Day Three: Randoms - Roc D'Azur 2013
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 Palm trees and blues skies are a great way to start any day and they aren't in short supply here on the Cote D'Azur. |
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| Roc D'Azur is hands-down the biggest mountain event in Europe. Forget the World Cup, Enduro World Series or the FMB Tour, this is bigger by far. This is just the finish line for the race... |
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| Over 150,000 people pass through this show each year. |
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| Nico Brizin from 26in.fr bonds with Commencals Nico Quere. If you speak French, you should definitely check out their videos from the show... They're not your usual trade show videos. |
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| Tucked away in between the two main areas of the show is the South Shore Design area. Like a little secret garden tucked away from the main show... |
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| ... but this is much better than a secret garden. |
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| Builder, Cervo looks over his creation. It took him just five days to put this together for the show. He said he had seen some of the other pump tracks here and wanted to show what a real one looked like. |
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| The pump track strikes that fine balance that means it is good for experienced riders, but anybody can drop in and have fun. We're not sure the Red Bull helmet is legit though... |
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| Anne-Caroline Chausson takes a moment for a photo. |
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| Dan Atherton is here with his mechanic Matteo. They have a very, errr, close relationship... |
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| Tracy Moseley took 2nd in the enduro here on Thursday and a top twenty in the cross country this morning. This afternoon she was on the Endura booth signing autographs for her fans. |
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| This sums up the diversity here well - if you look closely there is a pump track, dirt jumps, BMX street, a skate park populated with kids on scooters and cross-country in there. |
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| While the world's top freeriders are in Utah for Rampage, there are still plenty of dirt jumpers who have come to play here at the Roc D'Azur, with the ever-enthusiastic Dangerous Momo spurring them on from the microphone. |
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| With winds coming in off the sea, riders were understandably reluctant to drop into the big doubles, waiting patiently at the top for a break in the gusts. |
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| A big flip for the crowd. |
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| The other riders watch on from the top of the roll-in. |
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| After the first three doubles there was a long hip into an even bigger berm. |
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| Riders were definitely getting high enough out of the ramps. |
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| A backflip above the distant mountains... |
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| From the big ramp there is a flyoff into the fist big, dirt landing. |
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| Nico Lau dropped in, fresh from his Trans Provence victory. He's with Cube again next year and is riding high after his week-long battle with Jerome Clementz. We wouldn't be surprised to see him near the podium next weekend when the Enduro World Series rolls into Finale Ligure. |
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| What's a fancy dress race without a middle-aged man in a clown costume? |
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| The face says it all, there is a race here to challenge everyone - todays races ran from 2.3km for kids to a full-blooded 55km. |
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| At a rough count there were five separate races finishing this afternoon - the Marathon, a womens race, a fancy dress race, a tandem race and a children's race. |
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| Sometimes in Europe it's hard to tell whether it's fancy dress or just what people wear every day... We're pretty sure this is fancy dress. |
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| Errr, yeah. |
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| Everyone who finishes the races here gets a T-shirt to celebrate their achievement, from the youngest to the oldest riders. |
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| Great news everybody. There's now an enduro energy bar. It should go perfectly with your fanny pack and googles... |
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| In the parts the longest line for autographs is for local legend, Fabien Barel. He grew up, and still lives, just an hour from here and it is clear that the people here adore him. |
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| To finish the day there are pretty much daily lightshows of the Cap D'Esterel, with golden light, cloud towers and the occasional thunderstorm. This are of the world has been popular with artists over the years because of the light, it's easy to see why. |
Stay tuned for more from Roc D'Azur all weekend.
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My view was Taint-ed by my dirty screen. (pun)