Manpower Gap: Parkour's most iconic roof spot

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The manpower gap is the sickest roofgap in the history of parkour. Bucketlist worthy for many freerunners. This epic parkour spot can be found in the French city Lisses which is the birthplace of parkour. It’s definitely the place to be for fearless freerunners so what the hell are you waiting for?

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_{Manpower Gap: The ultimate challenge}

The Manpower gap consists of two buildings where the roofs form a challenging gap. I hear you thinking. CityLegends isn’t this name a bit... sexist? Before some people pull out their torches and pitchforks, please hear us out. Hence the name, the gap is located above a company called Manpower. The gap is approximately 6 floors high. It’s not for the faint of heart but if you dare to jump, you’ll jump 1.5 floors down which is pretty dope. But that’s not all, because even the climb to the right spot on the roof is a challenge. If you think you can crush this challenge without crushing anything else then check out this spot in CityLegends!

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_{History: The first (City)Legend of Lisses}

The first brave soul who dared the jump off this sick roof gap was the one and only David Belle, the founder of parkour. It’s not clear when he jumped for the first time but a jump from this roof gap was documented in one of his videos, SpeedAirMan back in ‘98. It was only in 2004 that the Manpower gap gained popularity with the film District 13. In one of these scenes, David is being chased and jumps the Manpower gap. It was the beginning of a new era. Ever since the film came out, free runners from all over the world traveled to Lisses to take the iconic jump.

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_{Evolution of parkour: Level up}

Jumping from the Manpower gap is a legendary accomplishment itself. However, nowadays free runners do even more wicked tricks at this spot. It all started with a jump to savage double flips and twists. The parkour skill is evolving insanely fast and today’s parkour generation thrives to take their skill to the highest level possible.

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_{Brave hearts: Manpowers compilation of badasses}

David Belle’s jump inspired many free runners to push their limits. One of them is Kevin Fluri. He was the first badass who did a frontflip over the Manpower gap in 2013. The second badass was Harry Davies who did the first standing side flip in 2017 and in 2020 the first gainer over the gap was done by Leonardo Roof. This was only the beginning because in 2022 there were even more tricks performed at this spot for the first time. Choukaye was the first to do a cork and a while later Ted Ponceau did the first double-side flip. Last but not least the amazing Lilou Ruel. The first woman who jumped off the Manpower gap and showed off her womanpower.

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_{Parkour community: Push your limits}

Whenever there’s a new trick performed over the Manpower gap, the video goes viral in the parkour community. This is the spot where free runners push their limits and unleash their wildest creativity by performing dope tricks that seem almost impossible to do for the human body. If you’re ready to put your skills to the ultimate test then this is the place to be. What would your new Manpower gap trick be?

Want to find more about the Manpower gap? Check out this video of Jimmy the Giant or find it in CityLegends