The popular and well attended Roc d’Azur is a a huge mountain bike festival that holds events for all sorts of mountain bike enthusiasts and professionals, with an Enduro, Cross Country, Dirt Jump contest and a huge expo. This style of event is now moving inland, away from the beaches and into the French Alps. The village of Clusaz will be the host town, for the next five years.
The organising team of the Roc des Alpes, accompanied by several mountain bike specialists and Edgar Grospiron, an Olympic Champion several times finisher of the Roc d’Azur and ambassador for La Clusaz, took advantage of final reconnoitring before the first snow arrives to discover the setting that will welcome the very first Roc des Alpes from 14th to 16th June 2013, with its total of 16 events, from cross country, to downhill races, including bike trekking and endurance races, spread over three days of events.
In almost summer-like sunshine, the group proceeded with reconnoitring of the routes by passing through some key points, such as the Confins, Beauregard, Col des Aravis or even the Crêt du Merle sites, as well as discussing operational aspects: accommodation and hosting capacity, layout of the village, start and finish zones as well as activities. Here is what the four people involved in this reconnoitring had to say:
Terrain? Yes, the Alps have suitable terrain to work with. Photo: S. Boue/ASO
Alexandre Maslin – Roc des Alpes Event Director
“The Roc label is going to set up camp in La Clusaz and we’re delighted about it. The choice of La Clusaz was made due to several factors: the potential catchment population for this new event is considerable, with Switzerland and Italy nearby; also, there are many towns nearby like Annecy, which boasts the European headquarters of many sports brands. It’s the opportunity to reach out to new partners, perhaps; we have in mind the brands that are already involved in the resort.
We want to underline the fact that this is indeed a spin-off of the Roc d’Azur, but the Roc des Alpes will include brand new features for a Roc label event. For example, and it’s already under development, we are thinking of a zone reserved for product testing (bikes, accessories, etc.). We have signed a 5-year partnership with La Clusaz which allows us to have a long-term vision of the event, even if we already have the ambition of attracting 3,000 participants for the very first edition.”
Fred Salomone – Roc des Alpes Sports Manager
“Most of the resorts where mountain-biking is proposed as an activity only cater for downhill riding because they are at a minimum altitude of around 1,800 metres. La Clusaz has the advantage of being situated at 1,040 metres above sea level. As a result, the competitors can enjoy climbs up to summits but the routes are still relatively accessible. The relief is varied and the races can be proposed to a wider range of participants”.
Edgar Grospiron – Former mogul skiing Olympic champion and event ambassador
“We had wonderful weather for this reconnoitring. I’m also happy to see that despite the rain we’ve had over the last few days, the routes were still easy to ride along! This shows that the terrain is well drained. There are magnificent views to be seen and some extraordinary portions. I’m amazed by the beauty of this site each time I come here…
To give a little explanation of why I’m taking part in this reconnoitring, I took part in the Roc d’Azur for the first time in 1990 and I’ve always loved this event. So, when I heard that they wanted to stage a Roc label event in the Alpes, I thought of La Clusaz straight away, because it’s a resort that has always supported me and I’ve had strong ties with the place for the last 20 years. Of course, that’s not the only reason: there is the quality of its tracks, the variety of surfaces, vegetation and relief, as well as a not inconsiderable amount of gradient. I’ve ridden a lot in the area and there is extraordinary potential, such as the Massif des Aravis chain which is stupendous, but also slightly further afield…
The Roc des Alpes is the opportunity to combine the soul of two things that I like and which have common ground, with a sporting aspect, but also a festival feel and international scope. In the mountains, people are friendly and like to welcome the public: I’m sure will see that in the participants’ smiles. As regards the route, I’m rather tempted to try out the Roc des Alpes (editor’s note: a distance of 54 km and a difference in altitude of 1,950 metres) and the Enduro (editor’s note: 5 specials over a distance of 16.6 km and a difference in altitude of 2,500 metres). Not only for the routes, but also for the discipline. Struggling up a climb and hurtling downhill are right up my street! Although I’m not enough of a specialist to have a key role in organising the event, I intend to have plenty of fun!”
La Clusaz has all the right ingredients: Big mountains, a lift, accommodation, forest, and a broad valley for trails. Photo: S. Boue/ASO
Alexis Bongard – Director of La Clusaz Tourist Board
“We were one of the pioneers in mountain biking, but then other resorts made it their speciality. If we wanted to return to this discipline, then we needed a significant springboard, which would enable us to make mountain-biking the leading summer activity. We think that A.S.O. is a guarantee for success in this domain and that can only help us. We need to work hard at structuring the resort around mountain-biking. This is an ambitious objective, but well within our capacities. We have plenty of energy to pour into launching the event and attracting the public to our little ‘California of cycling’.”
For further information on the Roc de Alpes, head to the event website and check MarathonMTB.com frequently for updates.
Once the foliage dies back, the bike limbo site will be perfect. Photo: S. Boue/ASO