Megavalanche

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Megavalanche
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Alpe d'Huez and Le Bourg-d'Oisans from Pic Blanc, the start of the Mega Avalanche
Race details
RegionFrench Alps and Réunion
NicknameTemplate:Pluralize from textMega
DisciplineMountain-biking, downhill
TypeTwo-day, mass-start
OrganiserUCC
Race directorGeorge Edwards
Web sitewww.ucc-sportevent.com/en/megavalanche-alpe-dhuez-en
History
Editions29 (as of 2025)
Most winsTemplate:Flagathlete
Most recentTemplate:Flagathlete

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.[1]

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.[1] 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.[1]

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]

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 place
1995 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. François Dola Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Pascal Yen Pon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Guillaume Pallarès
1996 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Fabrice Taillefer Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Pascal Yen Pon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. François Dola
1997 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Fabrice Taillefer Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Lilian Sergent Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Guincêtre
1998 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Samuel Peridy Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Bruno Tschanz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Guincêtre
1999 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. François Dola Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Samuel Peridy Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Lionel Sequéra
2000 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alexandre Balaud Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Guincêtre Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. William Balaud
2001 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alexandre Balaud Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Karim Amour
2002 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alexandre Balaud Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Giordanengo
2003 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. William Balaud Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Samuel Peridy
2004 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. William Balaud Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alexandre Balaud
2005 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jérôme Clementz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Franck Parolin
2006 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicolas Vouilloz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Mickaël Pascal
2007 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Tomas Misser Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Gregory Doucende
2008 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Gregory Doucende
2009 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicolas Vouilloz
2010 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jérôme Clementz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicolas Vouilloz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Sam Blenkinsop
2011 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jérôme Clementz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber
2012 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicholaus Lau Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Dan Atherton
2013 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jérôme Clementz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Dan Atherton
2014 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Pierre Charles Georges Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Thibaut Ruffin Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Reon Boe
2015 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Thomas Lapeyrie Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Yoann Barelli
2016 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Damien Oton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. François Bailly-Maître
2017 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Damien Oton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. François Bailly-Maître Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Martin Maes
2018 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Damien Oton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jose Borges Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicolas Quere
2019 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jose Borges Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Kilian Bron Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Kevin Miquel
2020 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Damien Oton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Gustav Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Hugo Pigeon
2021 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Stefan Peter Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Kilian Bron Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alexis Chenevier
2022 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Stefan Peter Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Liam Moynihan Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Bruwiere
2023 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Hugo Pigeon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Damien Oton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Bruwiere
2024 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Hugo Pigeon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Damien Oton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Bruwiere
2025 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Hugo Pigeon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Bruwiere Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alex Rudeau

Megavalanche Réunion

Year First place Second place Third place
1995 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicolas Vouilloz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. François Gachet Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Patrick Boisvilliers
1996 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Pascal Yen Pon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Christian Lemmerz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Samuel Peridy
1997 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. David Dijoux Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Samuel Peridy Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Guillaume Koch
1998 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Patrick Boisvilliers Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Frédéric Nauche Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jacky Séry
1999 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicolas Filippi Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Lionel Sequéra Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. François Dola
2000 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Samuel Peridy Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Pascal Yen Pon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jacky Séry
2001 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Steve Peat Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Samuel Peridy Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jacky Séry
2002 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Cédric Gracia Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alexandre Balaud
2003 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Fabien Barel Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alexandre Balaud
2004 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Fabien Barel Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Giordanengo
2005 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Fabien Barel
2006 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicolas Vouilloz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Tomas Misser
2007 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicolas Vouilloz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber
2008 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Fabien Barel Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber
2009 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. François Bailly-Maître Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Franck Parolin
2010 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicolas Vouilloz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nino Schurter
2011 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Julien Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. René Wildhaber
2012 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicholaus Lau Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Aurélien Giordanengo Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Cédric Gracia
2013 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. François Bailly-Maitre Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jérôme Clementz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon
2014 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Nicolas Quere Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alexis Chenevier
2015 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alexandre Sicard Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Théo Galy
2016 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Rémy Absalon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jérôme Clementz Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Cédric Gracia
2017 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Thomas Lapeyrie Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Loris Vergier Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Jean Max Laurestant
2018 Cancelled due to Yellow vests protests
2019 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Damien Oton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. François Bailly-Maître Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Kilian Bron
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Hugo Pigeon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Alexis Chenevier Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Stefan Peter
2022 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Bruwiere Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Antoine Vidal Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Romain Payet
2023 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Hugo Pigeon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Bruwiere Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Léo Abella
2024 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Hugo Pigeon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Olivier Bruwiere Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:CountryData/summary' not found. Woody Kefford

References

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  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Megavalanche Alpe D'Huez - En Chiffre" [Megavalanche Alpe D'Huez - "By The Numbers"]. Maxiavalanche.com (in français). Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Edwards, George (2018-11-29). "Compétition annulée" (Press release) (in français). UCC Sport Event. Archived from the original on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."La Mégavalanche est annulée" [Megavalanche is cancelled]. Imaz Press Réunion (in français). 2018-11-30. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Megavalanche Organizers Announce a European Mass-Start Downhill Series". Pinkbike. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."European Mass Start Series" (in français). UCC Sport Event. Archived from the original on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nayener, Julien (2018-11-29). "Un nouveau challenge European Mass Start Series" [A new challenge: European Mass Start Series]. www.velovert.com (in français). Retrieved 2018-12-09.

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Megavalanche France VTT Map/Itinerary 2019".
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