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They talked about this incredible experience: a glacier, hundreds of riders, risky overtakes, mind boggling speeds, hard ice, soft snow, mega dust, alpine scree, epic trails, close battles, massive elevation and super long descents across the most spectacular landscape. It sounds like a dream but this dream, born in Alpe d’huez, was first conceived in 1995 and then came true for me in 2009 when I was 20 years young. I guess nowadays I’m on the older side of competitive racing but clearly, I’m none the wiser because I just keep coming back…

The course has evolved slowly but the key stats remain fairly consistent with a winning run of around 40minutes over 20km of racing with 2,600m of descent and roughly 60m of climbing which doesn’t sound much but at that altitude and intensity it all adds up to an incredible challenge requiring extreme fitness levels to compete and a high degree of skill to complete.

THE RACE THAT NEVER LETS GO

I’ll admit though, I’ve had multiple injuries here and I did lose interest for a while... It felt like too much of a lottery but in reality, there must be some kind of method to the madness because the familiar favourites often grab the top spots. The results list as actually astonishing. If you look back through the archives then you have a collection of true mountain bike legends such as Nicolas Vouilloz, Rene Wildhaber, Jerome Clementz, Damien Oton and some of the most prolific winners have been fellow SR SUNTOUR athletes. Remy Absalon, for example, has claimed 5 victories in the main event and Hugo Pigeon has won it 3 times using SR Suntour suspension. It surely can’t be chance that these same people consistently climb the highest step of the podium, can it?

Enduro has existed as a discipline in many forms but for me, the Megavalanche was the original Enduro race - even before Enduro was given a name. This is and was real biking on proper mountains. A downhill race for cross-country riders or was it a cross-country race for downhillers? Even when the Enduro World Series had eventually formed (now known as EDR) and I was regularly competing, I would still consider the Megavalanche to be equivalent to a one-off world championship event.

It is special for many reasons and a lot of the World’s best still turn up to test their mettle. Mass start racing certainly adds to the excitement but it is the snow which adds that final special something and the mass start format is the only way for everyone to have the same opportunity to experience the glacier in its best condition. Too hard and it’s dangerously icy, too soft and it’s a total slush fest. The balance is crucial. After a clear cold night then 9am is usually optimum and that effortless feeling you get as you speed down fast, groomed, predictable snow at speeds upward of 100km/h is really addictive.

To determine the grid order, there are 10 qualification heats of over 100 riders jostling for position. The winner of each gets to line up at the front of the race on the ‘Golden line’. This concept is new for 2026 and I think it makes sense. It gives the best riders the space they need to make a clean getaway. They choose their position at the front in order of fastest quali time first. The same is then true for the next row behind (Row A) except it consists of the 2nd and 3rd place riders so they’re packed in much closer together. The next line (Row B) is for 4th and 5th place and so on.

In my quali heat I made a good start and took an early lead. I was then overtaken on the first long flat section by a rider who was giving it full gas. He sprinted by and kept looking over his shoulder to check where I was. I remember thinking there was no way he could keep up that intensity. My guess was that he had given too much too early and soon I’d start to reel him in… unfortunately that simply didn’t happen! Haha. Fair play Bradley Harris. Turns out he is much fitter and faster than I thought! That left me in 2nd position with a huge gap back to 3rd. Perhaps I could have pushed a little harder to try and stay with 1st but I settled into a rhythm to save myself for the e-bike heat which I had coming up straight after. That also went well and I found myself at the evening ceremony picking up two Row A start stickers – one for the e-bike race on Saturday and one for the Men’s final on Sunday.

It’s a nice atmosphere with live music, podiums for the kids races which happened earlier in the day and there’s a buzz of excitement as all the adults are telling tales of their quali run escapades. The SR SUNTOUR pit is located there too so it’s a nice opportunity to catch up with other riders and staff and, if required, get some last-minute adjustments made at the service truck. Mountain Biking is a solo sport but the SR SUNTOUR family are so helpful and supportive that I’m sure it gives us riders a tiny extra boost.

Later that evening, dark clouds became visible and the wind picked up. We were greeted by the slap of thunder and streaks of lightning along with the inevitable downpour. Thankfully it didn’t last long but the overnight clouds insulated the mountain and the milder temperatures up top meant that the snow would be soft for the following day.

I was up there with my e-bike first thing in the morning and it was already a disaster. We did our best to ride the snow but I just couldn’t stay on top of it. My tyres sank through and I had to do a serious amount of running. Some of the other guys did a better job and got off the white stuff with minutes in hand. It was bad for me on clean snow so I can only imagine how bad it was for the women starting behind us with hundreds of deep ruts which probably felt more like the trenches of war rather than a race track! Raphaela Richter took the win in her race, Damien Oton won my race with Hugo Pigeon in 2nd, Remy Absalon in 3rd, Emeric Ienzer in 5th and I finished in 8th.

Now that my race nerves were a bit more settled, I got an early bed and had a reasonably good sleep but when the alarm goes off, I never want to get out of bed. It’s always cold when we wake up at 6am to board the gondola. Everyone is tired, everyone is sleepy. The journey up is usually rather quiet.

It’s beautiful up there though. We walk out on the top of Pic Blanc at 3300m to be greeted by rays of dazzling light as the sun begins to lift from behind the surrounding mountains and awakens the ice. As time goes by, the temperature rises and a crescendo of noise begins to build. The grid is formed and eventually the tape is finally lifted.

This exact moment is when the pressure is released, a wave of energy cascades like a dam in flood as 400riders begin to accelerate down the mountain. Once it starts to move, this human avalanche doesn’t stop until it hits the bottom of the valley in Allemond and that is a super special feeling being there at the finish having completed the most amazing race and it’s not even gone 10am on Sunday morning yet.

Hugo Pigeon took his 4th consecutive victory that day. He was also the fastest man in qualifying. From his prime grid position, he had an OK start, found clean snow which gave him the confidence to carry speed down the glacier and then he used his fitness to out run and out pedal everyone to the start of the trail. He’s the fastest rider already in first position by the end of the ‘lottery’ section. I wouldn’t be too surprised if he wins it a few more times.

As for me, I felt more confident with the snow conditions than on Saturday and I did a fairly good job of it when I was on my bike but I really struggled to run across the flat stuff. Maybe if the start time was 30mins earlier at 8:30am instead of 9am then conditions could have been better. I’m sure everyone prefers a faster race. Running isn’t my favourite activity and the altitude has such a big effect too. I tried to stay in the shadows as the snow is usually firmer there but I lost time and positions as others flew past me in the sunny spots. I guess that the ‘good bits’ hadn’t fully recovered from the previous day’s riot which caught me by surprise. I was fighting in a close group for 13th position but in the end, I lost out and had to settle for 18th by the finish line. As I recover from exhaustion I always like to catch up with my friends and fellow SR SUNTOUR teammates to hear their stories of how they got on. Well done to Emeric Ienzer in 5th, Liam Moynihan in 8th and Sam Blenkinsop in 10th.

It must be the same for them too but I’m always amazed by the extreme contrast in feelings over such a short period of time. As I’m stood atop the mountain, waiting for the race to begin with this horrible anxiousness I really ask myself why we all do it but as soon as we’re finished and sharing our experience then I’m already dreaming of the next one…