Megavalanche
Enduro mountain bike race in the French Alps
title: "Megavalanche" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountain-biking-events", "mountain-biking-in-france"] description: "Enduro mountain bike race in the French Alps" topic_path: "geography/france" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megavalanche" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Enduro mountain bike race in the French Alps ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox cycling race"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Megavalanche |
| image | [[File:Pic Blanc.JPG |
| image_caption | Alpe d'Huez and Le Bourg-d'Oisans from Pic Blanc, the start of the Mega Avalanche |
| region | French Alps and Réunion |
| nickname | Mega |
| discipline | Mountain-biking, downhill |
| type | Two-day, mass-start |
| organiser | UCC |
| director | George Edwards |
| first | |
| number | 29 (as of 2025) |
| mostwins | Rémy Absalon |
| mostrecent | Hugo Pigeon |
| website | https://www.ucc-sportevent.com/en/megavalanche-alpe-dhuez-en |
| :: |
| name = Megavalanche | current_event = | image = [[File:Pic Blanc.JPG|frameless]] | image_caption = Alpe d'Huez and Le Bourg-d'Oisans from Pic Blanc, the start of the Mega Avalanche | date = | region = French Alps and Réunion | english = | localnames = | nickname =Mega | discipline =Mountain-biking, downhill | competition = | type = Two-day, mass-start | organiser =UCC | director =George Edwards | first = | number =29 (as of 2025) | final = | firstwinner = | mostwins = Rémy Absalon | mostrecent = Hugo Pigeon |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.
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
::data[format=table]
| Year | First place | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | cxxlo François Dola | cxxlo Pascal Yen Pon | cxxlo Guillaume Pallarès |
| 1996 | cxxlo Fabrice Taillefer | cxxlo Pascal Yen Pon | cxxlo François Dola |
| 1997 | cxxlo Fabrice Taillefer | cxxlo Lilian Sergent | cxxlo Olivier Guincêtre |
| 1998 | cxxlo Samuel Peridy | cxxlo Bruno Tschanz | cxxlo Olivier Guincêtre |
| 1999 | cxxlo François Dola | cxxlo Samuel Peridy | cxxlo Lionel Sequéra |
| 2000 | cxxlo Alexandre Balaud | cxxlo Olivier Guincêtre | cxxlo William Balaud |
| 2001 | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo Alexandre Balaud | cxxlo Karim Amour |
| 2002 | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo Alexandre Balaud | cxxlo Olivier Giordanengo |
| 2003 | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo William Balaud | cxxlo Samuel Peridy |
| 2004 | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo William Balaud | cxxlo Alexandre Balaud |
| 2005 | cxxlo Jérôme Clementz | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Franck Parolin |
| 2006 | cxxlo Nicolas Vouilloz | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo Mickaël Pascal |
| 2007 | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo Tomas Misser | cxxlo Gregory Doucende |
| 2008 | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Gregory Doucende |
| 2009 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo Nicolas Vouilloz |
| 2010 | cxxlo Jérôme Clementz | cxxlo Nicolas Vouilloz | cxxlo Sam Blenkinsop |
| 2011 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Jérôme Clementz | cxxlo René Wildhaber |
| 2012 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Nicholaus Lau | cxxlo Dan Atherton |
| 2013 | cxxlo Jérôme Clementz | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Dan Atherton |
| 2014 | cxxlo Pierre Charles Georges | cxxlo Thibaut Ruffin | cxxlo Reon Boe |
| 2015 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Thomas Lapeyrie | cxxlo Yoann Barelli |
| 2016 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Damien Oton | cxxlo François Bailly-Maître |
| 2017 | cxxlo Damien Oton | cxxlo François Bailly-Maître | cxxlo Martin Maes |
| 2018 | cxxlo Damien Oton | cxxlo Jose Borges | cxxlo Nicolas Quere |
| 2019 | cxxlo Jose Borges | cxxlo Kilian Bron | cxxlo Kevin Miquel |
| 2020 | cxxlo Damien Oton | cxxlo Gustav Wildhaber | cxxlo Hugo Pigeon |
| 2021 | cxxlo Stefan Peter | cxxlo Kilian Bron | cxxlo Alexis Chenevier |
| 2022 | cxxlo Stefan Peter | cxxlo Liam Moynihan | cxxlo Olivier Bruwiere |
| 2023 | cxxlo Hugo Pigeon | cxxlo Damien Oton | cxxlo Olivier Bruwiere |
| 2024 | cxxlo Hugo Pigeon | cxxlo Damien Oton | cxxlo Olivier Bruwiere |
| 2025 | cxxlo Hugo Pigeon | cxxlo Olivier Bruwiere | cxxlo Alex Rudeau |
| :: |
Megavalanche Réunion
::data[format=table]
| Year | First place | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | cxxlo Nicolas Vouilloz | cxxlo François Gachet | cxxlo Patrick Boisvilliers |
| 1996 | cxxlo Pascal Yen Pon | cxxlo Christian Lemmerz | cxxlo Samuel Peridy |
| 1997 | cxxlo David Dijoux | cxxlo Samuel Peridy | cxxlo Guillaume Koch |
| 1998 | cxxlo Patrick Boisvilliers | cxxlo Frédéric Nauche | cxxlo Jacky Séry |
| 1999 | cxxlo Nicolas Filippi | cxxlo Lionel Sequéra | cxxlo François Dola |
| 2000 | cxxlo Samuel Peridy | cxxlo Pascal Yen Pon | cxxlo Jacky Séry |
| 2001 | cxxlo Steve Peat | cxxlo Samuel Peridy | cxxlo Jacky Séry |
| 2002 | cxxlo Cédric Gracia | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo Alexandre Balaud |
| 2003 | cxxlo Fabien Barel | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo Alexandre Balaud |
| 2004 | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo Fabien Barel | cxxlo Olivier Giordanengo |
| 2005 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo Fabien Barel |
| 2006 | cxxlo Nicolas Vouilloz | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Tomas Misser |
| 2007 | cxxlo Nicolas Vouilloz | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo René Wildhaber |
| 2008 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Fabien Barel | cxxlo René Wildhaber |
| 2009 | cxxlo René Wildhaber | cxxlo François Bailly-Maître | cxxlo Franck Parolin |
| 2010 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Nicolas Vouilloz | cxxlo Nino Schurter |
| 2011 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Julien Absalon | cxxlo René Wildhaber |
| 2012 | cxxlo Nicholaus Lau | cxxlo Aurélien Giordanengo | cxxlo Cédric Gracia |
| 2013 | cxxlo François Bailly-Maitre | cxxlo Jérôme Clementz | cxxlo Rémy Absalon |
| 2014 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Nicolas Quere | cxxlo Alexis Chenevier |
| 2015 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Alexandre Sicard | cxxlo Théo Galy |
| 2016 | cxxlo Rémy Absalon | cxxlo Jérôme Clementz | cxxlo Cédric Gracia |
| 2017 | cxxlo Thomas Lapeyrie | cxxlo Loris Vergier | cxxlo Jean Max Laurestant |
| 2018 | Cancelled due to Yellow vests protests | ||
| 2019 | cxxlo Damien Oton | cxxlo François Bailly-Maître | cxxlo Kilian Bron |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | ||
| 2021 | cxxlo Hugo Pigeon | cxxlo Alexis Chenevier | cxxlo Stefan Peter |
| 2022 | cxxlo Olivier Bruwiere | cxxlo Antoine Vidal | cxxlo Romain Payet |
| 2023 | cxxlo Hugo Pigeon | cxxlo Olivier Bruwiere | cxxlo Léo Abella |
| 2024 | cxxlo Hugo Pigeon | cxxlo Olivier Bruwiere | cxxlo Woody Kefford |
| :: |
References
References
- Greenwood, Susan. (2014-04-18). "Is this the craziest mountain bike race in the world?". The Guardian.
- "Megavalanche Alpe D'Huez - En Chiffre".
- (2018-11-29). "Compétition annulée". UCC Sport Event.
- (2018-11-30). "La Mégavalanche est annulée".
- (2018-11-29). "Megavalanche Organizers Announce a European Mass-Start Downhill Series".
- "European Mass Start Series". UCC Sport Event.
- Nayener, Julien. (2018-11-29). "Un nouveau challenge European Mass Start Series".
- "Megavalanche France VTT Map/Itinerary 2019".
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