The Story
La Médocaine is most of all the story of a group of good friends who loved sports, and mountain biking in particular, and who loved the Médoc for its countryside, its inhabitants and its wine. Like many adventures, we don’t know exactly where it begins, and we never know where this crazy idea which started as a challenge will take us! La Médocaine follows these rules.
It all started one evening in September 1996, over dinner during the Marathon du Médoc at the Rauzan Ségla chateau in Margaux, between a glass of Margaux and one or several glasses of Rauzan Ségla, most likely the 90 vintage. In the euphoric haze of those wonderful nectars, one of us said: “Why couldn’t we organize a second Marathon du Médoc? Not a clone, but a little brother or sister for our great marathon?”
And so, after a night of sobering up and a few days of rumination, the idea took shape, and like a happy tragedy, the three units of action, time and place were defined (although different from the marathon, of course):
The action: mountain biking instead of the footrace
The time: spring, when the vines of the Médoc present a tender green carpet very different from its autumn finery
The place: the southern Médoc and its Margaux, Moulis and Listrac appellations have no reason to be embarrassed up against the Pauillac, Saint Julien and Saint Estèphe appellations.
So all of the conditions were met to write and act out the play in three or several acts. But how do you organize a major recreational-athletic event, with a group of friends, all full of goodwill and ideas, but without any experience or money? Easy, with the logistics of the marathon!
Only not so easy after all. We had to be professional and very persuasive in front of a jury composed of the marathon’s five founders, where this group of friends had to work very hard for over an hour to present its project and its goals. And the verdict was in after a short discussion: we’ll help you for the first year, but after that you’re on your own!
From there, everything happened quickly:
- the association, the Vélo Toutes Vignes (Cycle Through the Vines), was created
- the race was named La Médocaine
- the logo and mascot were created
- the date of the first race was set for May 1997.
In the euphoria, others joined us to fill out the organizational staff and the first registrations flowed in, quickly reaching 800! It was impossible to receive so many participants for our first year, since we couldn’t afford to mess up and disappoint everyone who had put their trust in us. So the smart decision was made to cancel the inaugural race and postpone it until 1998.
And then we all got to work!
We found our organizational and logistical ideas in the Jura on La Forestière. The concept of combining sports and celebration matured during the many late-night meetings. The courses would be done entirely on bicycles and we took off to discover the vineyards and hedgerows of the Médoc. As for the money, everyone’s relations were very helpful in filling our empty coffers.
The craziest ideas were born and matured over time and meetings to create an original event different from existing events, but with an overarching concern for ensuring the quality of the services offered while respecting the original concept of “Sport in a spirit of celebration”.
And on May 16, 1998, more than 1,100 participants took off from Margaux to discover this wonderful Médoc vineyard and its unrecognized heritage. Upon arrival, everyone was enchanted and had only one desire: to come back next time. The gamble paid off for the organization, but the hardest part still remained: to confirm this initial success.
From 7 volunteers, the AVTV Organization quickly reached thirty volunteers, but still maintained the feeling of being a group of friends, the key to our success! And seven years and seven races later we were up to nearly 4000 cyclists, but all of the participants were still coming to practice their favorite sport in a friendly, celebratory atmosphere - the other key to our success!
Many people came to join us, bringing their new ideas which were just as crazy, but have contributed to the evolution and appreciation of your race.
The success of your Médocaine is the collective work of participants, volunteers, elected representatives, Médoc chateaux and wine-growing organizations, private and institutional partners, the organization and many others. To you, we say a big thank you and long live La Médocaine, always with a spirit of “Celebratory sport”.
Jean-Paul POUZAUD
