Roc D'Azur 2012: Dirt Jumping

Oct 13, 2012
by Matt Wragg  
My mother always told me that sometimes it's best just to be honest, so here goes... I'm a thirty year-old guy from the UK. This means I know pretty much zero about 18 year-old French dirt jumpers. So I can't tell you anything about the riders, what I can tell you is that the jumps were properly man-sized and some of these kids had tons of style in the air.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  They hadn't done the run-in by halves, this must have been a solid 20 metres up.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  There was no smooth run down the ramp either, just this awkward-looking booter that launched them into a big, dirt landing. Very few of the guys were doing anything more than get through this.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  All that run-in meant the guys were getting serious height on the second jump though.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  Flags are probably great for a brand's presence at an event like this, but they make it difficult to find any kind of angle to take photos from. And to Heat energy drinks: the big banner blacking out the sea behind the riders at the top of the ramp ruins a great photo.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  I promise this photo hasn't been rotated at all, he really was that flat on a 360.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  While tricks are great, you still can't beat a big, lazy whip.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  The crowds here at Roc D'Azur are immense, the place is packed with tens of thousands of people today and it will be even busier for the main race tomorrow. That meant riders from all types of mountain biking were packing in to watch the dirt jumping, from downhillers, through to fully-shaven, lycra'd XC racers.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  A nice big three over the second jump, while the other riders watch on.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  That's quite some extension there.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  The wind coming in off the sea meant the sky changed completely every few minutes. This was one of the rare, clear blue spells.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  As I say, it wasn't your usual crowd for a dirt jump event.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  This guy was more or less killing it all morning, he made the extension on this seatgrab look easy.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  His whips just looked downright lazy.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  A big, off-axis flip on the second jump.

Roc D Azur 2012 dirt jumping.
  A 360 with a barspin is a truckdriver, right?


Author Info:
mattwragg avatar

Member since Oct 29, 2006
753 articles

21 Comments
  • 19 1
 They should have a jump festival that gaps a over a section of road bike short circuit... just a huge bike fest!!! It would be rad!!!
  • 11 0
 that first just looks soo skech
  • 8 1
 Woh look how sweet those landings are. Wide open!
  • 8 3
 Ha, I like the way Matt writes. No list of the riders competing? You know, rather than 'this guy was killing it all morning.'
  • 10 0
 I could find the names, but how would I know which one was which?
  • 2 1
 You got me. How is it usually done?
  • 21 1
 Name badges would have been smashing.
  • 1 0
 Looks like was Anthony Rocci with super(extended)man-seat grab & the lazy whip! Is there any results of the contest?
  • 2 0
 Final on sunday : 1.30pm > 3.30pm
www.rocazur.com/fr/roc_n_ride.html
  • 2 1
 Gona get neg'd for this but: Why the tight pants? They make you jump higher or something?
  • 9 0
 Your pant doesn't get in the middle and as we ride the seats pretty low we don't want our pants catching the seat and mess up the trick
  • 4 0
 neither would shorts, but I guess then your leg gets torn up in wrecks
  • 14 0
 Also the middle of the pants sits nearer to your balls so more clearance respect to leg movement and the stretch is a plus

Also have you seen us? We look fabulous
  • 1 0
 Wow there were a lot of nerds wearing styrofoam hats in the crowd.
  • 1 0
 SICK!!!!
  • 1 4
 @ Matt :A truckdriver is a barspin in which you follow with one hand and dont let go of your bar...like driving a truck, so that would be a 360 truck driver Smile
  • 8 0
 What you described there is a bus driver and a truck is 360 bars. At least that's how it's here and seems to be elsewhere too Wink
  • 1 0
 a truck driver is a 360 bar in which you throw the bars in the opposite direction of the 3
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