← All eventsMegavalanche
Iconic mass-start marathon-descent MTB race at Alpe d'Huez — 2,000+ riders launch off the Pic Blanc glacier (~3,330m) for a ~2,600m descent to Allemond, seeded by qualification heats. Decided by descent skill and surviving the start, not FTP. Next date ~2027-07-11 approximate.
Hundreds of riders launched together off the Pic Blanc glacier at ~3,330m, straight down a snow chute. It's one of mountain biking's most famous images, and the whole point of the Megavalanche.
From there it's around 2,600m of continuous drop to Allemond: snow, shingle, rock, alpine singletrack and bike-park, decided in roughly 35 to 50 minutes of flat-out descending.
This is not an FTP day. The fitness bar is modest. The nerve, descending skill and equipment bar is high. Qualify honestly, get a clean start, ride within your limits.
Is Megavalanche for you?
- Gravity and enduro riders who live for the descent. This is decided by handling and nerve at speed, not by watts on a climb.
- Confident descenders who stay calm on loose, steep and high-consequence ground. Snow, shingle and rock at pace reward composure, not bravado.
- Riders on the right bike. A 150mm-plus gravity bike with strong brakes, tough tyres and a full-face is the tool for 2,600m of descent, not a light XC hardtail.
- Racers who treat qualifying seriously. A sharp heat seeds a faster, less congested start group, which shapes your whole race.
Training plan for Megavalanche
A training plan for Megavalanche isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- A mass start on snow off a 3,330m glacier: nerve and a clean line off the front
- Around 2,600m of continuous descent that tests grip and arm-pump, not FTP
- Snow, shingle, rock and alpine singletrack at speed, all high-consequence
- Qualification heats that seed your start group, a genuine performance lever
- Long descent laps on shuttle or lift runs to build arm-pump resistance over a long descent
- Consequential terrain days on loose, steep and snow or scree ground where you can access it
- Short punchy repeats, 8 to 10 x 30 to 90 seconds hard, for the pedally lower trails and qualifying
- Mass-start practice: a committed sprint start into technical terrain to rehearse the chaos
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
