Megavalanche 2016 - Race Day
Race day in Alpe d’Huez. Atop the hill this morning, a lot of riders were struggling with nerves. Standing side by side with almost 350 riders, the nerves were quite understandable. The sun was out in force and softening up the glacier pretty quickly, which added another element of uncertainty for the riders.
Remy Absalon had the pressure of the number 1 plate, but lived up to expectations and took the win. He’s had some experience here, making this his 5th Megavalanche victory. Second placed Damien Oton was pretty happy just to make it to the bottom. He’s raced here a few times before but hasn’t made it to the finish line until today.
We stopped for a moment today to have a quick chat with George Edwards, the organiser of the Megavalanche.
It's the 22nd Megavalanche, what keeps bringing you back to Alpe d'Huez? It's the best place for an event like this, it has one of the longest runs in the world. There is the fantastic bike park area, the lifts, and a big team of people who know what they're doing when it comes to put on an event. The icing on the cake is the glacier, it really adds value to the event. The event has been built around the hillside here.
We see a lot of events popping up that have similarities to the Mega.The Megavalanche is like the Olympics of Mountain Biking, it's influenced the sport. When the Mega was created in 1995, there was a cross country bike and a heavy downhill bike, over the years we have seen bikes more and more suited to this race, I think the evolution of the bikes has had something to do with the Mega.
What was new for 2016? We've spent a lot of time working on the qualifying track, we have refurbished about half of the track. We will continue working on the tracks for future years. And for the future of the Mega? Every year we focus on improving the race tracks, we want everyone to enjoy the race. From the pro riders to the amateur riders, we want to cater for all the competitors. The other reason for this is that we want to make it as safe as possible, which is very important to us. We would also like to include more races and events during the week of the Megavalanche.
Pic Blanc, the start far away in the distance.
Hundreds of riders line the start.
Excitement fills the air at the top as the helicopter roar's overhead and the music gets louder.
And they're off! Remy Absalon took the holeshot, but with riders hot on his tail he was far from safe.
The sea of riders poured down the glacier.
Camille Servant overtook Absalon on the glacier, but this was the beginning of a battle between the two.
On the open road...
It soon became apparent that the glacier was super soft, ruts formed quickly and it became pretty hard to carry speed.
These wavy lines show you just how hard it was to control the bike.
But still the riders powered on through the glacier, the condition of the glacier caught riders off-guard as for the women's race on Saturday, it was rock hard and super icy.
The trail then opened up into wonderful single track, where Camille still held the lead.
It's super fun flowy trail but there are a few dangerous rocks on the side which could easily catch a pedal or a derailleur.
The trail then drops through steep rocky sections, which are coated in dust.
Remy Absalon had the power on the climbs and overtook Camille Servant.
Cedric Ravanel finished in 5th place today.
Matti Lehikoinen powering through some alpine dust and into 11th position.
The dust became a pretty big issue for the riders that were in a close pursuit.
The sun was still only just creeping over the big mountains.
Damien Oton hunting down Camillie Servant and Remy Absalon.
The race here is littered with numerous climbs, some much longer than others.
A bird's eye view of Damien Oton.
Fans littered the side of the exciting sections of track.
Francois Bailly Maitre picked up a few places in the woods section and finished in 3rd place.
The trail then drops out of sight into the trees, we caught up with the race at the finish line.
And the first rider into the finish line was Remy Absalon, making it his 5th Megavalanche win.
He was closely followed by Damien Oton, who was over the moon just to make it down the entire track.
3rd place finisher Francois Bailly Maitre.
Camille Servant was leading for a large portion of this race, the woods got the better of him and he finished up in 7th position.
Liam Moynihan got to the finish in 14th place and was signing autographs within 30 seconds.
Cedric Ravanel.
Kilian Bron (left) gave it everything he had. Nico Quere, knackered.
Matti Lehikoinen.
Liam Moynihan.
Cedric Gracia was here on his first Mega, and finished in 18th place today.
Darren Evans made it down on his hardtail with a ten-minute delay today. He took off the side of one of the steep banks and a had a run in with a bush. He was nursing his beaten body in the stream by the finish line.
Thomas Lapeyrie.
Many riders here are out to cross something off the bucket list. Here's Alex Evans, back to the 9-5 tomorrow.
Ben Deakin.
Number 1.
1st: Remy Absalon
2nd: Damien Oton
3rd: Francois Bailly Maitre
4th: Gustav Wildhaber
5th Cedric Ravanel
That's all for this year, see you next time.
MENTIONS: @BWinder
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So yeah, go. Set your own goals. You can be competitive if you want. If you don't qualify well, you end up in the Mega Affinity and you won't be clocked anyway. But if you are competitive and do well, then you're riding against some big heroes.
But you don't get to do a mass start at the top if u qualify outside top 100 in each qualify group. So it's just a ride down the track to get a time n not a race really for them.
There are 2qualification groups first 50 from each qualify get into the main mega race on the Sunday. 2nd 50 get into the mini mega race on Saturday that starts after the women's race.
Wish I could do it again, but think I definitely used up a lifetime's luck getting away without being broken last time!
I'm going to do it in 2018.
Now that it has become so common for people to carry cameras on their ride, it shouldn't be too hard to find recordings on youtube or so of the entire race. It may help put things in perspective. Yes there is snow and big rocks. But well before Alpe d'Huez (1800m or so) the big rocks are gone and you can rely on your UK skills of riding switchbacks with mud and roots.
1-35 Main Race
36-70 Challengers
71-105 Amateurs
105-last of each quali-run rode Affinity
This means if you have a slight clue of riding and can avoid injury and mechanicals in quali you will be doing a mass-start race.
So similar to your story, just with a bit more luck I suppose!
Some of my mates were out there again this year, and I've been super jealous. Definitely would do it again.
As manufacturers get their heads around that problem we will definitely see more at the event though
Will they ever televise this race? Red bull should.
Oton used his usual Devinci.
Taken from a helicopter ?