After 1,300 schoolchildren came to open the thirtieth edition of the Roc d’Azur on Thursday during Generation Roc, the atmosphere kicked up a notch at the nature base of Fréjus with the first major events of the 2013 Roc d’Azur. The strong wind did not prevent all participants from having maximum fun.
MASTERS ROC: And a third for Grosdidier
At 32 years old, Rémy Grosdidier, a former member of the French team in his junior and hope years, is truly the master of the Roc Masters, a race contested over 44 km with 1,250 m of positive elevation and open to runners born in 1983 and before. For the third consecutive year, the Vosgian residing in Alsace largely dominated the event (1h55’04’’), finishing with more than five minutes lead over Nicolas Durin (2h0’40’’) and Anthony Gauthier (2h0’41’’) who fought for the placements in a sprint.
Among the women, in 2h52’43’’, Nathalie Gallen (Vitrolles) dominated Sylvie Besse (2h57’48’’).
ROC CHALLENGE: Swiss Double
Over a demanding course (58 km, 2,300 m D+) with big climbs and technical descents requiring excellent riding skills, young Swiss Sylvain Engelmann (20 years), already winner of the Roc Challenge in 2011 (he also won the junior race in this edition), proved to be the fastest. In 3h1’46’’, he won by a wide margin ahead of Jean-Louis Bourdevaire (3h19’09’’) and Jean-Louis Carlier (3h31’37’’). A Swiss victory also among the women thanks to Katja Montani (4h6’30’’).
It’s one of the highlights of the Roc d’Azur.
This Friday, the Roc Marathon Mondovelo will offer an adventure to 2,300 mountain bikers who came to tackle the 83 km and 2,700 m of positive elevation of the course. Won last year by the Czech Olympic champion Jaroslav Kulhavy, the event once again promises an intense battle among several champions eager to have this prestigious race on their record.
In the top 300 last year, Alain Prost will once again be at the start. The five-time Formula 1 world champion, a regular at the Étapes du Tour, discovered the full technicality of mountain biking during his first participation. Despite his lack of experience in mountain biking, the 58-year-old champion impressed all observers. There is no doubt that he will be keen to replicate his performance.
