By Sue George
Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain Business Objects) and Christoph Sauser won the European end-of-season marathon classic 18th annual Roc D'Azur in southern France last weekend in front of 130,000 spectators. Racers covered 58km starting and ending at the airport of Frejus.
Sydor took her third consecutive victory at the race, which is combined with the largest bicycle show in France. She won in spite of an early crash that separated her from her lead group of four. After convincing medical personnel to return her bike so she could continue racing, she caught back the group before outsprinting them to the finish.
The Swiss Sauser beat second-placed Marti Gispert Labarta by over one minute. Another minute separated third placed Martin Kraler. Well-known roadie Gilberto Simoni showed his late season form also applies to the dirt. The Saunier-Duval pro placed fifth, less than three minutes behind current World Cross Country Champion Sauser in the 2.5 hour race.
See full results for the Roc D'Azur marathon here.
