On the banks of the river Lez in Montpellier blows a refreshing breeze of enthusiasm.
On the natural bleachers that dam up the river, 600,000 spectators are expected by Sunday evening in allegria: after two years of silence from extreme sports, the announcer is finally giving voice.
In 25 years, Montpellier has become the global cauldron of 14 urban sliding disciplines
(including three Olympic ones, BMX, skateboarding and breaking)
and a great opportunity to party, with DJs and street art for all the youth of the south. from France.
“We are coming out of two years of Covid, we are coming out of the wave.
It is necessary to regain the confidence of the sponsors who have left the event industry, but extreme sports continue to move forward.
In three years it's crazy what the riders have been able to progress technically.
Amateurs are practically reaching the level of the pros of 2019 and the pros are still a notch above”, explains Hervé André-Benoit, inventor of FISE, the extreme sports festival, and president of Hurricane, the essential company of the genre.
One of the most beautiful skate parks at Baillargues station
“At first, in Palavas in 2017, it was just a demonstration near the beach with obstacles that you could practically build yourself in your garden with planks.
Today these are disciplines that require twenty hours of training per week.
Skate parks are being built all over the world, including one of the most beautiful near Baillargues station (Hérault), with free and permanent access,” explains Alexandre Jumelin, world BMX flat champion and founder of the FISE Academy in Baillargues. precisely, where BMX or skate enthusiasts come from all over the world to follow in the wake of the giants of the discipline.
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Alexandre did not miss any of the 25 editions.
And on Saturday, he will be “riding” with his sons Nathan, 17, and Gabin, 15, who are already, as he says, “into their own training routine”.
For 5 days, in Montpellier, the social life of young people is at a standstill, it focuses on the banks of the Lez, under the clamor, finally!