in the elite league of France, and M. G. C. Pétanque and its three veteran champions of France in 2007. Sports diversity does not stop there. Mende clubs also include roller hockey (Les Comets). Mende is also home to individual sports: Athletics, badminton, cycling, motorcycling, as well as many combat sports clubs. Since the beginning of the 2000s, a sports centre was set up to accompany young high school athletes to prepare for the best level. From the membership of the COL (centre omnisports Lozère), there is (France MTB 2010 downhill champion) and Fanny Lombard (Junior Champion of Europe 2009 and 2010 in the same discipline). Top athletes Among professional sportspeople born in Mende, is the road cyclist Christophe Laurent who shone by winning the jersey for the best climber of the Tour de l'Avenir and the Tour of California. The motorcyclist , winner of the prologue of the Paris-Dakar Rally (1991), also hails from Mende. He was one of the best enduro riders with the palmares of France, and was also vice World champion. Kayaker Brigitte Guibal, Olympic silver medallist in 2000 in Sydney, was also born in Mende. It is in 1988 that Marion Buisson was born in Mende. After making her athletics debut at the Éveil mendois, she continued her career at Clermont athletics. She became champion of France in the pole vault in , thereby achieving the minimum to participate in the Beijing Summer Olympics. Sporting events Each year, the , an enduro competition, centres its course on the city of Mende. This race is part of the most renowned of the enduro season and allows, in addition, mixing professional and amateur riders. One month later (July), the city centre is dedicated to foot racing and the arrival of . This race starts from Marvejols, joining Mende by the Col de Goudard and the Côte de Chabrits. It is sometimes used as a preparation marathon for major events (the World Championships, Olympic Games), but is also open to amateurs as the majority of the marathons. Since 2006, the month of July is also marked by the organisation of a national of pétanque. Cycling is also in honour of the city. The hosted the best professionals in the 1970s. Since then, the has seen five stage finishes in the Tour de France (1995, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2018), and stages in the Tour de l'Avenir, the Grand Prix