Day 9: Megavalanche Qualification in Alpe d’Huez

8 Jul 2011

Karim Amour through a fast corner in Heat 5

Day 9: Megavalanche Qualification. No rain over night and the trails were dusty as hell but it was still a brilliant day. Dan did well to get from a starting spot of 3rd row from the back, all the way through to 38th place in his heat. Despite this effort he missed out on the Mega main event so is now sulking like a 5 year old. I had a similar starting position and an early crash and broken derailleur/twisted chain combo in the last third left me freewheeling to the finish with no expectations of a good finish. Out front in a league of their own, Remy Absalon posted the quickest time just ahead of Nico. And typically Anne Caroline Chausson was fastest in the women’s heat - that girl is just unbeatable. Tim was up and down the trail as usual taking some great pics (more on Facebook)…

Dorian Zuretti on the new section through the town

Bit of a faff getting back up from the finish at Huez as the buses that we thought were operating just seemed to vanish. This left many hiking or riding back up the road, or calling mates/friends up in the main town to come down and get them in their own vehicles. But we finally got back up, and once back in town I had to see to my bike which was in serious need of some TLC. Fortunately for me Matt Howson from Escape Bike Shop in Ingleton (back in England up in the Yorkshire Dales) is in the apartment next door, so before heading out for a beer he stopped by to fix up my gears. Any man that delays getting a beer to fix up someone else’s bike must be committed, and my gears are now working sweet again. There is some great biking in that part of the UK so drop in on those guys if you are need of bike assistance in that area.

So as we finished all over the place in qualifying we are now in various different race groups for the Saturday and Sunday. Seeing as we have to move on the Sunday then we are probably all going to do the Mega course together tomorrow morning – just race it as a group. Off to have that debate now so we will see.

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