Megavalanche - Men's Final Results and Photos
Starting from the top of the Pic Blanc before running down on to the glacier, conditions were all time prime this morning, and the racing was as exciting, as brutal, and as challenging as ever. Anyone who can take victory on this 20+km course definitely earns their spoils!
'Ligne A S'il vous plaît'...'Ligne B S'il vous plaît'. It takes a fair bit of time to get everyone lined up correctly based on their qualifying positions. This gives riders the time and opportunity to admire the breathtaking views as the mists rise from valleys to leave grass on the opposing mountainsides looking like green velvet. The peaks lose their island status as the clouds lift too and become one with the rest of the Alps once again. In the rather less dramatic race build up, riders also realise that the snow may not be quite as bad as had been feared, and in fact on the roll down to the start, could even be described as grippy.
All images courtesy of Hoshi Yoshida.
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 Seeing your alarm show that it'll be going off at 5am is never nice. Sleep the night before the Mega can be a fitful affair, nerves playing on your mind intertwined with adrenaline, overthinking things, and the early alarm call just adds to the ill-prepared feeling that can plague you come Sunday morning. 'How's the snow going to go?', 'How icy is it going to be?' and, perhaps the most critical; 'Is anyone going to take me out?'. Bleary eyed, you're on the first cablecar not long after 6am, and on the second not long after for the remainder of your 1500m ascent to the summit. Only two hours to wait until for the music to kick off, the tape to lift, and for all hell to break loose. Two short hours for apprehension to increase, and your stomach to tie itself in knots. |
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| The helicopter is always a sign that the start is not far away and this year was no exception, breaking the calm before the storm and beginning the countdown to destruction. Little did we know from the start line was that Hoshi Yoshida was there to capture the moment from within its canopy. |
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'Ligne A S'il vous plaît'...'Ligne B S'il vous plaît'. It takes a fair bit of time to get everyone lined up correctly based on their qualifying positions. This gives riders the time and opportunity to admire the breathtaking views as the mists rise from valleys to leave grass on the opposing mountainsides looking like green velvet. The peaks lose their island status as the clouds lift too and become one with the rest of the Alps once again. In the rather less dramatic race build up, riders also realise that the snow may not be quite as bad as had been feared, and in fact on the roll down to the start, could even be described as grippy. |
| Without the usual bottleneck of the piste signpost to navigate, and a 100% snow start rather than the 50/50 rock & snow of recent years, this years start went off without a repeat of 2012's carnage caused by Rene Wildhaber getting out of control. Seeing a skier alongside you is more than a little odd, although not off putting as your brain quickly refocuses on the task in hand. That is if it ever left the task in the first place. Clean and clinical this may look, but it's anything but as riders aero tuck, deal with the ruts in the now frozen surface on the snow, and generally try to avoid contact with anyone else around them. Easier said than done, especially with a strong camber which fights to pull all riders to the same point. |
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| And then comes the first corner. The first riders may be away cleanly, but behind them the first riders are already beginning to get out of shape as riders and bikes part company. Even first place gets in on the sliding with a neatly controlled drift... |
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| ...which unfortunately didn't stay controlled, and ended up with a rider-meets-snow scenario, allowing Clementz to capitalize, and both Atherton and Absalon through to fight a battle for second place which would continue nearly to the end. |
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| For those riders who made it beyond the first corner, 40mph and burning brakes soon met them. This next steep piste was definitely faster with feet up and no brakes. But that required balls, big balls, and not every rider quite made the leap to realizing that this was the ticket to a good few passing moves on fellow riders. Unfortunately, this increased speed just meant that when you did hit the deck, whether of your own volition or via contact with other riders, you hit the deck hard. Soft and fluffy powder this is not. If you ever wondered the effect falling on this stuff has on your skin, wonder no more. Think somewhere between cheesegrater and first degree burns. Lovely. |
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| But of course not everyone got their feet up, and there was plenty of tripoding going on too. Stay out the big ruts, hang loose, and hope for the best. The smell of hot brakes that hung in the air at the end of this straight was intense, the acrid burnt smell hitting your nostrils hard. 160mm rotors just aren't designed to slow bikes from near 60mph speeds! |
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| Unless you were running XX1, or had the legs to turn a big ring, the end of the glacier was all about the aero tuck. Here Maxi Dickerhoff uses it to maximum advantage over the opposition. |
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| In the shade the snow remains hard, and mostly icy. Luckily the sun had just about crept its way onto the majority of the pistes by the time racing started. |
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| The end of the snow in sight should mean riders could breathe easily, but alas this was seldom the case. Plenty of crashes were still happening as the sun had been on this snow the longest. Of course, riders could also see how close they were to the singletrack, which renewed efforts to get past that 'one last rider' before things narrowed and opportunities reduced. |
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| Ruts, ruts and more ruts. Even after you came off the glacier there was still plenty of snow to negotiate, as Jerome Clementz shows. Most ruts had a deep and narrow line for wheels, matched either left or right with a shallower and wider one for a foot. It would be too easy if they were straight and smooth. |
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| If you were in the top 100 going into this you maybe stood a chance of being able to ride it. After that it became a procession of riders taking their bikes for a walk. And when it got to that stage, you were best hiking your way over the top, and in doing so overtaking a good number of riders. And yes, that main rut is bar deep, and the secondary one was deep enough that the ridge between the two was scraping your inner thigh. |
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| This is the perfect indicator of why the snow is so critical. Bottlenecks and traffic jams conspired to ruin many a riders race. But, loathe that aspect of the Mega or not, it is part of the race and you accept it. Not that that prevents the frustration creeping in as you drag your brakes down a piece of trail you know full well you could hit brakeless, were it not of course for the twenty riders ahead of you. |
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| It isn't in many races that you will ride through the downdraft of a helicopters rotor blades and consider it normal, but then the Megavalanche is not a normal race. |
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| One last patch of snow meant that the spray hitting your goggles was almost over, so what better place for Iago Garay to rip a tear-off before heading down towards Alpe d'Huez and the increasingly dusty trails? |
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| This trail cut into the side of the mountain has been widened over previous years but it still feels precariously narrow when flat out, with tiring arms and hands, and in the cloud of dust given off by the riders in front. |
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| Chasing the sun. This early in the morning, the western face of the mountain takes a while to come into light and crisp shadows are the result. It brings into sharp relief how early it is in the day, despite having been up for nearly five hours. Jerome Clementz rides the knife edge of light and dark along the traverse above the town. |
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| It's amazing how far up the hill the crowds are willing to venture. Sure, they go to see the top guys, but the amount of support they give to everyone is unreal and all part of the appeal. Here Absalon chases down Affy; utmost fitness vs brute force. |
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| Across the meadows to the road climb the battle for second was like cat and mouse, the hunter becoming the hunted as quickly as they had asserted their position in front. |
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| By the road climb Absalon was ahead, but not by much as the nervous glance back to see a hard charging Affy confirms. The Frenchman was definitely in his element here but with the long descent to Allemont not far away, and just a few short and sharp climbs to deal with en route, the result was by no means cut and dried. |
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| Meanwhile Jerome, oblivious to the battle going on behind, begins the descent; first to Oz en Oisans, and then to Allemont for the finish line. Things can still happen, as the attrition rate of riders with broken bikes littering the side of the course would confirm, but would the Frenchman avoid such a problem? |
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| In the turns Dan is a monster and was fighting hard to claw back the time lost to Absalon on the climb but would it be enough? |
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| Fast leads to technical, and a little duck to get under the fencing. How many Go-Pro's were clouted on the metalwork this week? |
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| And the victor; one Jerome Clementz, one of the original enduro athletes, and one of, if not the dominant force to be reckoned with on events like this. |
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| Number one board congratulates the number one rider on the day. Remy Absalon and Jerome Clementz. |
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| Meanwhile, with second having been sewn up by Remy, third place was for Dan, and for whom the finishing line couldn't have come soon enough. There's a big difference between the short World Enduro style events and these longer endurance style events. So while Dan is clearly talented, and it's only a matter of time before he gets a win under his belt, there's still a noticeable gap to the Frenchmen currently at the forefront of the result sheets. |
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| The finish line is for stories, good and bad, tales of the race and talk of what happened on the snow. American Ben Cruz came in to 21st place and here gets the gen from Jerome on where the Frenchman's five minute lead over him came from. |
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| Nicolas Quere and Nico Lau. Commencal vs. Cube; 26-inch vs 27.5-inch. Fifth and sixth places taken. Stories came back from the lead pack of a huge moment Quere had on the glacier, missing the piste and launching the bike for 30 feet over the rotten black snow to the side. He was lucky to hold it but hold it he did and 5th is an amazing result for him. |
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| It's a bike breaker, even for those who finish well. No matter how much your legs hurt, the alternative here is worse. |
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| No brake... |
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| ...10th gear only for the climbs... |
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| ...or no chain from the snow down. Which would you prefer? |
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| And of course there were punctures aplenty too. Ludo May had taken an early lead before a puncture ripped away any chance of victory. |
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| Casey Coffman crossed the line way down the order and with a broken nose to show for it. The American admitted that riding the bottom half of the track unpracticed for the race was a bad move. It's not just a bike breaker. |
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| Trek's Justin Leov took it steady on the snow and suffered for it; 22nd place was all he could manage to cross the line in. |
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| The Mens A Final podium. 1st, Jerome Clementz. 2nd, Remy Absalon. 3rd, Dan Atherton. 4th, Lukas Anrig. 5th, Nicolas Quere. |
All images courtesy of Hoshi Yoshida.
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Member since May 26, 2003
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LONG LIVE THE 26" WHEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm pretty sure that comment was sponsored by SRAM. Didn't know that only XX1 could get you down the mountain. Your bombing a steep mountain, I think XTR 2x10 would work just fine. Besides their going so fast they could easily spin the biggest rings available.
Off course if you don't feel the need to step on the pedals then it is plenty reliable...
seriously think before you type.
I know the main song they start the race too is Alarma...
there is another one by david guetta - paris.
But im trying to find the one that had "and im lonely, hum hum hum!" ive googled and cant find anything, SOMEONE HELP!
it's the tyre that will cost you - not the tube/tubelss setup