Up to Saturday afternoon, he was not counting on taking starter’s orders. Jordan Sarrou, the record holder for victories on the Roc d’Azur CIC race (in 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2022), came back from his North American world cup campaign in ill health. He finally decided to try his luck: a wise decision. On Sunday, under clear blue skies, the 31-year-old French champion and world champion in 2020 added his name to the Roc d’Azur CIC roll of honour for the fifth time, following a 55-km effort completed in 2:12’22’’. As soon as starter’s orders were given by Olympic champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who was delighted to be present at an event that she loves and which she attended as a young girl, Dutchman Dylan van Baarle (with eight Tour de France appearances, victory on Paris-Roubaix in 2022 and runner- up in the 2021 world championships) set a strong pace to begin with (before finishing 85th). However, on the first descent from the Col de Fournel pass, the mountain biking specialists took charge. At the bottom of the descent, Mathis Azzaro, Joshua Dubau and Maxime Marotte, all riding for the very ambitious Decathlon Ford team, as well as Jordan Sarrou, had all already carved out a lead of approximately thirty seconds. As the kilometres went by, Azzaro started to pull away. At the Bougnon, a legendary part of the race and a veritable corridor through the crowds, he had opened up a gap of almost one minute over Sarrou, and 1’30 over Joshua Dubau, who eventually finished third (2:15’29’’). Although everybody was awaiting Azzaro at the finishing line, they had the surprise of seeing the French champion’s jersey worn by Jordan Sarrou, 14th at the Olympic Games, hurtling down the final straight in first place. “To be honest, I’m more surprised than anyone else,” he admitted. “It wasn’t looking good because Mathis broke away quickly. I didn’t want to take the risk of following him in the descent and ending up with a puncture, but I wasn’t going to let myself give up, either. When I found out that I was more than one minute behind, I thought it was all over for me. However, at the beginning of the cycling track, I caught sight of him and that boosted my belief. I gave it my all. I caught up with him quickly and immediately launched an attack. Out of my five victories, this is probably the one that’s been the hardest to achieve because I started getting cramp. With this fifth win, it’s another nice addition to my roll of honour. It’s great to share it with everyone at the festival of mountain biking that is Roc d’Azur CIC”. Mathis Azzaro, who was second last year behind Hugo Drechou, was the major favourite in most people’s eyes. With second place last week at the world cup at Mont Sainte-Anne (in Canada), the French Decathlon Ford team rider knew he was in top form. “I will probably be the man everybody wants to beat,” he explained before the start. “But I want this to be the icing on the cake of my season”. What tasty icing it almost was: he led up until the last few kilometres before the onset of cramp put paid to his hopes of victory as he finished second (with a time of 2:12’38’’). “I’m still happy with my race and the way I took control of it. Obviously, I would have liked to win, but second place is still very nice”.
Emeline Detilleux makes history for Belgium
In the women’s race, Emeline Detilleux, who broke away at the start of the race alongside the title holder, France’s Noémie Garnier, left last year’s winner trailing in her wake to claim her first success on the Roc d’Azur CIC race (with a time of 2:44’44’’). The 24-year-old rider also picked up the first Belgian victory in the women’s race in the history of Roc d’Azur CIC. “I’m delighted to be the first Belgian woman to win here,” delightedly declared Emeline. “It’s a completely different type of effort from cross- country. It’s a lot longer, but a little less technical. I had a good feeling right from the start, but I’d decided to ride the race at my own pace. On the flat sections, the other girls were starting to catch up with me, but I was able to pull away again on the technical parts. I’m overjoyed to finish this long season with a victory at the Roc d’Azur CIC. It’s the biggest mountain biking event in the world, in bright sunshine, on a superb route and in a wonderful atmosphere. I really enjoyed it”. The Belgian champion, who finished 25th at the Paris Olympic Games, completed the race almost two minutes ahead of Italian riders Sandra Mairhofer (who finished second on Friday in the Ford Roc Marathon) and Greta Seiwald. Last year’s winner Noémie Garnier, the day’s best French rider, finished in sixth place. “I was in the leading group but started to cramp up after 1 hour and 30 minutes of the race,” she explained. “Afterwards, I felt better and I could have still had a shot at the podium, but I got a puncture and lost a lot of time trying to repair it, during which I broke my pump. But, hey, that’s life…”. At the end of the five stages of the Delta Plus Roc Trophy, which began on Wednesday (with one race per day over five days), Irishman David Montgomery and Lucie Cazottes triumphed after a total effort throughout the week of 239.1 km and 6,440 metres of climbing!