fast I had enough speed going downhill as well. The Fulcrum Enduro wheels with Onza IBEX DH tyres were a puncture proof combination. Due to the lack of travel there was a high risk of getting punctures and so I couldn’t save weight on the tyres. For the suspension fork I decided on the SR Suntour Durolux with 160mm travel, which was plenty for a hardtail. A Vario seat post is, particularly for a hardtail, obligatory. I was in the fifth row to start the final and managed the snow pretty well. At the end of the glacier I counted only about 10 riders in front of me. On the rocky singletrails after Alpe d’huez I had to adjust my riding to the bike limitations. On a hardtail you can do only 80-90% of full speed and I constantly had to watch out for big rocks to avoid getting a flat tyre. On the climbs I noticed another advantage. Thanks to the big gear I had chosen and despite a slow pedal frequency, I was faster than other riders who were pedaling away in low gear up the hills. At the halfway point in the race I was in second position. On the lower part of the track I tried to save as much energy as possible. To do this I sometimes chose the craziest lines and constantly pushed my Argon AM to the limit. Playing with the track was just awesome and distracted me from the pain in my body. I held my position right to the finish line and won the masters class in the Challenger Race in the Megavalanche. I was the only one among 400 fully suspended riders on a Singlespeed Hardtail. Today I’ve forgotten all the pain of the race and only remember the good moments of the final descent. I’m already considering starting on a Singlespeed Hardtail once again! Yours, Schneidi