NukeProof rider Emmeline Ragot Grabs 2nd at Megavalanche

Emmeline rode a stormer to grab 2nd at the mega last weekend - here's her report:

The popular Mega Avalanche race took place last week end in l’Alpe d’Huez , France for the 15th time. This competition is an enduro race, we started on the glacier at over 3000 metres. From there we raced down past l’Alpe d’Huez and finished the race in the valley at Allemont below Oz en Oisans . This year 2000 riders from 31 different nations took part in the event with a record 90 Women starting.

The qualification was on Friday, on a different track, 25 minutes on a really technical downhill. The start was the same mass start style as the finals where there was plenty of fighting in the first corners. I finished 4th behind AnneCaroline Chausson, Tracy Moseley and Sabrina Jonnier. The qualification determined the starting position and line for the competition on Sunday morning on the glacier.

Saturday at 6am all the women gathered at the lift to be transported to the glacier. Arrival on the top, the temperature was less that 0°, It was freezing!! we waited 1 and half hour over there before the start.
The snow was a bit soft, that made the ride a really difficult, but the track was step and we be able get some speed. I had a big crash on the snow part, my front wheel cought a rut and stopped dead which sent me over the bars… but fortunately crashing on the snow is less hard than the dirt or rocks ;) After the 3kms of snow I was 2nd and I keep this place until I across the finish line 1hr and 12minutes. The track was really physical with some very step up hill climbs. But it was a good experience and good training to do this race.

Results :
1 Chausson Anne Caroline SUNN ( France) 1h 07 min
2 Ragot Emmeline Suspension center INTENSE (France) 1h 12 min
3 Bichard Meggie Somerset (UK) 1h 18 min
4 Martin Anka Sram Santacruz ( USA) 1h 18 min
5 Moseley Tracy TREK (UK) 1h 19 min
6 Saugy Myriam Texner BMC ( SUISSE) 1h 19 min
7 Braumann Brigit Specialized-mountainbiker (Austria) 1h 20min
8 Jonnier Sabrina Maxxis Rocky-mountain (France) 1h 21min
9 Fionn Griffiths Norco World Team (UK) 1h 21min
10 Laird Amy R&R Sport – Raceface- Lezyne (NZ) 1h 22
11 Buchar Claire Chain Reaction Intense (Canada) 1h 22 ……..

The next race will be next week end with the French championships, and then two weekends of World cups: Champéry (SUISSE) and Val di sole (ITALIE)