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. Officials state that injuries are modest, despite the inherent dangers, 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.
History 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. 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. The 2013 race saw 2000 riders in attendance from over 30 countries.
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.
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.
Race format 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
Megavalanche Alpe D'Huez Year First place Second place Third place1995 François Dola Pascal Yen Pon Guillaume Pallarès1996 Fabrice Taillefer Pascal Yen Pon François Dola1997 Fabrice Taillefer Lilian Sergent Olivier Guincêtre1998 Samuel Peridy Bruno Tschanz Olivier Guincêtre1999 François Dola Samuel Peridy Lionel Sequéra2000 Alexandre Balaud Olivier Guincêtre William Balaud2001 René Wildhaber Alexandre Balaud Karim Amour2002 René Wildhaber Alexandre Balaud Olivier Giordanengo2003 René Wildhaber William Balaud Samuel Peridy2004 René Wildhaber William Balaud Alexandre Balaud2005 Jérôme Clementz Rémy Absalon Franck Parolin2006 Nicolas Vouilloz René Wildhaber Mickaël Pascal2007 René Wildhaber Tomas Misser Gregory Doucende2008 René Wildhaber Rémy Absalon Gregory Doucende2009 Rémy Absalon René Wildhaber Nicolas Vouilloz2010 Jérôme Clementz Nicolas Vouilloz Sam Blenkinsop2011 Rémy Absalon Jérôme Clementz René Wildhaber2012 Rémy Absalon Nicholaus Lau Dan Atherton2013 Jérôme Clementz Rémy Absalon Dan Atherton2014 Pierre Charles Georges Thibaut Ruffin Reon Boe2015 Rémy Absalon Thomas Lapeyrie Yoann Barelli2016 Rémy Absalon Damien Oton François Bailly-Maître2017 Damien Oton François Bailly-Maître Martin Maes2018 Damien Oton Jose Borges Nicolas Quere2019 Jose Borges Kilian Bron Kevin Miquel2020Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic2021 Stefan Peter Kilian Bron Alexis Chenevier2022 Stefan Peter Liam Moynihan Olivier Bruwiere 2023 Hugo Pigeon Damien Oton Olivier Bruwiere 2024 Hugo Pigeon Damien Oton Olivier Bruwiere 2025 Hugo Pigeon Olivier Bruwiere Alex Rudeau2026 Hugo Pigeon Olivier Bruwiere Maël Feron
Megavalanche Réunion Year First place Second place Third place1995 Nicolas Vouilloz François Gachet Patrick Boisvilliers1996 Pascal Yen Pon Christian Lemmerz Samuel Peridy1997 David Dijoux Samuel Peridy Guillaume Koch1998 Patrick Boisvilliers Frédéric Nauche Jacky Séry1999 Nicolas Filippi Lionel Sequéra François Dola2000 Samuel Peridy Pascal Yen Pon Jacky Séry2001 Steve Peat Samuel Peridy Jacky Séry2002 Cédric Gracia René Wildhaber Alexandre Balaud2003 Fabien Barel René Wildhaber Alexandre Balaud2004 René Wildhaber Fabien Barel Olivier Giordanengo2005 Rémy Absalon René Wildhaber Fabien Barel2006 Nicolas Vouilloz Rémy Absalon Tomas Misser2007 Nicolas Vouilloz Rémy Absalon René Wildhaber2008 Rémy Absalon Fabien Barel René Wildhaber2009 René Wildhaber François Bailly-Maître Franck Parolin2010 Rémy Absalon Nicolas Vouilloz Nino Schurter2011 Rémy Absalon Julien Absalon René Wildhaber2012 Nicholaus Lau Aurélien Giordanengo Cédric Gracia2013 François Bailly-Maitre Jérôme Clementz Rémy Absalon2014 Rémy Absalon Nicolas Quere Alexis Chenevier2015 Rémy Absalon Alexandre Sicard Théo Galy2016 Rémy Absalon Jérôme Clementz Cédric Gracia2017 Thomas Lapeyrie Loris Vergier Jean Max Laurestant2018 Cancelled due to Yellow vests protests2019 Damien Oton François Bailly-Maître Kilian Bron2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic2021 Hugo Pigeon Alexis Chenevier Stefan Peter2022 Olivier Bruwiere Antoine Vidal Romain Payet2023 Hugo Pigeon Olivier Bruwiere Léo Abella2024 Hugo Pigeon Olivier Bruwiere Woody Kefford2025 Hugo Pigeon Alex Rudeau Marius Tenet
External links
Official Site Race Results 2017 Megavalanche Official Movie (YouTube, UCC Sporting Event MTB) Megavalanche 2018 - Damien Oton Winning Run POV (YouTube, Damien Oton)
References