Megavalanche 2016 - Qualifying
Yesterday was qualifying day in Alpe d’Huez and for qualifying, riders ride a different track to race runs. The qualifying track is a shorter and lacks the big glacier start, it has patches of snow still, and is a long way from being easy.
There were ten qualifying runs for the men, made up of over 100 riders each. And there was also one for the women. The purpose of the qualifying runs are to work out which event every rider will ride in, Megavalanche, Mega Challenger, Mega Amateurs or the Mega Affinity 1 and 2. It also seeds riders into the starting grid, the higher you qualify the closer you start to the front.
Charles Jones, questioning what he'd got himself in for, but he finished 4th in his heat. Solid.
Liam Moynihan checking out the view, and seeing what the track conditions are looking like.
An initial climb to the lift, that got the blood flowing.
Queues of riders excited to get to the top.
Remy Absalon has won here four times, he knows how to pace himself and where to take the risks.
A big gondola ride to the top.
Rider in the gate, waiting for the carnage to begin.
And straight into the action, Remy Absalon caught the holeshot and managed to hold onto it until the bottom, he won his heat closely followed by Liam Moynihan. Remy got the second fastest time of the day.
Patchy snow in between the big sheet rock.
Kilian Bron leading out of the gate who also managed to hold onto that until the end.
Carnage for the riders towards the back of the pack.
Bike down, rider nowhere to be seen. Caught in the stampede.
Matti Lehikoinen said that bike skills don't matter once you hit a rut like this one, you've just got to get through it with your legs off. He was fastest here at the top, but dropped back to 4th. Cedric Ravanel (Green Commencal kit) took the win in this heat.
Thumbs up from this injured rider, we're sure it's not the way he imagined getting down the mountain today.
Deep ice ruts.
Cedric Gracia is here on his first ever Megavalanche. He came down and took the win in his heat.
Baptiste Gaillot.
Big swooping corners, filled with dust.
Stefan Peter.
Lewis Bradley.
This section is key to holding as much speed as possible, it's just before a small climb.
Dimitri Tordo 2nd, closely followed by Gustav Wildhaber who finished in first place in this heat.
Nico Quere won his heat, powering through this super fun bit of trail.
Nope, he's not heading for the lake, he hit the ground pretty hard here but got back up and was straight back to it.
Joe Adsett.
Second fastest girl, Bex Baraona.
Emily Slaco looking aggressive and into 5th place.
Two flats for Morgane Jonnier, but still smiling as she crossed the line.
Pauline Dieffenthaler, 3rd place today.
Camille Servant, finished in second place in his heat today.
And relax before the big race.
A cheese and crackers party at the Moynihan residence.
Fastest woman down the hill today, Cecile Ravanel.
Riders pick up their stickers to signify which row they'll be starting in.
One fast Hardtail. 12th place for Darren Evans, doing it for the Hardtail lovers out there.
See you for finals!
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