The Lithuanian Katažina Sosna, who had already clinched the longest event of the Roc d’Azur in 2019 and 2021, left the competition in the dust in the Ford Roc Marathon women’s race 2023. The former road racing star (five starts in the Giro Donne and a Lithuanian time trial champion) seized the lead from the beginning and never looked back. She finished in 4 h 58′10″ to secure a third title fraught with emotion. “Honestly, I think the Roc d’Azur is the most beautiful race in the world!” she expressed after her win. “I’ve been coming here for years on end and hold this race very close to my heart. This victory was tough, because the weather was quite hot. But it was also very special because it’s my last Roc d’Azur, since I’m retiring in a few days at almost 33 years old.”
The French rider Tatiana Tournut, a two-time junior French champion at the tender age of 19, put in a superb performance to finish second, a shade over two minutes behind the winner. “We started very fast,” said the young girl from Franche-Comté, who had already raced in the XCO World Cup but was tackling her first marathon. “The Lithuanian broke away right off the bat and we did our own race behind her. Estelle [Estelle Morel, third] dropped me on the first climb, but she had a flat tyre. I overtook her without even noticing. From then on, it was all about holding on. I was going flat out because I was terrified that Estelle would catch up. It’s an awesome way to wrap up a season that’s had its share of difficult moments. Especially here. I’ve been coming to the Roc ever since I was a little girl. My parents used to participate in the tandem race and I took up the torch with a win in the Junior category three years ago and a runner-up spot in O15. It was my first marathon. It was long, of course, but I loved it!”
