| Megavalanche | |
| Region: | French Alps and Réunion |
| Nickname: | Mega |
| Discipline: | Mountain-biking, downhill |
| Type: | Two-day, mass-start |
| Organiser: | UCC |
| Director: | George Edwards |
| Number: | 28 (as of 2024) |
| Website: | https://www.ucc-sportevent.com/en/megavalanche-alpe-dhuez-en |
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.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3] [4]
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.[5] [6] [7]
Since 2014, the format of the event follows three main days:
| Year | scope=col colspan=1 style="width:170px; background: gold;" | First place | scope=col colspan=1 style="width:170px; background: silver;" | Second place | scope=col colspan=1 style="width:170px; background: #cc9966;" | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | François Dola | Pascal Yen Pon | Guillaume Pallarès | |||
| 1996 | Fabrice Taillefer | Pascal Yen Pon | François Dola | |||
| 1997 | Fabrice Taillefer | Lilian Sergent | Olivier Guincêtre | |||
| 1998 | Samuel Peridy | Bruno Tschanz | Olivier Guincêtre | |||
| 1999 | François Dola | Samuel Peridy | Lionel Sequéra | |||
| 2000 | Alexandre Balaud | Olivier Guincêtre | William Balaud | |||
| 2001 | René Wildhaber | Alexandre Balaud | Karim Amour | |||
| 2002 | René Wildhaber | Alexandre Balaud | Olivier Giordanengo | |||
| 2003 | René Wildhaber | William Balaud | Samuel Peridy | |||
| 2004 | René Wildhaber | William Balaud | Alexandre Balaud | |||
| 2005 | Jérôme Clementz | Rémy Absalon | Franck Parolin | |||
| 2006 | Nicolas Vouilloz | René Wildhaber | Mickaël Pascal | |||
| 2007 | René Wildhaber | Tomas Misser | Gregory Doucende | |||
| 2008 | René Wildhaber | Rémy Absalon | Gregory Doucende | |||
| 2009 | Rémy Absalon | René Wildhaber | Nicolas Vouilloz | |||
| 2010 | Jérôme Clementz | Nicolas Vouilloz | Sam Blenkinsop | |||
| 2011 | Rémy Absalon | Jérôme Clementz | René Wildhaber | |||
| 2012 | Rémy Absalon | Nicholaus Lau | Dan Atherton | |||
| 2013 | Jérôme Clementz | Rémy Absalon | Dan Atherton | |||
| 2014 | Pierre Charles Georges | Thibaut Ruffin | Reon Boe | |||
| 2015 | Rémy Absalon | Thomas Lapeyrie | Yoann Barelli | |||
| 2016 | Rémy Absalon | Damien Oton | François Bailly-Maître | |||
| 2017 | Damien Oton | François Bailly-Maître | Martin Maes | |||
| 2018 | Damien Oton | Jose Borges | Nicolas Quere | |||
| 2019 | Jose Borges | Kilian Bron | Kevin Miquel | |||
| 2020 | Damien Oton | Gustav Wildhaber | Hugo Pigeon | |||
| 2021 | Stefan Peter | Kilian Bron | Alexis Chenevier | |||
| 2022 | Stefan Peter | Liam Moynihan | Olivier Bruwiere | |||
| 2023 | Hugo Pigeon | Damien Oton | Olivier Bruwiere | |||
| 2024 | Hugo Pigeon | Damien Oton | Olivier Bruwiere |
| Year | First place | Second place | Third place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Nicolas Vouilloz | François Gachet | Patrick Boisvilliers | |
| 1996 | Pascal Yen Pon | Christian Lemmerz | Samuel Peridy | |
| 1997 | David Dijoux | Samuel Peridy | Guillaume Koch | |
| 1998 | Patrick Boisvilliers | Frédéric Nauche | Jacky Séry | |
| 1999 | Nicolas Filippi | Lionel Sequéra | François Dola | |
| 2000 | Samuel Peridy | Pascal Yen Pon | Jacky Séry | |
| 2001 | Steve Peat | Samuel Peridy | Jacky Séry | |
| 2002 | Cédric Gracia | René Wildhaber | Alexandre Balaud | |
| 2003 | Fabien Barel | René Wildhaber | Alexandre Balaud | |
| 2004 | René Wildhaber | Fabien Barel | Olivier Giordanengo | |
| 2005 | Rémy Absalon | René Wildhaber | Fabien Barel | |
| 2006 | Nicolas Vouilloz | Rémy Absalon | Tomas Misser | |
| 2007 | Nicolas Vouilloz | Rémy Absalon | René Wildhaber | |
| 2008 | Rémy Absalon | Fabien Barel | René Wildhaber | |
| 2009 | René Wildhaber | François Bailly-Maître | Franck Parolin | |
| 2010 | Rémy Absalon | Nicolas Vouilloz | Nino Schurter | |
| 2011 | Rémy Absalon | Julien Absalon | René Wildhaber | |
| 2012 | Nicholaus Lau | Aurélien Giordanengo | Cédric Gracia | |
| 2013 | François Bailly-Maitre | Jérôme Clementz | Rémy Absalon | |
| 2014 | Rémy Absalon | Nicolas Quere | Alexis Chenevier | |
| 2015 | Rémy Absalon | Alexandre Sicard | Théo Galy | |
| 2016 | Rémy Absalon | Jérôme Clementz | Cédric Gracia | |
| 2017 | Thomas Lapeyrie | Loris Vergier | Jean Max Laurestant | |
| 2018 | Cancelled due to Yellow vests protests | |||
| 2019 | Damien Oton | François Bailly-Maître | Kilian Bron | |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic | |||
| 2021 | Hugo Pigeon | Alexis Chenevier | Stefan Peter | |
| 2022 | Olivier Bruwiere | Antoine Vidal | Romain Payet | |
| 2023 | Hugo Pigeon | Olivier Bruwiere | Léo Abella | |