EXECUTION
PLAN

Alpe du Zwift is a 12.2-kilometre grind — 1,036 metres of climbing at an average of 8.5% across 21 hairpin bends. It's a pure climb: there's no flat to recover on, no descent to claw time back, and almost no draft to hide in. On a gradient this relentless, gravity does the talking and your power-to-weight decides almost everything. That's good news, because it means pacing it well is a solvable problem rather than a guess.

Hold a steady speed, not steady watts

The fastest way up a varying-gradient climb isn't to hold one fixed wattage — it's to hold a roughly constant ground speed. In practice that means spending a little more power on the steep, slow pitches and easing slightly on the shallower, faster ones. The physics is well established (Swain's 1997 work on variable-gradient pacing, and the more recent ascent-time modelling that followed it): on a slow climb, time is dominated by the steep sections, so a few extra watts there buy you more than the same watts spent where you're already moving quicker.

Push the steep bits, ease the flatter bits

On Alpe du Zwift the steepest pitch is right at the bottom — bends 21 to 17 sit around 10–11% — and the climb gradually relents to roughly 7% over the final few bends to the line. So the textbook "push the steep bits" rule wants you to spend early. There's a catch, and it's the single most important thing on this page.

The biggest risk is over-cooking the start

Far more time is lost on the Alpe by blowing up in the first few minutes than is ever gained by clever pacing. The early ramps feel easy when you're fresh, you see everyone around you charging, and it's desperately tempting to go with them. Don't. The plan above leads with a deliberate, gentle negative split: it holds the steep lower ramps right at your target rather than above it, then lets you spend a little more once you're past halfway and you actually know how your legs feel. The steep ramps being early is exactly why "press the steep bits" and "don't over-cook the start" don't contradict each other here — the plan reconciles them for you.

The swing is gentle — about ±5%

Here's the honest truth that most pacing advice skips: on a climb as uniform as the Alpe, the optimal power swing between the steepest and shallowest sections is small — only around ±5% of your average. This isn't a climb with 4% false-flats and 14% walls where huge surges pay off. The numbers in your plan never stray more than 8% from your target on purpose: they keep you efficient without ever sending you into the red. Treat the watt range for each zone as a frame, not a leash — a couple of watts either way won't make or break your time.

So how much time does this actually save?

Realistically, perfect variable pacing versus simply riding evenly is worth somewhere around 15 to 40 seconds on a 45–75 minute effort. This is a fine-tuning tool and a discipline aid — not a shortcut, and not a way to beat your power. The real value isn't those handful of seconds; it's having a concrete, personalised number to hold in each zone so you ride your own climb instead of someone else's, and so you arrive at the top having emptied the tank rather than detonating at bend 14. Hit your weight and power above, lock in your plan, screenshot it, and go ride the Alpe properly.

Want the full theory behind the plan — the w/kg-to-time chart, the hairpin-by-hairpin read and the pacing FAQ? See the in-depth Alpe du Zwift pacing guide.