The chaos of this mass start mountain bike race is unprecedented

There is a very good reason why most downhill mountain bike races send riders one at a time. Mountain biking is dangerous. Even more dangerous is sending a group of people hurtling down a mountain and competing for the top spot on bikes. But the participants in the Megavalanche Alpe d’Huez actually don’t mind the risk.

A 2,600 meter mass start mountain bike race like no other. Videos of the Megavalanche capture the world’s attention year after year. This year, Brendan Fairclough and Andrew Neethling took on the legendary race and fought their way through one mass start after another.

“Brendan Fairclough and Andrew Neethling hadn’t competed for a few years and were looking for some starting butterflies. Where better to awaken emotions than at the infamous Alpe d’Huez Megavalanche? So… how did the boys fare?“

Brendan Fairclough finished 130th overall after a fairly unfortunate ride, while Neethling finished a very respectable 33rd overall and 1st in the men’s over 40 age group. However, the location isn’t always as important as the fun, and it seems like they had a lot of fun.