With rainstorms and heat waves, the Roc d’Azur has had its fair share of erratic weather since 1984. But it had never faced the wrath of the winds until now. On Friday the event base in Fréjus was swept by a strong mistral. Faced with the fierceness of the gusts, the organisers had no option but to close the Show.
“We opened the show at 9 am. Seeing what was happening, we agreed with the security supervisor to evacuate the show at 10:30 am. We already have contingency plans for such situations and have followed the rules to the letter. It took us about 20 minutes to evacuate roughly 4,000 people, including the exhibitors. Then we remained in contact with the regional weather services and at 2 pm, after another discussion, we decided not to reopen the show,” explained Benoît Roy, director of the Roc d’Azur.
“Indeed, the wind was gusting at 55 knots (100–110 km/h) and safety is paramount. In the end there was only material damage. Conditions are expected to be back to normal tomorrow. It is the first time such a thing has happened, and I really hope it will also be the last.”
While the activities (Marzocchi Slopestyle Roc and Lord of Dirt qualification heats, Freestyl’Air Show, BMX Roc Contest) were cancelled, the purely MTB sports schedule was not affected, and all races were held as planned
ROC Marathon 83: Christophe Sauser fires a warning shot
Despite the fact that the wind was starting to build up at 8am on Friday, the atmosphere at the Roc Marathon 83 starting line was quite jovial, with roughly 1,600 competitors ready to go. The Swiss Christoph Sauser with his beautiful rainbow jersey as 2011 Marathon World Champion, the Czech Jaroslav Kulhavý (world number 1 in cross-country) and other champions present at the starting line seemed quite relaxed despite the challenging route awaiting them (83 km with 2,700 m of elevation gain).
Faithful to the Roc d’Azur (which he’s won in 2000 and 2001), the French Marathon Champion Thomas Dietsch was also ambitious… to a certain extent.
“There are quite a few fine athletes at the starting line,” he said. “It is going to be tough! Le Roc d’Azur is a special competition. It only takes you 5 km to see if you are in the race or not. Then, you improvise… But now, at the starting line, I am aching to race.”
Nevertheless, the Frenchman ended up giving in to the sheer power of his rivals. “Today was really tough,” he said after the finish. “I found this year’s course to be very technical: a testing and very challenging circuit with little visibility in the difficult stretches. It was necessary to adapt to the power of the wind and to remain nimble and technical on your bike. It is the end of the season, I gave it my all, but I am really happy with my result, considering the quality of the field.”
Far ahead, Christoph Sauser stole the show, dropping all his rivals one-by-one to finish the 83-km-long race in 3:40:54. The Swiss finished more than three minutes ahead of compatriot Thomas Litscher and six minutes ahead of German Karl Platt, who took the bottom step of the podium. Last year’s Roc d’Azur champion, Austrian Alban Lakata, finished fourth.
“This is a nice win for me,” said a happy Sauser, who succeeds German Jochen Kass. “I have already won the Roc twice and the marathon once, but I am still as happy as ever. The wind was especially strong, but conditions were the same for everybody. Today, I felt the power surging in my legs, and I was able to regulate my speed to ride increasingly harder until I reached the finishing line. But I tried to leave something in the tank for Sunday, since the Roc is my priority this time around!”
Thus, Friday’s race was an 83-km-long warm-up session for the Swiss, who may be dreaming of emulating Belgian Roel Paulissen, who won both races in 2008 and 2009.
Christoph Sauser on his way to a commanding victory in the weekend opener Photo: Sebastian Boue
In the ladies’ race, last year’s winner, 33-year-old Brit Sally Bigham, made it two in a row, winning the race in 4:42:59. She reached the finishing line just 30 seconds ahead of fellow Brit Jane Nuesli. Just like last year, the French rider Coralie Redelsperger managed to get a podium place.
“Everything fell into place when I finished third here last year,” she said at the starting line. “But seeing the competition this year, taking a podium spot is by no means a done thing.” But the young French rider was able to do it, finishing the race in 4:57:34, ahead of the French Marathon Champion Hélène Marcouyre (5:04:18), who was making her debut over such a long distance.
ROC MASTER
Rémy Grosdidier was the only rider to finish the 42-km-long Roc Master (950 m of elevation gain) in less than two hours. In scorching conditions made even more difficult by the wind, the 30-year-old Vosges rider seized the win (1:59:50) just over five minutes ahead of Nicolas Durin and Peter Pouly. A Swiss rider Eva Carrer-Enz (2:46:37) won the ladies’ race, finishing four minutes ahead of the French rider Evelyne Bieuzent.
MID ROC
With a time of 1:54:14, Stéphane Virvaleix cruised to the win to add his name to the honour roll of the Mid Roc (42 km, 950 m of elevation gain). Indeed, the second-placed rider Marc Flavier reached the finishing line more than 32 minutes later, followed by Maxime Trehin.