29/09/2026
Tor des Géants Reflections II: Altitude & Acclimatisation
The TDG course features 25 major passes located above 2,000 meters (6,560 feet), with several climbing past 3,000 meters (9,840 feet) up to a peak elevation of 3,299 meters (10,823 feet) at Col Loson.
Once I was accepted onto the start list at the end of February, it was evident that the six months of training needed to be broken into two core categories to give myself the best chance of success: acclimatisation without spending any time in the race environment, and vertical gain/descent conditioning.
This insight is focused on the former.
A brief timeline helps set the context:
February 25th: TorX 330 confirmation. A ballot process and literally the luck of the draw.
March 7th: Everesting challenge on the Obelisk completed. This confirmed how my lower limbs responded to heavy downhill volume—a massive boost of confidence that my fitness was in a good place coming out of winter, and it fired me up to push further towards the race. That outcome relaxed my mind enough to pay the entry fee for TorX. It’s not cheap, and although refunds can be made with insurance, it was a significant outlay. Tracker, flights, hotels, trains, buses, equipment, nutrition, training investments, fuel for training trips… it adds up. At this point, huge thanks to Si at Up & Running for the Madmule support where he was able to chip in.
Mid-to-Late March: Two weeks of recovery from the Everesting challenge, race entry confirmed, and the full training plan laid out.
April – June: A dogleg was enforced. An opportunity arose to take on a studio, convert it, and open my own personal training space: The Engine Room. Through May and June, I committed all my time and resources to fulfilling this task. Helen was an absolute powerhouse in supporting everything that had to be done. Training was kept mild, though whatever I managed was purposeful, specific, and effective.
It was during this period that I bought the altitude generator. It aligned with the future services we want to offer at The Engine Room, alongside an investment in a treadmill that inclines up to 46%—both a personal training asset and an integration for future studio services.
Why prioritise a generator over trips to the Alps? Simply time and cost. It would have been great to set aside two or three long weekend trips to the Alps in the run-up to September, but once the numbers were crunched, frequent exposure to oxygen-depleted air via an altitude head tent and training mask on the incline treadmill made far greater sense—both physiologically and financially. With the new studio finding its feet, taking time away also needed to mean spending quality holiday time with Helen.
I chose the Hypoxico Sierra 100, which arrived in June, giving me three months of uninterrupted training. Hands down, it proved to be the best investment of time and money for this entire project.
I won’t detail the exact protocol I followed or the supplements taken alongside progressive volume and intensity. For each individual, that depends entirely on past and current exposure, baseline aerobic capacity, health markers, nutritional needs, and frequency of using the apparatus. Successful adaptation markers were tracked both while using the generator and through physical benchmark efforts in training.
Breathlessness became obsolete. Within three weeks, at low RPE, I was hitting splits on local hills close to PR pace—and most notably, I was markedly less out of breath during and after the efforts. The generator was transformational.
I treated time spent in the head tent as actual training. In the early weeks, subjecting the body to hypoxic air demanded a considerable energy cost, so surrounding sessions were planned accordingly.
I began at simulated altitudes of 1,300–1,500 m for 1 to 8 hours. In the final weeks pre-event, I was comfortably handling 3,000–3,500 m for 2 to 4 hours. I never stayed focused on peak elevations for too long; the nature of these mountains is that as soon as you are up, you are on your way down. The rolling average when staying high sits between 2,000 m and 2,600 m, so that was the primary target when completing a full sleep cycle.
Monitoring blood oxygen saturation SpO2) was critical. This was moderated and progressed from 92–95% initially, down to targeted stress levels of 85–88% by the end of the protocol.
The Effect
Unreal. Amazing. Superb.
Courmayeur sits at 1,224 m above sea level. Usually, my ears register altitude gain immediately—a ringing pitch higher than normal, followed by the classic equalisation pop (I have severe tinnitus and am deaf in my right ear).
Not this time.
The pressure shift was subtle and my ears didn't panic. I noticed the transition, but it was comfortable and felt like an immediate psychological win.
I booked a hotel 250 m lower than Courmayeur for the single night before the race began—sleeping lower down meant a significantly better night's rest.
I crossed the start line with fresh confidence that one of the critical factors needing attention after my 2023 PTL attempt had been taken by the horns. I knew I was going to be fine.
And that’s exactly how it played out. While the flexors in my left foot became an issue on the final 1,800 m descent, my lungs, aerobic capacity, and physiological response above 3,000 m under extreme fatigue stayed strong all the way up the final climb to Col Malatrà (2,925 m).
I vividly remember summiting Col Loson at ~3,300 m (around 90 km in) with an emotional grin and a fist pump. Reaching the highest point of the race, I knew deep fatigue would inevitably set in later, but breathing with total comfort was massive reassurance that my oxygen supply was dialed in.
Key Takeaways:
Zero mountain trips above 1,100 m (only a weekend training on Yr Wyddfa / Snowdon in August)+ 3 dawn raids to the Brecons
The vast majority of conditioning done on an incline treadmill, local 500-foot hills, and gym work.
Prioritising sleep and quality rest between stress bouts.
Heavy emphasis on vertical gain over pure mileage.
Approximately 60–70 hours of simulated altitude exposure over 12 weeks.
Tor des Géants is a giant of a race. Looking back, tailoring the preparation to the absolute essentials allowed me to endure, stay safe, and accomplish what everyone on that line sets out to do: finish. 🙃
Incline treadmill and altitude training services will be launching at The Engine Room in winter 2027. Service packages are currently being finalised and will be released across December and January. You don’t need to be heading into high-alpine races to benefit from these tools for health, aerobic capacity, and performance.
Best Wishes - Rich
