Well, I'm slightly surprised to see Sammy go. But whatever.
I think Heather might have made a mistake not sacrificing her invincibility this time, as it would have given the (false) impression that she had a heart, and it might have won Zoey over again, making her alliance stronger than ever. I mean, that was her plan, right?
As much as I hate it when my favorite characters get eliminated, I do appreciate it when their elimination has a meaningful impact on the rest of the story. When Sammy and Ella were eliminated in canon, everyone seemed to forget they existed, including Jasmine. So I appreciate what you're doing with Dave.
Oh, Ella, you're killing me, girl! So loyal and optimistically naive! But then again, that's why we love you!
A few plotholes were carried over from the canon episode: What was the point of racing for invincibility when it was sudden death elimination? What was the point of switching bikes? However, I am glad that you had Chris say that the winner could sacrifice their invincibility because that didn't happen in canon and it made the whole Heather-betrays-Lindsay situation too nonsensical to be mad about.
Woo! That was a long one! All-in-all, good going! I love me a good battle of the sexes and can't wait to see more!

You seem to be making a lot of parallels to canon so let me guess how the rest of the eliminations will play out
8. Harold. Similar to DJ he has the least going on and is the most expendable.
7. Lightning. Izzy was a returnee who left this episode so the same could happen to Lightning.
6. Ella. Geoff was voted off for being too nice so I see Ella suffering the same fate.
5. Courtney. A strong contestant gets eliminated by an unfair chance like Leshawna was
4. Alejandro. Duncan fell here so I see Al going too.
3. Heather. Same fate as canon.
2/1 Zoey and Geoff. They make for good parallel contestants compared to Gwen and Owen. The tough girl who's come a long way and the fun loving nice guy.

This was really good.
You managed to have everyone's bikes stand out, and the character development was nicely done.
Can't wait till Ella finds out the truth about Heather.

Dang Sammy got eliminated but when I saw who was in the final part of the race and she was in it I knew she would be out and yeah like Noah I read some fanfics where Sammy ended up winning or got close to the finals so it's nice to see some variety. For the next challenge I think Harold's leaving since compared to everyone else he doesn't have much going for him kinda like how DJ didn't have much going for him in season 1, Geoff might not have much either besides not really liking having to go against his friends Zoey and Ella but I think he would be like an Owen type of finalist popular with everyone and would throw a huge party and invite everyone to it if he won. I did wonder what Harold was thinking in making his bike since it was supposed to be a race and yet he wouldn't have gotten anywhere with it and I guess Alejandro reminded Geoff to put the bolts on his bike considering it didn't fall apart like in canon at least not in the way it happened.

Well, this is getting interesting. Can't wait for the next chapter.

Another great episode, so glad to see it wasn't Ella being eliminated, I was worried for this episode but i'm glad to see she is still here. I like Sammy a lot however she is a pretty big threat and turning against Heather would def make Heather want her gone. Honestly, I kind of like the Heather/Ella friendship. I know Heather is being awful right now but there is a good side to her, buried deep, deep, deep down inside and I congratulate Ella on being the only one to see it. Honestly as much as this is Guys vs. Girls it's also everyone vs, everyone and I am LOVING it. The psycho killer challenge should be epic and I am so curious to see how the contestants are going to get caught by Chef since Owen, Izzy and DJ aren't here. Also looking forward to who will try and lead everyone since Gwen and Duncan aren't here as well, can't wait to see what happens next:)

I'll be honest, I never really thought much of Heather as a villain. And part of that comes down to decisions like this, where Heather disregards the long game in exchange for temporary safety. Sure, Heather is immune now, but she's only managed to ensure that everyone is going to be gunning for her. I maintain that plot armor is what carried Heather to the final three in Island. Good chapter, though.

OMG! This chapter was fire! I already suspected Sammy might get the boot in this challenge, and I was right. Ella is way forgiving and nicer towards Heather than Lindsay was in canon, and yes, it's unlikely of Ella to explode in a sweating tirade on Heather. Bug unfortunately, she is extremely naive, and will learn the hard way, and I'm afraid in the most tragic display of cruelty, why Heather is not her friend and never was.
Geoff is definitely uncertain about how far the guys alliance will go for victory, Lightning is solely focused on staying number one ahead of everyone else, Alejandro is enjoying the conflict and chaos of it all and is bidding the right time to strike. Zoey is hung up over Dave's elimination and blames Courtney, who is desperate to keep things under control. The boys vs girls theme was definitely prevalent in this chapter.

For all I know, this chapter could have been even better if Sammy compared Heather infavorably to Amy.

Aww, damnit! Sammy was my top choice for winner going into the merge, and it really felt like she was being put on that path, and now I'm just disappointed that it's not meant to be. At this point, I feel like the finalists will be Zoey, and either Harold or Geoff. Because;

-Heather's the main antagonist, and NOBODY has the antagonist win, at least not in the first season.
-Alejandro and Courtney have had some villainous moves themselves, that it would feel like they avoided punishment for their choices, if they came out winning.
-Ella, as lovable as she is, I honestly feel would make a more appropriate winner for World Tour, for obvious reasons.
-Lightning's a returner, who I generally don't like the idea of winning, because it takes away from other contestants who have played the game since the beginning.

I could very much still be wrong, but that's why it's just a prediction.

I didn't mean that what I said about Ella's boyfriend was a guess, just an idea I had in mind. I'll still send you a PM to explain it, though.

Well, drat. I guess it's not Dave's season, is it? Oh well.
From what I can tell, Courtney seems to be heading toward the finale, as the way you're writing her seems to mirror how I'm writing one the finalists in my season. And, this may just be hopeful thinking, but Ella also seems to be going far. Honestly, I hope it's not Sammy. I like her, but there's already several fan-made seasons where she wins. It's kinda cliche at this point.
One minor criticism is that you need to work on your punctuation. More exclamation points and more question marks.
But other than that, good going!

Dave's elimination makes sense. At least the love triangle between him, Ella and Zoey has been resolved at last. I'm looking forward to how the Alejandro vs Heather rivalry will boil down: The Clash of Villains to become the Ultimate Villain. Hehehe!

Ah well, Dave here didn't get completely derailed into an unhinged maniac, so that's always a good thing, at least.

And I'm also glad to see that like in canon, Ella took the rejection like a champ despite the heartbreak, and I hope she does find a prince of her own. I have an idea on who that could be, but I'm not entirely sure if things will turn out to have it happen.

I'll say Dave and Zoey are a much better couple than Zoey and Mike or Dave and Sky, so good job on making each of them better.
I liked this one, the forming of the two alliances was pretty cool.
Keep it up

Ooh Commando Zoey looking forward to her reappearance. Yeah, i'm not gonna miss Dave. I like how you're using the guys vs. girls aspect that canon just kind of abandoned after Bridgette's elimination. Ella is such a sweetheart. Even though it shattered her heart to be rejected she still is in support of Dave and Zoey. She deserves a big hug. I'm looking forward to seeing the two alliances implode on one another. I'm also looking forward to seeing how you have the next elimination planned. This was a great episode overall. I'm still excited to see Harold and Courtney in the merge and how they are handling the single-player aspect. Courtney is smart not to trust Heather as she is just as devious as Alejandro.