One of Europe's hardest one-day gran fondos — four Alpine passes, ~18,040 ft of climbing, and cold high-mountain descents from Sölden.
Build Your Personalized Race Fueling Plan — $19General, evidence-based guidance. Numbers should always be personalized to sweat rate, body mass, fitness and weather.
70–100 g/hr of mixed-source (glucose + fructose) carbohydrate for most trained road riders. Bias toward liquid and gel through the sustained climbs where solid food tolerance drops. On the Timmelsjoch, expect to reduce intake to 60–80 g/hr as altitude and fatigue compound gastric emptying delays.
17–34 fl oz/hr adjusted for temperature and altitude. Cold-hour under-drinking is one of the classic Ötztaler failures — riders finish descents with two full bottles because they forgot to sip. Total intake over 10 hours typically runs 169–304 fl oz.
500–1,000 mg/L of fluid. Long Alpine days can drive sodium losses higher than the moderate ambient temperature suggests — a rider producing 24 fl oz/hr of sweat over ten hours loses substantial sodium even at 59 °F. Salt caps in a jersey pocket let you dose independently of drink-mix flavour fatigue.
3–6 mg/kg body mass, split across pre-start (100–200 mg), the base of Jaufenpass (100 mg) and the base of Timmelsjoch (100–150 mg). A single early espresso wears off by hour four; split dosing protects late-race decision quality on the final climb and descent.
Every stop is a bottle swap first, calorie top-up second. Layer up at the base of long descents so cold does not suppress your fueling in the following hour. The mid-race aid in Sterzing (base of Jaufenpass) is a natural stop for a hot food item — expect longer queues and plan the time budget.
1–4 g/kg carbohydrate 2–4 hours pre-start, from familiar low-fibre, low-fat foods. Sölden hotels typically open breakfast at 4:00–4:30 AM for the 6:45 AM Sölden start. Bread + jam + banana + coffee is the safest option; avoid new foods and heavy pastries.
Fuel by the clock, not by feel. Cold, altitude and long climbs all suppress hunger; structure protects intake. Set a 20-minute alarm on the head unit for the whole race and log every intake to catch drift before it becomes deficit.
1.0–1.2 g/kg carbohydrate plus 0.3 g/kg protein within 60 minutes, and 150 % fluid replacement. Sölden's post-race pasta party is the classic recovery meal — take it, add extra fluids with sodium, and prioritize sleep over a second beer.
Grams and millilitres per hour for each phase of the race. Personalize to your sweat rate, body mass and conditions.
Ötztaler Radmarathon · phased for a 10-hour mid-pack finisher
Sölden hotel·3 h before roll-out
Caffeine: 100–200 mg 20–30 min pre-start
Focus: Familiar breakfast at 4:00 AM: bread + jam + banana + coffee, or oatmeal + honey. Empty the bladder twice. Layer for a cool 46–54 °F start you can shed after Kühtai.
0–22 mi·0:00 – 1:15
Focus: Neutral rollout down the valley. Do not chase the front group. Sit at high zone-2 heart rate. Fuel proactively — Kühtai will kill appetite fast.
22–47 mi·1:15 – 3:00
Focus: 11 mi climb at 8.5 % avg. Cap effort at 75–80 % of altitude-adjusted FTP. On the descent to Inzing, layer up (arm warmers back on, vest zipped) and force one bottle down — cold suppresses thirst.
47–71 mi·3:00 – 4:30
Caffeine: 100 mg mid-block
Focus: Rolling Inn Valley → Brenner is the fastest section of the race. Sit in groups, take pulls when it makes sense, and eat aggressively — this is your best window to bank calories before Jaufenpass.
71–106 mi·4:30 – 7:00
Caffeine: 100 mg at Sterzing aid
Focus: Sterzing aid stop is the natural mid-race reset — hot food, extra bottles, layer decision for the Jaufen. The 10 mi climb at 7.5 % is deceptively long; ride to power, not to feel.
106–137 mi·7:00 – 10:00
Caffeine: 100–150 mg at the base of Timmelsjoch
Focus: The signature climb. 17 mi from the Italian side with pitches to 12 %. Small gears, steady breathing, keep sipping. Above 7,220 ft expect intake to feel harder — do not fight nausea, back off to liquid calories.
137–148 mi·10:00 – 10:30
Focus: The most dangerous descent of the day: 16 mi, cold, technical, fatigued. Full layers on at the summit, gloves changed to full-finger, one last gel before you drop in. Ride within your skills — a crash here after 10 hours is the classic Ötztaler DNF.
Sölden finish·First 24 h after crossing the line
Focus: Freizeit Arena pasta party first, then warm shower, warm clothes. Real Austrian food (Kaiserschmarrn, Wiener Schnitzel, Apfelstrudel) beats another gel. Ferritin, vitamin D and iron check 7–10 days after the race, not immediately.
Numbers assume a 10-hour finisher in typical late-August Tyrol conditions (46–54 °F start in Sölden, 68–82 °F in Inn Valley + Italian side, 36–46 °F on Timmelsjoch summit). Faster riders (sub-8 hours) compress phases and can hold 100+ g/hr through most of the race. Slower riders (11–13 hours) should bias to more real food and add a second caffeine window to protect late-race cognition. Individual sweat rate can shift fluid and sodium targets by ±30 % — personalize with a pre-race sweat test in similar mountain conditions.
Every aid station along the Ötztaler course, with crew access, drop-bag rules and the fueling action to execute at each stop.
Quick bottle top-up and one gel. Do not linger — you have not yet climbed. Restart within 90 seconds.
Warm up if cold. One solid item, refill bottles, remove wet layers from the Kühtai descent. Confirm cutoff margin.
Quick bottle swap, one gel. The Brenner climb starts here — do not sit down. Group re-formation matters for the next 12 mi.
The most important stop of the day. Two full bottles, hot food (pasta, broth), second caffeine dose, drop-bag pickup if using. Layer decision for Jaufenpass. Plan a 4–8 minute stop.
Neutral aid. Take water and one gel. Layer up for the descent. Do not stop long — you will cool rapidly at 6,560 ft.
The last real refuel before 17 mi of climbing. Force one solid item and two full bottles. Confirm cutoff margin. Stage the final caffeine dose.
Neutral aid at the summit. Take water and one gel. Full layers on: jacket, arm warmers, full-finger gloves, buff. Do not linger — you will chill fast.
The neutral rollout down the valley is 40+ kph. Sitting in the top 200 costs 30–40 W over your target power and burns the match you need for Timmelsjoch. Ride to HR or power, not to wheels around you.
The first pass rewards riders who arrive with a full tank. Fueling in the first hour, not the third, decides how Kühtai feels. Do not wait for hunger — set an alarm from km 5.
High-mountain descents suppress thirst even as sweat losses remain meaningful. Structured intake matters more, not less. Force half a bottle down every descent even when you feel fine.
Sub-41 °F at the summit + a 16 mi descent + 10 hours of fatigue = hypothermia risk. Full vest, full-finger gloves, arm warmers back on, and a paper newspaper down the jersey front are all mainstream Ötztaler tactics. This is not the moment to be minimalist.
The Timmelsjoch above 7,220 ft slows gastric emptying by 15–25 %. Pushing sea-level intake volumes (100 g/hr) late in the race often triggers nausea. Drop to 60–80 g/hr from Sterzing onward — the total daily intake is what matters, not the peak hour.
Ötztaler nerves and 10+ hours on course amplify GI risk. Race only what you have trained on rides of 5+ hours in mountain conditions. Bring your own gels and drink mix — do not trust aid-station brand availability to match your gut.
Being cold on a descent burns glycogen (shivering costs 300–500 kcal/hr) and suppresses fueling. Pack real layers, not just an emergency vest — light jacket, arm/knee warmers, full-finger gloves, buff. Check your bag drop and know where you can layer up.
The aid at St. Leonhard (base of Timmelsjoch, km 210) is the last real refuel before 17 mi of climbing. Skipping it because you 'feel fine' is the classic mid-race Ötztaler mistake — the Timmelsjoch is where under-fueled riders lose 30–60 minutes.
The Timmelsjoch descent after 10 hours of racing is the most dangerous section of the day. A crash here ends the race and can injure you seriously. Ride within your handling skills; the 30 seconds you save on a corner do not exist if you crash.
A practical race-week checklist: carbs, hydration, sodium, caffeine and race-day supplies — print it or keep it on your phone.
Free calculators, checklists and articles to help you personalize your Ötztaler plan.
Every athlete is different. FTP, finish time, body weight, sweat rate, weather, nutrition preferences and race goals all change what you should eat and drink.
FuelQ Pro builds a personalized race fueling strategy tuned to your ride — carbohydrate, hydration, sodium, caffeine and recovery, mapped to the course.
A Race Fueling Plan gives you a personalized strategy for this event. The free checklist helps you prepare the basics first: race-week setup, 48-hour prep, race morning, hydration, sodium, caffeine, aid stations, and backup calories.
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