4X Pro Tour Finals in Azur Bike Park, France

Nov 4, 2016
by The 4xProTour  
Views: 5,131    Faves: 12    Comments: 1



So this is it. The 4X ProTour finals were held in Roquebrune, France on Sunday afternoon. As ever with 4X ProTour, the racing did not disappoint.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

The track located at the heart of the new Azur Bike Park is pretty amazing. Built on the side of a mountain, the track winds its way through huge berms, multi lines, and some of the biggest jumps in the 4X ProTour into the finish arena.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

The track overlooks the French coastal town of St Maxime, so as well as being an amazing track, the views are incredible. The longest track used on the 4X ProTour this year, at 50 seconds this was going to be a wild race.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

The riders arrived on Friday and practice was underway. It was really interesting to see the top 4X riders in the world getting used to this track. The high speeds were really challenging them. This track had a few riders torn on what bike to use.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Hardtails, Enduro bikes and DH bikes were all being used and each one had its pros and cons!

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

By the end of Friday practice was over and it was great to see the riders challenged on a new track that most of them had not ridden before. The talking point was the huge step down near the finish. It really was massive and the riders were pushing the limits to get over his jump.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Qualifying

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Saturday rolled around and the 2nd practice session got underway at 10.00. There was a little bit of rain falling which was perfect to help keep the dust down.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

As it hasn't rained in 5 months it was a welcome sight to help keep the track together for the weekend.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

You could tell that the riders were in qualifying mode as they were railing the turns and carrying speed. After the practice session it was time for qualifying. In 4X, riders get just 1 lap of the track for qualifying. It is a high pressure time for the riders as they have to get everything just right.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

First up it was the Junior men. Looking great all day and riding a really good qualifying run, Britain's Oscar Powell took the win.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Onto the women. Fiona Ourdouillie from France looked comfortable all day and she got it perfect in her quali run, taking the fastest time ahead of Marieke Bohm and Marion Deneutre. Overall points leader Hannah Escott took a nasty crash in her qualifying run. She still qualified and would be back on Sunday.

1st - Fiona Ourdouillie
2nd - Marieke Bohm
3rd - Marion Deneutre

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Men's qualifying and it was French rider Tanguy Boucherot, to the delight of the home crowd who set the early pace with a 47.63.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Rider after rider came down the hill but his time was looking great. Felix Beckeman was the first rider to break the time clocking 47.07.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Tomas Slavik rode faultlessly though.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Making the tough track look easy he floated down and took the fastest time with an incredible 45.61. The other riders were stunned as he just looked so quick. This completed the clean sweep for Tomas as he has won every qualifying session at 4X ProTour in 2016.

1st - Tomas Slavik
2nd - Felix Beckeman
3rd - Tanguy Boucherot


4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Racing

Sunday 2nd October and it was time to crown the 2016 4X ProTour Champions. The forecast was for sunshine all day and it really delivered. Blue skies and dusty conditions were a welcome sight for the 4X ProTour finals.

In the first round shocks came from 2 big name early exits. Scott Beaumont and Bogdan Bondor were two of the riders who went out. Beaumont made a mistake and went from first to last on the final straight whilst Bondor slipped out of the gate. Local rider Cedric Loriens, who helped to build the track also went out in the first round.

In the second round World Champion Mitja Ergaver went out as did Alex Metcalfe and Aiko Gohler. Some real shocks early on for the French crowds.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

In semi final 1 it was Tomas Slavik on gate 1, Chaney Guennet in 2, Simon Waldburger in 3 and Luke Cryer in 4. The gate dropped and it was Slavik with the holeshot. Heading towards the lower section, Guennet was in 2nd with Cryer in 3rd challenging. On the final straight Cryer carried good speed and overtook Guennet to make it into the final.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

In semi final 2 it was Felix Beckeman in gate 1, Tanguy Boucherot in 2, Pierrick Lannes in 3 and Urban Rotnik in 4. The gate dropped and Beckeman took the lead. Lannes dived inside on the first turn and those 2 drag raced down the second straight. Boucherot was hunting them down and he got close by the finish but couldn't make a pass stick.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Finals

Britain's Oscar Powell took the win in juniors and looked very much a rider with a bright future in the sport.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

The women's final lined up in the gate. Fiona Ourdouillie in gate 1, Marieke Bohm in 2, Marion Deneutre in 3 and Hannah Escott in 4. The gate dropped and Ourdouillie got the holeshot with Bohm close behind. Escott was in 3rd and looking good until a mistake allowed Deneutre through. Holding the inside lines Ourdouillie kept her head and led from start to finish to take her first ever 4X ProTour victory. Bohm finished 2nd, Deneutre in 3rd and Escott in 4th.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

In the men's small final, Tanguy Boucherot took gate 1, Chaney Guennet in 2, Simon Waldburger in 3 and Urban Rotnik in 4. Boucherot got the holeshot with Waldburger in 2nd. The race looked to be pretty settled after Guennet and Rotnik came together in turn 2. Boucherot took the win and with it 5th for the day.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

So it was time for the main final. Slavik in 1, Beckeman in 2, Cryer in 3 and Lannes in 4. The gate dropped and the riders were level. Into turn 1 Slavik took the lead. Through the first turn, Beckeman drew alongside Slavik but the pass didn't stick.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

Lannes was quick to make the move in turn 2 and was into 3rd. Slavik rode a faultless lap and took his fourth 4X ProTour win of the year ahead of Beckeman, Lannes and Cryer.

Immediately after the race, the award ceremonies took place for the race and the season was over for 2016.

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson


2016 4X ProTour overall standings

The overall standings were:

Women's:
1st - Hannah Escott
2nd - Marieke Bohm
3rd - Michaela Berakova
4th - Olga Romzaikina
5th - Natasha Bradley

Men's:
1st - Tomas Slavik
2nd - Felix Beckeman
3rd - Quentin Derbier
4th - Scott Beaumont
5th - Simon Waldburger

4X Pro Tour at A zur Bike Park Nice France on October 01 2016. Photo Charles A Robertson

So that was it for the 4X ProTour 2016. A huge thank you goes out to all the riders who continue to support the 4X ProTour, the venues and organisers: Winterberg - Germany, Fort William - Scotland, Jablonec - Czech Republic and of course Roquebrune in France.

The dates and venues for the 2017 4X ProTour will be announced in the next few weeks so keep your eyes out to see where we will be racing in 2017.

Thanks to the 4X fans around the world for reading our race reports and watching our films. It is the support of you guys that makes the 4X ProTour such a great race series.

Finally, we all want to wish 4X ProTour official videographer Lars Veenstra a very speedy recovery from the crash he had a couple of days before this ProTour race. Get well soon Lars.

For more information on the 4X ProTour, visit:

www.4xprotour.com
www.facebook.com/4xprotour
www.twitter.com/4xprotour
www.instagram.com/4xprotour

Author Info:
The4XProTour avatar

Member since Jun 6, 2013
92 articles

14 Comments
  • 13 0
 Better late than never...
But hell yeah 4x????????????????????????????????
  • 13 0
 SICK! COME BACK to UCI WC fourcross !!!
  • 7 0
 4X IS AWESOME!!
  • 2 0
 Great to see 4x coming back to real mountain tracks! But the music is just awful in this video... Wink
  • 2 0
 Question: Do 4x riders still ride 26 inch wheels generally?
  • 2 0
 yes, definitely!
  • 2 0
 Yes, the vast majority are still on 26 inch wheels Smile
  • 2 0
 A couple of Pro/Elite riders in the UK nationals on tweeners due to sponsors obligations. I asked one aboot the bigger wheels he admited they're slower oot the gate
  • 1 0
 Great event. Azur Bike Park really did an awesome job on the build. Can't wait to race there again next year.
  • 1 0
 that track looks amazing!!! Steep, Tech an jumpy Proper 4X!
  • 1 0
 Didn't know it started
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