 alpine lakes.
Read the full course notes
The high point is the Col Loson at about 3,300 m and the low point around 300 m on the valley floor, so you swing from glacier views to vineyards and back. Six life bases roughly every 50 km, including Valgrisenche, Cogne and Ollomont, are where you eat, change and sleep, and the clock runs nonstop against a 150-hour limit. The trails are rugged mountain paths, rocky and steep, with single climbs of 1,000 to 2,000 m.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Distances
- 330K
- Field
- Capped at 1,100 starters in 2026, with places drawn by lottery
- Weather on race day
- Mid-September in the Aosta Valley usually brings warm, sunny afternoons in the valleys and cold nights on the cols above 2,500 m, where temperatures can drop below freezing. Over nearly a week on course you should expect sun, rain, wind and possibly snow on the highest passes, so layering and the mandatory kit matter as much as fitness.
What to train for
The Tor is won on hiking, not running: build steep power hiking with poles toward 3,000–6,000 m of weekly climbing in peak blocks, and practise descending technical ground on tired legs.
Do back-to-back long days, two or three days of 6–10 hours in the mountains, to train fuelling, foot care and moving through the night.
Rehearse a sleep strategy in training, such as one night with only short rests, so you know how you function on little sleep. Spend time above 2,500 m before race week if you can, since many passes sit close to 3,000 m.
Sample week
A sample Tor des Géants training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Tuesday Key session
- Hill repeats: 10 × 2 min up a steady grade, jog back down
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 10 km
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 13 km with 6 km at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 6 km, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 29–32 km on trail, with as much climbing as you can find
- Sunday Key session
- Second long day, 16–19 km easy on tired legs
Taper
Tapering for the Tor des Géants
Start the taper two to three weeks before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar.
Tor des Géants training questions
How long should I train for the Tor des Géants?
Most runners give a 330k race twenty to twenty-four weeks of focused training on top of a season of consistent aerobic mileage. The coach counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
Is the Tor des Géants course hilly?
Hilly. A single-stage loop of about 330 km and roughly 24,000 m of climbing around the Aosta Valley, starting and finishing in Courmayeur.
What is the weather usually like at the Tor des Géants?
Mid-September in the Aosta Valley usually brings warm, sunny afternoons in the valleys and cold nights on the cols above 2,500 m, where temperatures can drop below freezing. Over nearly a week on course you should expect sun, rain, wind and possibly snow on the highest passes, so layering and the mandatory kit matter as much as fitness.
When should I start tapering for the Tor des Géants?
Start the taper two to three weeks before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar.
Do I need an account to get a Tor des Géants training plan?
For this one, yes. The instant browser builder stops at the marathon, so an ultra plan comes from the coach itself, which needs a free account. Still no card, and the plan adapts as you log the training.