The Megavalanche in Alpe DHuez is such an iconic MTB race! It started in 1995 and I've always planned to do it. I turned up there kind of by accident this year, joining up with SR Suntour for the week, and somehow rode to 4th place after leading the glacier. This really gave me a taste for mass start racing and when the organisers contacted me to tell me I'd won the flight package to Réunion Island to race the next event in December, I couldn't resist!
So thanks to SR Suntour who fronted the rest of the expenses budget to get down there, I headed off to compete! The island is a French owned Island situated between Madagascar and Mauritius, and it's absolutely beautiful. This episode takes you through the amazing week I had there training and competing, as well as I quick whistle stop tour of Paris as I had some hours to kill before my flight.
I'd strongly recommend people bucket list this event, as well as the Mega in Alpe DHuez! 30 degrees down on the beach and amazing trails up the mountain, with beautiful sights to see everywhere! The race track is very technical and also involves a lot of pedalling in the race, so it's not for the faint hearted rider, but I'll definitely be going back!
Unfortunately I punctured in my qualifying heat and lost 6 minutes, so I ended up having to start back on the 4th row in the race. This made for an interesting start and I actually got pushed off the side of the road straight after the start, which didn't help things. So coming out of the first corner in about 20th place made the race a challenge. I worked my way back to joint 6th running alongside Kilian Bron with about 15 minutes to go and the hardest parts finished, before I damaged my rear wheel, losing spokes and lost a lot of tyre pressure, so had to nurse the bike to the line and settle for 8th, with an exciting battle to the line holding off two franchise who had caught me up while I protected my bike through the rocks.
Another amazing Megavalanche experience and thanks to SR Suntour and organisers for making it possible. Enjoy the video 👍😁
