 Stadoceste Tarbais, the big regional gun, a two-time French champion, was struggling in the amateur leagues, like FC Lourdes (8 times French champion) and Stade Bagnérais.However, at the end of the 1999-2000 season, CA Lannemezan reached Pro D2 for the first time ever.But the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, which operates the French professional leagues, blocked the promotion, fearing that a club in a town of 6 000-odd inhabitants would never survive as a professional outfit.