Rank outsiders with most pundits, bid President Charles Beigbeder says the campaign team still have one or two secrets up their sleeve to cause a sensation in Durban on Wednesday (July 6) and pull off one of the great upsets in recent bidding history.

Asked by insidethegames to reveal details of how the city was setting about gaining much-needed support in the final 48 hours of lobbying, Beigbeder refused to divulge details - but told a news conference Annecy's presentation would give them a fighting chance.

Refuting the oft-quoted belief that presentations can lose bids but not win them, Beigbeder said: "We are working hard on our final presentation which, perhaps more than ever, will be extremely important.

"I can't give you too much detail but it could even determine the vote."

In stark contrast to 2012 when Paris lost out to London in the last few hours of bidding, it is understood that almost 50 per cent of Annecy's final presentation will be in English.

Reiterating Annecy's position as one of the world's most popular ski resorts, Beigbeder said a vote for the French candidate - the first since Albertville in 1992 - would be a vote for the Olympic Movement itself.

On Tuesday he caused a major stir by claiming that if Pyeongchang is successful then it will be largely due to the backing of Olympic worldwide sponsor Samsung and that Munich was motivated solely by taking the event back to Germany for the first time since 1936.

"We are the number one destination worldwide for winter sports with 10 million visitors from 100 countries," Beigbeder said as he re-iterated the bid's focus on the ethics of the Olympic Movement and shrugged off the non-appearance of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was reportedly advised not to bother to attend.

"We want to underline our vision for Olympism," he said.

"It's not enough just to talk about commercial and business stuff.

"The Games are not there for a country or a continent.

"They are there for all of us."


Whether this was just a desperate attempt to garner late support or a genuine belief that Annecy have a stronger case - emotionally at least - than their rivals, Beigbeder will have been encouraged by comments earlier in the day from International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge.

Rogge likened Annecy's campaign to that of 1994 winners Lillehammer who were also firm underdogs going into the final straight but won in part because of a highly impressive final presentation.

"Everybody viewed Ostersund as the unstoppable force, and they were candidates for the fifth or sixth time," he said.

"But it was Lillehammer who won and delivered a fabulous Olympics.

"At a certain moment they created the right chemistry in their bid.

"And that can even come on the final day."

Beigbeder said: "France was the country of Pierre de Coubertin who was the founder of the modern Olympics but it's a long time since we have had the honour of serving the Olympic Movement and hosting the games."

"We have bid for Lille and twice for Paris and now we want to bring the games to the mountains and provide the best possible conditions to the athletes."

In an unexpectedly passionate intervention, the Mayor of Annecy, Jean-Luc Rigaut, said the area would provide the perfect showcase for the Games: "a marriage between cheese and wine in the mountains and true Olympic values".

Afterwards, Beigbeder told insidethegames that there was no special reason historically for granting 2018 to any particular contender.

"We haven't got a case like South America never having hosted which was a very strong argument for Rio for 2016," he said.

"There are three difference visions here.

"Ours is not a vision about new territories, it's about the values of sport.

"You have to have Games that inspire and to do that you need mountains and you need authenticity."

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