For those of you who dont know about the Megavalanche heres a quick run down.
The main race is about an hour long, it starts on a glacier at an altitude of 3300m and is a mix of DH and XC and it is about 25km long.
It is a mass start with 500 riders heading off in the first heat, 20 minutes later the women go, then another 20 minutes later the rest of the 1400 riders battle their way down the mountain.
There is a qualifying race the day before to decide who gets the best starting position. There are groups of 200 in the seeding race with the top 4 from each group going to the start of the grid. Then the rest of the line up goes by qualifying run times.
Qualifying was really good for the Kiwis with Sam Blenkinsop winning his heat by over 30 seconds.
I was at the top of the last big climb and to see him coming up just behind Julian Camellini was pretty cool.
Julian was on a pmiped out super light weight 6 inch travel freeride bike and clipped in. Sam was on his big DH bike and running flats.
Sam passed Julian on the inside line of the first switch-backs and lead for the last 10 minutes of the race giving him pole position for the main event. He finished on the same time as Mickael Pascal who was riding a 6 inch travel bike and was clipped in.
I think Glenn though he was in a motorcross race for his heat. He pedaled so hard off the start line and managed to pull a lead of over 100m by the first small climb.
The commentators were going nuts and Glenn looked like he was going to win by a crazy margin until he got the dreaded flat tire on one of the rock sections.
He changed the tube pumped his tyre up and carried on but had fallen back to about 190th by the time he got back on his bike.
He stormed his way back to 71st place but was destined to start the Megavalance right at the back of the main field in 500th place.
Mike Skinner rode strongly to 4th place in his qualifyer so was the other Kiwi on line A and pole postion.
Matt Scoles qualified really well as was 3rd row back for the final race on sunday.
The main event on Sunday, The Megavalache, saw us waking up at 5:30am as we had to be at the bottom of the lift for 6am. Race started at 9am but the organisers had to get over 1400 people to the top of the hill for the starts. Also the glacier melts and turns into a river by 10am.
6:30am on a glacier at 3300m isnt the warmest place to be, the sun had just popped up over the mountains and was really windy. It must have been about minus 5 degrees. Brrrr.
Everone lined up in their respective orders and the helicopter circled the peak once and the flag was dropped. Try and picture 500 rider all trying to pedal down a 500m long, 30 degree ski run and the carnage that followed. Bikes and riders were everywhere.
Sam got a good start at the front of the grid and so did Mike and Matt. They were all in the top 10 as they dissapeared from sight.
Just under an hour later the riders arrived at the finish line.
Sam Blenkinsop finished in 7th position overall and first DH bike.
Mike Skinner was 16th and Reon Boe was in 17th position, only just getting beaten by Mike after taking a wrong turn and having to back track only too see Mike fly past on the bridge to finish just ahead of him shouting out 'yeah boy!!!'
Kurt Lancaster finished a very respectable 22nd place.
Matt Scoles was holding onto 8th postion until he flatted and didn't end up finishing. If he had won Juniors he would have won an all expenses paid trip to the next Megavalanche on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Never mind... maybe next time?
Glenn rode an amazing race. From way back in 500th place he managed to pass 458 riders and finished in 42st postion.
He was called up to the podium for an interview and I think was overwhelmed by the attention he was getting.
Reon Boe was 3rd in seniors so made it to the podium, great to see a Kiwi up there.
There were over 1400 riders at this event from 19 different countries around the world. There were more English riders than anyone else with only 30 percent of the riders coming from France.
This is definatly a must do event for anyone who is passionate about mountain biking.
Kiwis ruled at the Megavalanche.
1 WILDHABER Rene 1001(1)PRIO SCOTT ( Suisse) 0:48:39.900 A 0:00:00
2 MISSER Tomas 802(2)PRIO COMMENCAL - GUAK ( Espagne) 0:49:17.800 A 0:00:37
3 DOUCENDE Grégory 402(3)PRIO Q BY SAAB SALOMON ( France) 0:49:33.730 A 0:00:53
4 CAMELLINI Julien 202(4)PRIO MOJO ( France) 0:49:42.350 A 0:01:02
5 PASCAL Mickael 401(5)PRIO Q BY SAAB SALOMON ( France) 0:49:47.130 A 0:01:07
6 PAROLIN Franck 601(6)PRIO CANNONDALE ( France) 0:49:57.620 A 0:01:17
7 BLENKINSOP Sam 206(7)PRIO GRAVITY GROUP ( Nouvelle Zélande) 0:50:25.740 A 0:01:45
8 NOCE Gregory 3(1)MAS1 COMMENCAL ( France) 0:51:18.530 A 0:02:38
9 PACCARD Yoann 1206(1)SENI SCOTT LES 2 ALPES ( France) 0:51:32.310 B 0:02:52
10 BUNDI Silvio 1194(8)PRIO GIANT SWISS TEAM ( Suisse) 0:51:40.930 B 0:03:01
11 TAILLEFER Antoine 11(2)SENI RIDE IT ( France) 0:51:50.820 B 0:03:10
12 GIORDANENGO Olivier 6(2)MAS1 FMF ( France) 0:51:58.840 A 0:03:18
13 BRAUX Guillaume 2(9)PRIO TWO LAMBS ( France) 0:52:48.710 B 0:04:08
14 JULLIOT Vincent 8(3)MAS1 BIKE ( France) 0:53:13.320 A 0:04:33
15 COLIN Benoit 25(3)SENI HOPE CANNONDALE ( France) 0:53:20.730 B 0:04:40
16 SKINNER Mike 421(10)PRIO COUNTIES MANUKAU ( Nouvelle-Zélande) 0:53:52.590 A 0:05:12
17 BOE Reon 41(4)SENI NEW ZELAND ( France) 0:54:08.460 C 0:05:28
18 SCHNEIDER Frank 1013(5)SENI SR SUNTOUR ( Allemagne) 0:54:13.570 B 0:05:33
19 DOLA Francois 807(1)MAS2 LA ROUE LIBRE ( France) 0:54:18.130 B 0:05:38
20 GARTMANN Stephan 1211(6)SENI KOBA FREERIDE TEAM ( Suisse) 0:54:49.160 A 0:06:09
21 COOKSON Iain 226(7)SENI MTB-DIRECT.CO.UK ( Scotland) 0:54:52.130 B 0:06:12
22 LANCASTER Kurt 16(8)SENI NEW ZELAND ( France) 0:54:54.440 C 0:06:14
23 LAU Nicolas 1203(1)JUNI LABYRINTH ( France) 0:54:57.730 K 0:06:17
24 VASSAL Thibaut 605(9)SENI U.V MAZAMET ( France) 0:55:07.240 A 0:06:27
25 SOLER Daniel 214(4)MAS1 BIKE 4 FUN ( Suisse) 0:55:16.790 A 0:06:36
26 BALL Chris 1202(11)PRIO INTENSE ( Scotland) 0:55:26.020 A 0:06:46
27 TISSIER Alexandre 813(10)SENI SPORT EVASION ( France) 0:55:32.060 B 0:06:52
28 SHUCKSMITH Philip 1016(11)SENI RAM BIKES ( England) 0:55:33.160 B 0:06:53
29 BONJEAN Nicolas 864(5)MAS1 CLUB VELO AVENTURE ( France) 0:56:07.490 A 0:07:27
30 GRAF Johannes 210(12)SENI ( Autriche) 0:56:08.590 A 0:07:28
31 RASCHIOTTO Fabien 1234(2)JUNI ST ANDRE LA ROUE LIBRE ( France) 0:56:09.910 B 0:07:30
32 BENOIT Clément 1369(1)CADE TOP GUN VTT ( France) 0:56:11.390 E 0:07:31
33 BOSCA Marc 1210(2)MAS2 AUTHENTIC ( France) 0:56:14.130 C 0:07:34
34 FAVROLLE Gregory 1209(13)SENI ST ANDRÉ VTT ( France) 0:56:43.900 A 0:08:04
35 BREAKWELL Rob 614(14)SENI DIRT ( Grande Bretagne) 0:56:50.220 A 0:08:10
36 QUERE Yann 812(15)SENI VTTSHOP.FR ( France) 0:57:15.870 A 0:08:35
37 PICARD Jean Marc 1010(3)MAS2 CULTURE VELO LATTES ( France) 0:57:17.520 C 0:08:37
38 CASTEELS Nicolas 56(16)SENI MOVING STORE ( Belgique) 0:57:23.830 B 0:08:43
39 STOCK Alex 583(17)SENI ( England) 0:57:25.920 C 0:08:46
40 COUSINIE Fabien 1002(12)PRIO AYTON GIANT LES 2 ALPES ( France) 0:57:27.130 A 0:08:47
41 DEMONCHY Arnaud 1204(13)PRIO FMF ALL BIKE ( France) 0:57:28.280 B 0:08:48
42 HADEN Glenn 804(14)PRIO 2STAGE ( Nouvelle-Zélande) 0:57:29.220 O 0:08:49 |
Early start. 6am on the gondola
Skinner trying to keep warm at the top. Earl Grey goes down a treat.
Early morning Alpe d'Huez
Glenn starts from right at the back, damn punctures...
Sam Blenkinsop at the front of the pack.
And there off! Sam in the middle in about 4th position 10m from the start
30 seconds after the start
Podium for Reon Boe 3rd senior
Kiwi boys chillin in the sun at the bottom
Sam, Mike and Matt are in here somewhere | |
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