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Megavalanche

Coordinates: 45°5′43″N 6°4′13″E / 45.09528°N 6.07028°E / 45.09528; 6.07028 (Megavalanche Alpe d'Huez)[1]
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45°5′43″N 6°4′13″E / 45.09528°N 6.07028°E / 45.09528; 6.07028 (Megavalanche Alpe d'Huez)[1]

"Mega Avalanche" redirects here. For other uses, see Avalanche.
Megavalanche
Alpe d'Huez and Le Bourg-d'Oisans from Pic Blanc, the start of the Mega Avalanche
Race details
RegionFrench Alps and Réunion
Nickname(s)Mega
DisciplineMountain-biking, downhill
TypeTwo-day, mass-start
OrganiserUCC
Race directorGeorge Edwards
Web sitewww.ucc-sportevent.com/en/megavalanche-alpe-dhuez-en
History
Editions28 (as of 2024)
Most wins Rémy Absalon (FRA)
Most recent Hugo Pigeon (FRA)

Megavalanche (nicknamed "Mega") is a enduro mountain bike race held annually at the Alpe d'Huez ski resort in the French Alps since 1995, and annually on the island of Réunion.

The Alps event, being the more widely publicized and famous among downhill cycling enthusiasts, starts on the glaciated summit of Pic Blanc in Huez and descends to the valley bottom at Allemond, for a total of over 2,600 vertical meters (8530 feet) and a 20 km (12 miles) distance.

The mass-start race is known for its fast speeds and winding turns over varying terrain, with hundreds of riders descending the mountain at once. Famously, racers are allowed to progress down the mountain by any reasonable means, and riders often cut corners and walk their bikes for extended periods of time. Many other enduro races have similarly lenient course guidelines. Despite the inherent dangers, officials state that injuries are modest, and that the race is less dangerous than it may seem to outsiders. The course is designed to slow the riders down around tight curves and the width of the glacier at the race's start line allows the riders to spread out.[2]

History

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The Megavalanche race was the creation of mountain bike pioneer George Edwards, who was involved in creating some of the first downhill tracks in Europe. The first race, held in 1995, saw 400 riders in attendance.[2] The race has been managed by Edwards since its inception, and is organized by his company, UCC. The exact route of the course may change from year to year, depending on terrain and weather conditions, taking riders between 20 minutes to over 1 hour to complete, but on average lasts 35-50 minutes.

The 2007 race saw a significant increase in participants from outside France, likely driven by an increase in press coverage of the event.[3] The 2013 race saw 2000 riders in attendance from over 30 countries.[2]

On November 11, 2018, Edwards issued a statement notifying participants that the 2018 Réunion Mega race was cancelled. He stated UCC race organizers had "taken note of the prefectural orders not to authorize the organization of the event", due to the yellow vests protests taking place across France.[4][5]

Megavalanche organizers announced in 2018 a series of races entitled the 'European Mass Start Series', including the Megavalanche race and other races dubbed 'Maxiavalanches' (using the same mass-start format), to take place in 2019. The winner of the series' races will receive travel, accommodations and entry fees covered for the Reunion Island Megavalanche race.[6][7][8]

Race Format

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Since 2014, the format of the event follows three main days:

  • Practice Day - Lifts and courses are open and free to anyone with a race plate. Riders are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the course.
  • Qualifiers - Riders run qualifying races consisting of six heats of about 250 riders. The resulting qualifier times are broken down into starting lines designated by a letter, with 'A' being the front.
  • Race Day - The top 35 riders from each Qualifier start the Elite race on Sunday. The following 35 from each qualifier then race in a similarly mass-started event called the 'Megavalanche Challenger' on Saturday. Any riders outside these two categories are grouped into the 'Megavalanche Amateur' which starts after the Elite race on Sunday, and the 'Affinity' group where they can start at any time after the 'Megavalanche Challenger' on Saturday. Riders' times are recorded automatically by transponder chip.

Results

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Megavalanche Alpe D'Huez

[edit]
Year First place Second place Third place
1995 France François Dola France Pascal Yen Pon France Guillaume Pallarès
1996 France Fabrice Taillefer France Pascal Yen Pon France François Dola
1997 France Fabrice Taillefer France Lilian Sergent France Olivier Guincêtre
1998 France Samuel Peridy Switzerland Bruno Tschanz France Olivier Guincêtre
1999 France François Dola France Samuel Peridy France Lionel Sequéra
2000 France Alexandre Balaud France Olivier Guincêtre France William Balaud
2001 Switzerland René Wildhaber France Alexandre Balaud France Karim Amour
2002 Switzerland René Wildhaber France Alexandre Balaud France Olivier Giordanengo
2003 Switzerland René Wildhaber France William Balaud France Samuel Peridy
2004 Switzerland René Wildhaber France William Balaud France Alexandre Balaud
2005 France Jérôme Clementz France Rémy Absalon France Franck Parolin
2006 France Nicolas Vouilloz Switzerland René Wildhaber France Mickaël Pascal
2007 Switzerland René Wildhaber Spain Tomas Misser France Gregory Doucende
2008 Switzerland René Wildhaber France Rémy Absalon France Gregory Doucende
2009 France Rémy Absalon Switzerland René Wildhaber France Nicolas Vouilloz
2010 France Jérôme Clementz France Nicolas Vouilloz New Zealand Sam Blenkinsop
2011 France Rémy Absalon France Jérôme Clementz Switzerland René Wildhaber
2012 France Rémy Absalon France Nicholaus Lau England Dan Atherton
2013 France Jérôme Clementz France Rémy Absalon England Dan Atherton
2014 France Pierre Charles Georges France Thibaut Ruffin New Zealand Reon Boe
2015 France Rémy Absalon France Thomas Lapeyrie France Yoann Barelli
2016 France Rémy Absalon France Damien Oton France François Bailly-Maître
2017 France Damien Oton France François Bailly-Maître Belgium Martin Maes
2018 France Damien Oton Portugal Jose Borges France Nicolas Quere
2019 Portugal Jose Borges France Kilian Bron France Kevin Miquel
2020 France Damien Oton Switzerland Gustav Wildhaber France Hugo Pigeon
2021 Switzerland Stefan Peter France Kilian Bron France Alexis Chenevier
2022 Switzerland Stefan Peter Scotland Liam Moynihan Belgium Olivier Bruwiere
2023 France Hugo Pigeon France Damien Oton Belgium Olivier Bruwiere
2024 France Hugo Pigeon France Damien Oton Belgium Olivier Bruwiere

Megavalanche Réunion

[edit]
Year First place Second place Third place
1995 France Nicolas Vouilloz France François Gachet Canada Patrick Boisvilliers
1996 France Pascal Yen Pon Germany Christian Lemmerz France Samuel Peridy
1997 France David Dijoux France Samuel Peridy France Guillaume Koch
1998 Canada Patrick Boisvilliers France Frédéric Nauche France Jacky Séry
1999 France Nicolas Filippi France Lionel Sequéra France François Dola
2000 France Samuel Peridy France Pascal Yen Pon France Jacky Séry
2001 England Steve Peat France Samuel Peridy France Jacky Séry
2002 France Cédric Gracia Switzerland René Wildhaber France Alexandre Balaud
2003 France Fabien Barel Switzerland René Wildhaber France Alexandre Balaud
2004 Switzerland René Wildhaber France Fabien Barel France Olivier Giordanengo
2005 France Rémy Absalon Switzerland René Wildhaber France Fabien Barel
2006 France Nicolas Vouilloz France Rémy Absalon Spain Tomas Misser
2007 France Nicolas Vouilloz France Rémy Absalon Switzerland René Wildhaber
2008 France Rémy Absalon France Fabien Barel Switzerland René Wildhaber
2009 Switzerland René Wildhaber France François Bailly-Maître France Franck Parolin
2010 France Rémy Absalon France Nicolas Vouilloz Switzerland Nino Schurter
2011 France Rémy Absalon France Julien Absalon Switzerland René Wildhaber
2012 France Nicholaus Lau France Aurélien Giordanengo France Cédric Gracia
2013 France François Bailly-Maitre France Jérôme Clementz France Rémy Absalon
2014 France Rémy Absalon France Nicolas Quere France Alexis Chenevier
2015 France Rémy Absalon France Alexandre Sicard France Théo Galy
2016 France Rémy Absalon France Jérôme Clementz France Cédric Gracia
2017 France Thomas Lapeyrie France Loris Vergier France Jean Max Laurestant
2018 Cancelled due to Yellow vests protests
2019 France Damien Oton France François Bailly-Maître France Kilian Bron
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2021 France Hugo Pigeon France Alexis Chenevier Switzerland Stefan Peter
2022 Belgium Olivier Bruwiere France Antoine Vidal France Romain Payet
2023 France Hugo Pigeon Belgium Olivier Bruwiere France Léo Abella
[edit]

References

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  1. ^ "Megavalanche France VTT Map/Itinerary 2019".
  2. ^ a b c Greenwood, Susan (2014-04-18). "Is this the craziest mountain bike race in the world?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  3. ^ "Megavalanche Alpe D'Huez - En Chiffre" [Megavalanche Alpe D'Huez - "By The Numbers"]. Maxiavalanche.com (in French). Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  4. ^ Edwards, George (2018-11-29). "Compétition annulée" (Press release) (in French). UCC Sport Event. Archived from the original on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  5. ^ "La Mégavalanche est annulée" [Megavalanche is cancelled]. Imaz Press Réunion (in French). 2018-11-30. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  6. ^ "Megavalanche Organizers Announce a European Mass-Start Downhill Series". Pinkbike. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  7. ^ "European Mass Start Series" (in French). UCC Sport Event. Archived from the original on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  8. ^ Nayener, Julien (2018-11-29). "Un nouveau challenge European Mass Start Series" [A new challenge: European Mass Start Series]. www.velovert.com (in French). Retrieved 2018-12-09.


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