Le Mondial de Millau takes place annually, in the mid-August heat of the Aveyron, in France. It is the single most important gathering of the world's top Pétanque players. In the World Championships, there are no more than a dozen national teams that could consistently defeat the best 250 teams at Millau. Unlike the Marseillaise, which is exclusively triples, Millau organizes open Singles, Doubles, and Triples championships, Women's Singles, Doubles and Triples, and a Mixed Triples competition (at least one woman per team). It is a huge, sprawling, intense, week-long Pétanque festival that attracts a legion of fans who take their vacation to see the legendary players of the game. In the competitive Pétanque world, a Millau title is considered to be one of the three most important championships any player can win, along with the Marseillaise and the World Championship. Millau launched Philippe Quintais into superstardom, and gave women their first major showcase for their talents.
The Mondial was founded in 1982 by Damien Mas, today one of the most respected and loved individuals in the sport. As the meeting exploded into prominence in the 1990s, it drew the (crucial) financial and logistical support of the largest regional newspaper, the Midi-Libre, the city of Millau, regional governments, and the French Federation of Pétanque and Jeu Provençale. Today, an army of major sponsors support the championships, including banks, Miko Ice Cream, Volkswagen, Super-U, Société Roquefort, various hotel chains, and the usual makers of boules and Pétanque paraphernalia.
The event started in 1982 as a relatively low-key "National" doubles tournament which nonetheless attracted a handful of the game's biggest names. In 1983 and 1984, the legendary shooter from Marseille, Noël Bengler (a.k.a., Carbure), paired with Joël Steiss, dominated the field. In 1985, the victory of Michel Schatz (Passo) and René Salvador made the championship an obligatory stop on the Summer tour. In addition to the Bengler-Steiss duo, three other teams have won the Doubles title twice, always in consecutive years: Christian Fazzino and Daniel Voisin (1989, 1990); Passo and Jojo Farré (1991, 1992); and Philippe Quintais and Jean-Luc Robert (1996, 1997). Passo, one of the world's great shooters, won his fourth Doubles, with Marco Foyot, in 1999. Passo has also lost in the Doubles finals twice (1985, 1999), and Foyot has lost it three times (1987, 1991, 1992). The only other player to have taken this title more than twice is Henri Lacroix, winning in 1995, 2002, and 2004, with different partners. Foreign players have won twice: the Belgian tandem of Claudy Weibel and Michel Van Campenhout (2001 world champions) prevailed in 2000, and Weibel won again in 2002 with Lacroix.
The Mondial added Triples in 1989. The team of Passo-Foyot-Farré has won four times (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002), and Passo also won a fifth title in 1992. Quintais has won five times (1990, 1995, 1996, 2005, and 2006), the last two with Henri Lacroix and Philippe Suchaud. (The Quintais-Lacroix-Suchaud, whom the French call (in English) the "dream team," won the 2006 French Triples Championship, as well as four World Championships, in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005). Quintais has also lost two finals (1998, 1999). Weibel and Van Campenhout, playing with different third players, won in 1993, and lost the final in 2003.
The Singles Championship first took place in 1994, when it was won by the then Gendarme of St. Tropez (now Postman of Cassis), Robert Leca. Only one player has won the Singles more than once. Philippe Quintais took it in 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, and 2003. Given the extraordinary density of top-flight players competing (not to mention the sheer numbers — more than 2,000 competitors), Quintais' record of three consecutive championships is unlikely to be broken. Christian Fazzino, seven-time French Singles Champion, claims the next best record, having won once, while losing two finals.
The Mondial de Millau has done more for women's Pétanque than any other event. The French Federation did not organize a national women's championship until 1977, when it created a Doubles title. Incredibly, no Singles championship exists, and the FFPJP did not deign to add a triples championship until 2003! At Millau, women's championships were added in 1992 (Doubles), 1997 (Singles) and 2005 (Triples). Two players have totally dominated: Angélique Colombet-Papon and Florence Schopp. In the 1996-2005 decade, Papon and Schopp won, as a team, eight Doubles titles (including seven in eight years) and the first Triples championship. Papon also has taken three Singles and the 1994 Doubles titles. Women also play in the open championships.
Overall, Papon leads all players with 13 championships, followed by Quintais with 12. Schopp and Passo have nine each. Quintais, Robert, and Suchaud are the only players to have won all three major open titles: Singles, Doubles, and Triples. Fazzino has come close, winning both the Singles and Doubles titles, but losing the Triples final twice.
