Lakata outsprints Kulhavy and Sauser for Roc d'Azur marathon victory

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Bigham wins women's marathon

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Alban Lakata wins the Roc d'Azur marathon(Image credit: Team Topeak-Ergon)

The Topeak-Ergon Racing Team ended the season on a high with Alban Lakata and Sally Bigham winning the marathon at the Roc d'Azur in Frejus, France.

The men's race covered 83km, and just as many races have been this season, it was a dual between European Champion Alban Lakata and the marathon world champion Christoph Sauser (Specialized). This time it was the Albanator who was able to keep his nose ahead. After 3:43:03, the Austrian was the winner, with a four-second lead on Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) and a seven-second lead on Sauser who took third.

As is usually the case, the marathon race at the Roc sees a lead group form following the long climb and the technical downhill. It remained like this for most of the race, until the 500 meters before the line, which was across a long, flat field. It was here that Lakata played to his strengths and hammered towards the line. It was a move that none of his competition could counter.

Following the win, Lakata said, "My legs were super today from the very start. I had no problems at all."

"You couldn't end a season more perfectly. It was a race I had never won, only the cross country."

Runner-up Kulhavy said, "The race was good for our team, but we lost the first position. I am satisfied with my race because I was not 100 percent in form. I had some problems last week, but I wanted to race. I did not have good legs, and it was hard for me, but it was a good race - a nice race with which to end the season."

"It came down to a sprint finish. Alban went early and was stronger than us. We could not play tactics to our advantage and he won," said Sauser.

British National Champion Bigham won the women's race at the Roc Marathon, with a time of 4:41:07. It was the fourth victory for her at the race in a row. "This year it was just about having fun and enjoying the trials," said the 35-year-old. "To win for the fourth time is a perfect end to a fantastic season."

Full Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Alban Lakata (Aut)3:43:03
2Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze)0:00:04
3Christoph Sauser (Swi)0:00:07
4Moritz Milatz (Ger)0:01:55
5Jochen Kass (Ger)0:07:26
6Hannes Genze (Ger)0:07:43
7Urs Huber (Swi)Row 6 - Cell 2
8Tony Longo (Ita)0:07:45
9Periklis Ilias (Gre)0:08:25
10Martin Fanger (Swi)0:09:11
11Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col)0:09:54
12Roel Paulissen (Bel)0:14:28
13Marcus Kaufmann (Ger)0:14:29
14Johnny Cattaneo (Ita)0:15:31
15Robert Mennen (Ger)0:16:39
16Adrian Brzozka (Pol)0:17:32
17Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol)0:17:59
18Piotr Brzozka (Pol)0:18:49
19Steffen Thum (Ger)0:19:28
20Daniel Gathof (Ger)0:21:00
21Timothy Carleton (Can)0:21:05
22Mirko Pirazzoli (Ita)0:22:07
23Benjamin Joerges (Ger)0:22:36
24Thomas Dietsch (Fra)0:22:39
25Stephen Ettinger (USA)0:22:52
26Philipp Gerber (Swi)0:23:07
27Oliver Zurbrugg (Swi)0:23:55
28Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita)0:24:32
29Simon Gegenheimer (Ger)0:24:51
30Oriol Colome (Spa)0:24:52
31Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet (Fra)0:24:54
32Robby De Bock (Bel)0:25:15
33Jan Jobanek (Cze)0:25:26
34Tomasz Drozdz (Pol)0:25:44
35Julen Zubero (Spa)Row 34 - Cell 2
36Claus Crone (Den)0:25:45
37Arnaud Hacquard (Fra)Row 36 - Cell 2
38Torsten Marx (Ger)0:25:46
39Martin Gujan (Swi)0:25:49
40Christophe Bassons (Fra)0:26:03
41Maxime Folco (Fra)0:28:11
42Gregory Pascal (Fra)0:30:37
43Fabrice Havart (Fra)0:30:59
44Sam Lennertz (Bel)0:31:05
45Damian Perrin (Swi)Row 44 - Cell 2
46Sebastien Carabin (Bel)0:31:47
47Manuel Pliem (Aut)0:32:48
48Emeric Turcat (Fra)0:32:58
49Andreas Hartmann (Ger)0:33:05
50Julien Bourdevaire (Fra)0:33:17
51Michiel Van Aelbroeck (Bel)0:34:12
52Dirk Verherstraeten (Bel)0:35:59
53Frank Demuth (Ger)0:37:11
54Allan Bachmann (Den)0:37:18
55Arnaud Rapillard (Swi)0:37:55
56Frederic Gombert (Fra)Row 55 - Cell 2
57Remi Laffont (Fra)Row 56 - Cell 2
58Tim Dunford (GBr)0:38:44
59Patrice Esnault (Fra)0:39:23
60Eric Ducet (Fra)0:39:56
61Ruben Scheire (Bel)0:40:39
62Joris Bagnol (Fra)0:40:54
63Maarten Kemperman (Ned)0:42:56
64Benoit Vaxelaire (Fra)0:43:01
65Jens Schuermans (Bel)0:44:04
66Romain Sdrigooti (Fra)0:44:22
67Pietro Sarai (Ita)0:44:37
68Stéphane Monnet (Swi)0:45:41
69Alexandre Lavaud (Fra)0:46:11
70Vincent Pagès (Fra)0:46:15
71Ron Dezittere (Bel)0:47:04
72Jean-François Bossler (Fra)0:48:15
73Raphael Hilaire (Fra)0:48:33
74Gustav Larsson (Swe)0:48:59
75Oscar Pujol Munoz (Spa)0:49:32
76Serge Davesne (Fra)0:49:51
77Jeremy Gadomski (Swi)Row 76 - Cell 2
78Christoph Rytz (Swi)0:49:53
79Julien Toppan (Fra)0:50:00
80Francois Breitler (Swi)0:50:56
81Nico Berckmans (Bel)0:52:27
82Bachelet Benjamin (Fra)0:52:33
83Michael Pesse (Ita)0:52:55
84Etienne Hautavoine (Fra)0:54:43
85Arne Broekmans (Bel)0:54:49
86Vidal Celis Zabala (Spa)0:54:50
87Mathieu Desserprit (Fra)0:55:25
88Maurizio Solagna (Ita)0:55:53
89Christophe Chambard (Fra)0:56:12
90Herik Del Degan (Ita)0:57:09
91Pierre Labbe (Fra)0:57:38
92Dennis Gabaglio (Ita)0:57:56
93Frederic Ischard (Fra)0:58:02
94Paul Renault (Fra)0:58:29
95David Hehenberger (Aut)0:59:15
96Pierre-Benoit Virot (Fra)0:59:27
97Martin Sandoz (Swi)1:00:06
98Bruno Chavard (Fra)1:00:17
99Romain Bouther (Fra)1:01:19
100Bruno Albert (Fra)1:01:47
101Eric David (Fra)1:02:05
102Jonathan Decoux (Bel)1:02:34
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Elite women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Sally Bigham (GBr)4:41:07
2Helene Marcouyre (Fra)0:16:49
3Alice Pirard (Bel)0:22:18
4Verena Krenslehner (Aut)0:37:54
5Isabel Van Der Voorde (Bel)0:40:44
6Eszter Dosa (Hun)0:49:17
7Arielle Boek - Van Meurs (Ned)1:03:40
8Sara Van Peer (Bel)1:36:30
9Sandra Rudel (Fra)2:32:25
10Veronique Soupene (Fra)2:54:31
11Abigail Armstrong (GBr)3:10:03
12Orla Mcclean (Irl)4:22:54

 

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